Questions of innovation

By Jessica Carter, Program Manager in UM’s Extended Learning Services

The World Innovation Forum came to UC 330 earlier this week, and there were a lot of big ideas for such a small room.

The session topics were varied – from marketing to leading change and from green strategies to design – but I discovered that they all had something in common. Each session generated questions, ideas, and new ways of thinking about our organization and the work we do, both collectively and individually. Rather than relay the pages of notes I scribbled from the Forum, I thought I’d share a question or two from each of the sessions I attended. Hopefully, they’ll generate additional ideas and ways of thinking for you:

Connections.

Andreas Weigend (former Chief Scientist of Amazon.com) talked about current innovations in marketing, specifically how the conversation is becoming more important than the message. Innovative marketers are inviting and facilitating consumer ideas and feedback and then responding. Going one step further, they’re providing platforms for consumers to connect with each other, not necessarily with the organization (although the organization is paying attention and listening). He highlighted the evolution of e-business (focus on organization) to me-business (focus on consumer) to we-business (focus on community). This got me thinking…

• How can we better connect feedback and ideas (from our many “consumers”) to innovative actions?
• How can we better connect our “consumers” (prospective students, current students, alumni, etc.) to one another, in essence creating a community?

Redefining limits.

Ursula Burns (CEO of Xerox) shared her experience leading change and innovation at Xerox. Xerox is typically thought of as a “copy” company, which is a fairly limiting description, especially as the world becomes increasingly paperless. But she’s redefining those limits and leading Xerox as an “information management” company. By taking the organization’s core competencies, technologies, and services and using them in new ways, she’s fostering innovation and growth. This got me thinking…

• How can we redefine the limits of our individual roles to foster innovation and growth?
• How can we redefine the limits of our departmental roles to foster innovation and growth?

The value of green.

Joel Makower (the “guru of green business practices”) talked about green strategies and how most organizations are committing “random acts of greenness” instead of pursuing a complete strategy. He also talked about a new era of green – it’s no longer about doing something green because it’s trendy, reputation-building, or simply the right thing to do. Organizations are now using green strategies and innovations to add value. He posed a simple question, which I now pose to you:

• Green “wins” only when green = better. So, how does green = better for the institution?
• Or, what green strategies and innovations can we develop (individually and collectively) to add value to the institution?

Mattering.

Robert Brunner (founder and CEO of Ammunition, the company that designed Fuego grills, Barnes & Noble’s nook, and dr. dre’s beats headphones) shared some of the amazing design work he’s done, and asserted that the things you do or make define you and your relationship with your customer. He also made an intriguing point: it is often simple details that entirely define a product or service. He challenged the audience to “matter” to customers, to create a bond through a meaningful relationship, hopefully influenced by innovation. This got me thinking…

• What simple details can we add, change, or remove to influence how we’re defined?
• How do we “matter” to students, alumni, donors, the community, etc? And how could we pursue innovations that create a more meaningful bond?

So, any new ideas or ways of thinking out there?

UM to webcast innovative speakers

In case you missed it on the campus calendar or in today’s Missoulian, UM will be webcasting many of the presentations from the World Innovation Forum taking place in New York Tuesday and Wednesday. This is a great opportunity to hear from thought leaders in technology, education, marketing, business, environment  and design.

Here’s the schedule of events that will be webcast in UC 330, with a little added information about a few of the speakers I’m looking forward to hearing:

Tuesday, June 8:

• 9-9:45 a.m.: Michael Howe presents “The Customer Is the Driver.”
  • Michael is an innovator in the health care field, earning Fast Company’s distinction as one of the top 50 people who will change how Americans work and live over the next 10 years.1:15-2 p.m.: Andreas Weigend presents “Marketing and Web 2.0.”
• 1:15-2 p.m.: Andreas Weigend presents “Marketing and Web 2.0.”
  • Andreas is a behavioral marketing expert and former Chief Scientist at Amazon.com where he developed data-mining techniques and other applications.
• 3-4 p.m.: Biz Stone presents “Social Networking.”
  • Biz  is a co-founder of Twitter and has published two books on blogging, including: Who Let the Blogs Out? And Blogging: Genius Strategies for Instant Web Content

Wednesday, June 9:

• 9-9:30 a.m.: Brian Shawn Cohen presents “Next Wave of Technology Innovation.”
• 9:30-10:30 a.m.: Wendy Kopp presents “Realizing Educational Opportunities for All.”
  • Wendy is founder and CEO of Teach for America, a national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and becomd lifelong leaders in pursuit of educational excellence and equity.
• Noon-12:45 p.m.: Ursula Burns presents “A Conversation With the CEO of Xerox.”
• 12:45-1:30 p.m.: Joel Makower presents “Strategies for the Green Economy.”
• 1:30-2 p.m.: Jeffrey Hollender presents “Building a Better World.”
• 2:30-4 p.m.: Robert Brunner presents “Innovation & Design.”
  • Robert, former Director of Industrial Design at Apple Computer, founded Ammunition in 2007, a design company focusing on communicating strategic innovation through product design, and its brand and surrounding experience.

More on the event

Why does it matter?

The University of Montana has been a partner for seven years with major research universities and other entities to build a high-speed network connecting Seattle to Chicago across the Northern part of the U.S.

On Thursday, about 60 people gathered at the UM Law School to celebrate the completion of the network and look forward to additional collaborations and innovations made possible by the 10-gigabyte network. The event was the Northern Tier Network Consortium’s  “Golden Spike Event.”

In preparing for the public celebration, UM Executive Vice President asked one question of us over and over: Why does it matter?

Hopefully we provided some answers to that question on Thursday.

It matters to higher education by attracting significantly more research dollars, and attracting and retaining top faculty and researchers

It matters to people living in rural areas who will benefit from better access to quality health care.

It matters to K-12 teachers and students who will be able to access resources on the network that individual school districts could never afford.

It matters to the state for the economic development is enables.

And as UM CIO Ray Ford told the Missoulian, it matters for the technologies that will be developed in the years to come that we can’t yet fathom.

If you missed it, here’s the Missoulian story.