Interdisciplinary

Exaptation & managed serendipity: I

By Dave Snowden  ·  April 1, 2012  ·  Innovation, Interdisciplinary, Science, Reflections

The feather original evolved for regulation of temperature, but then evolved for flight.  In 1942 a scientist at Raytheon was testing a magnetron, a key component of radar, and noticed that a candy bar melted in his pocket.  The next day he experimented with a egg which burst and spattered hot yolk over his face; thus was the microwave oven was born.  Scientists at Pfizer's Sandwich research establishment (I was within 24 hours of working there during my IBM days but that is a story for another day) were able to synthesise the...

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A merger backwards is easy, the Future not so much

By Tony Quinlan  ·  January 24, 2011  ·  Interdisciplinary

In the past few months, I've been advising a merger between two organisations happening near me. You can catch up on some of the details in the Merger Process category of my blog.

What's been fascinating is the degree to which elements that were striking at the first session - when Dick, Sally, Anne, Meg and I had groups working in The Future, Backwards - have been denied and excused by various people, but keep coming to the surface.

The Future, Backwards is a tool I've used a lot in the past - to open up discussions about...

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Basic Laws of Human Stupidity

By Nirmala Palaniappan  ·  October 30, 2010  ·  Interdisciplinary

I read this absolutely rollicking article on human stupidity and its implications on society a few months back and I suspect it has my attention forever and will make me link a lot of what I know with the logic that it applies. The article has flavours of social economics, psychology, human behavior and humor. A simultaneously wonderful, entertaining and thought-provoking article, in my perception. Highly recommended.

If you are wondering where I might go from here, I think there's a link between knowledge management and the human...

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On Elephants and Alligators

By Barton Friedland  ·  October 23, 2010  ·  Interdisciplinary

I have very much enjoyed the opportunity to blog with you here for the past two weeks. If you are interested, you can read more about my work here. In this, my last post for this blog series, I want to return again to the theme of parallel evolution in theory and practice across many formal disciplines.

Yet another area where striking similarities can be found to Cognitive Edge is in the area of Design Thinking. My thoughts go first to Buchahan’s 1992 paper on design thinking where he asserts, “Without integrative disciplines of...

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Consulting, Education, and Transference

By Barton Friedland  ·  October 21, 2010  ·  Interdisciplinary

I had such an overwhelmingly positive experience working with a client yesterday. It is one of those experiences that brings to mind that we are involved in an ongoing shift of thinking about management practices that is truly eye-opening for many people. Perhaps it is a sort of grandiosity that I allow myself to think that management practice will change significantly over the next 50 years and that I am contributing to this.

Regardless, it is such a pleasure to see people recognize a large field of action and to see ways in which...

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