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March 14, 2006
Unfortunately, hyper-specialization doesn't lead to hyper-innovation
In a post called "Broaden Your Experience," Olivier Blanchard of the BrandBuilder blog makes the case that innovative companies should be looking to hire highly-skilled generalists, not specialists. In fact, as Francois Gossieaux pointed out recently, hyper-specialization actually stands in the way of breakthrough innovation. Olivier takes the argument one step further, explaining that companies on the cutting-edge of innovation - all other things being equal - prefer to hire specialists with a broad range of experiences:
...It pays to broaden your horizons. Take IDEO's hiring practices, for example: IDEO is careful to hire mostly people with one very deep skill and a dozen or more broader skills. Why? Because the powers that be understand that having the ability to think outside of your contextual silo is crucial to fostering functional innovation.
So... an accountant with twenty years experience is a lot more likely to help her company develop successful financial programs if she's also a writer, an athlete, a mom, a gardener, a photographer, a world traveler, and somewhat of an expert when it comes to architecture and design than just... a really knowledgeable accountant.
Perhaps more interestingly, she may be one of the instigators of her company's next marketing campaign or web-based initiative. Bear in mind that I am not talking about an accountant with one serious hobby (like building model airplanes out of toothpicks or growing Alain Blanchard roses). I am talking about folks blessed with a pretty high degree of intellectual curiosity. These people draw inspiration from a variety of sources and apply some of their observations and insights cross-contextually on a regular basis."
So what recourse do you have if you happen to be a knowledge worker burdened with too much knowledge and specialization in one area? There are small things you can do each day, writes Olivier, to make yourself more innovative:
"My advice to you if you're in a rut (or if you're looking for your next big idea) is to just relax and go outside. Take a road trip. Take the afternoon off and go ride a bike. Go into a computer store and find out everything there is to know about inkjet printers. Go pick up a graphic design magazine and hang out at a tea bar. Take a stroll through an antique shop or your town's hippest interior decorator's gallery. Read a book about something you've never read about before. Go have a drink with a friend or a colleague or a competitor."
Tags: hyperspecialization innovation
[image: Francois Gossieaux]
Posted by dominic at March 14, 2006 6:48 AM | Recommend this! | +dlc | +dig
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