June 25, 2019

On our second day of class we began with discussion and presentations of the first two chapters of The Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelley. The first persona we discussed was the anthropologist. The anthropologist is the member of a team who notices what's missing in everyday life and uses innovation to fill the gap. This often involves taking note of something small and filling that gap in order to make life easier/better for anyone who normally has to deal with the challenge that gap poses. As part of our classmates' presentation, we went for a walk to try to identify areas where innovation could be implemented or had already been implemented, and one of the first things that stuck out to me was a small ramp connecting the step between the sidewalk and the raised doorway of a bike shop. This appeared to me to be the work of an anthropologist working at the bike shop, who likely noticed that patrons were struggling to pick up their bikes and get them into the shop. Just a small innovation, like this ramp, probably improved the lives of many people who all come through the shop on a daily basis. One other thing that occurred to me on our class walk, however, was how similar finding these small gaps is to practicing mindfulness. In order to notice areas that could be improved or had been improved, I really needed to focus in on my surroundings, and consider how they impact either my life or the lives of those around me. By identifying past innovations (such as the bike ramp), I can find inspiration for future innovations in my own life. By identifying current gaps in daily life, I can identify areas where I can develop innovations to improve life. The similarity between the innovation exercise and mindfulness was significant to me as a psychology student, because I spend time in many of my classes practicing mindfulness and discussing its application in daily life. This exercise showed me just one practical application of how mindfulness has the potential not only to improve mental health, but also to impact a career through inspiring innovation.

The second persona we discussed from Ten Faces was the experimenter. This is the person in a group who is constantly creating prototypes of ideas, and furthering their development through testing. Whether goods or services, experimenters take the idea and put it into practice through various prototypes. As they move through various stages of prototypes, experimenters involve their stakeholders to determine how to adapt the next prototype they develop. This reminded me of the message we discussed from the development of Ferry Tales, and really drove home for me just how important it is when in a position of creation and innovation to include those who are going to be impacted by what you create. The idea of collaborating with other groups and people who will be involved in the innovation also stood out to me because after reading the introduction to the book, I associated this quality with the persona of the cross-pollinator. Although there are still plenty of differences between the two personas, I found it notable that there are a set of qualities which can be identified across multiple personas of innovation, and these are the core pillars to successful innovation by an individual.

After our class discussion, we headed for a site visit at a local food forest and then went out for a group dinner. It was a pretty chill day, but very interesting and fun!

This picture is actually from yesterday's adventure, but I thought it should be included in the blog!