New research from the Kellogg school shows that embarrassment can be a gateway to creativity. It turns out that holding cringe-worthy anecdotes back creates an unintentional barrier of self-censorship. “When you have a brainstorming session, what you’re hoping is that people are putting out any idea, without regard to any judgment or evaluation,” says Leigh Thompson, a professor of management and organizations at Kellogg and author of Creativity Conspiracy: The New Rules of Breakthrough Collaboration. Sharing embarrassing stories is also a good way for groups to break the ice, as it creates a humorous space where people are allowed to feel vulnerable. This is opposed to traditional ice-breakers where people share their accomplishments. Adding this sense of pride inevitable turns ice-breakers into a competition. Bragging about one’s accomplishments may be a confidence boost, but it results in a hindering of innovative thinking. Instead of closing people off from each-other, reinforcing funny or embarrassing stories can lead to trust and better performance. Read More >>
Category Archives: Learning Issues
In Bed, Bath, or the Bus: The Secret to Solving your Problems
Brainstorming is a task that many people find difficulty in. Humans tend to hit mental blocks when it comes to problem-solving. According to Professor Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, taking breaks from wicked problems could be the key in finding solutions. The idea is that ‘Eureka!’ moments cannot be forced, and many breakthroughs are found while tapping into one’s creativity. According to the Three B’s of Creativity, the best way to receive a solution from out-of the blue, is by being in bed, bath, or on the bus. Dreaming, relaxing, and following routine leads the mind to wander, and gives rise to insight previously not thought of. Read More >>
A False Sense of Progress with Easier Tasks
Maryam Kouchaki, an associate professor of management and organizations at Kellogg, and her colleagues studied people who were overwhelmed with the workload and the approach taken by them to achieve them. They found that many people choose to perform simpler tasks when the workload is heavy and although this gives a sense of satisfaction instantly, in the long run, this strategy definitely fails because it does not contribute anything to the overall goal of the organisation and does not help the individual learn or improve any skills. To tackle this situation at an organisation it is essential that the managers encourage the workers to take up difficult tasks and disintegrate them into smaller subtasks that can be achieved, so they can get the same satisfaction if they had performed an easier task. this not only challenges people but also provides the opportunity to learn new skills every day. It is imperial that the managers educate their employees about the importance of tackling difficult tasks for professional growth. Thus it can be concluded that Getting a sense of progress is so essential and at the same time it should not be mistaken to instant gratification. Read More>>
How to develop a strategy using Distant Foresight Index (DFI)
DFI helps the organisations to identify potential distant threats and also helps them devise a plan of action when the need arises. It was created in response to the question, How A few businesses detect and respond to future threats and also capitalise on vague opportunities while the others fail? another important question is why are the business leaders unprepared? the answer is that the tools or frameworks that are used mainly focus on the immediate environment of the industry such as war games, strategic planning, market trends, etc. also in many industries, the incentives are based on short term goals thus the leaders are biased towards encouraging activities that strengthen the existing domains rather than exploring new ones. thus without a reliable and structured framework such as DFI recognising and implementing distant innovation will always be a risk to the organisation. Read More>>
Startups using technology to foster Human connections among ageing people
Miami based healthcare startup called Papa was started in 2016 by Parker are currently striving to link ageing seniors with college students in order to reduce the problems of loneliness and social isolation that comes with age. It also serves as a major upgrade to the caregiving industry with its idea of bridging the gap between generations that adds enthusiasm, joy and delight, also these acts of empathy make one’s life worth living. Owing to Papa’s success another California-based startup Mon Ami has stepped into the same market and recently announced a $3.4 million seed financing round. Read More>>
Is Internet Hijacking our minds
Former Google product manager Tristan Harris told Wired magazine, “technology steers what 2 billion people are thinking and believing every day.”A study shows that an average American uses his phone to browse media for 10.5hrs when he is awake and checks it almost 52 times a day. rather than being disheartened by these reports if we start to declutter our minds we can have better understanding, improved awareness, productivity and also enhance our creativity. But here is how you can do it Read More>>
The Attraction Effect
Franconeri a professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School and a professor of psychology in the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences claims that the newspapers and other marketing platforms take advantage of a cognitive biasing phenomenon known as the Attraction effect or the Decoy effect, this simply involves making certain options more appealing than the other thereby persuading the user to make irrational and quick decisions. Further, he tried to study the effect of interactive visualisations on decision making of the readers, it was proven that unless a complex decision making was broken down into a series of simpler ones the users still made irrational decisions. he thus concludes that visualisations are only helpful when they help, rather than replace human judgement. he also claims such interactions between humans and computers are the future of complex decision making. Read More>>
The Rocket Doesn’t Come With a Moral Compass
In a startup journey, founders learn practical business skills: how to raise money, manage people and burn rate, and launch and grow a product. They learn about their own abilities, tactics for managing their psychology, and how to stretch beyond what they believed they could do. But what about the liberal arts education that universities pride themselves on? The critical thinking skill that is considered to be the hallmark of a university education? What about empathy, morality, patience, humility, and discipline? Do startups teach these things? Read More>>
Understanding University Intellectual Policy and Commercialization
For many years, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Innovation Policy and the Economy Working Group has published research to understand incentives relative to university intellectual property (IP) policy and commercialization. Based upon their research, we now know incentive alignment counts – and through that lens – Bob Litan, former Vice President of Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation, and Lisa Mitchell, the author of the research blog proposed the potential to drive a faster path to market with a little testing of policy. Read More>>
A new study on the state of entrepreneurship in the U.S.
The Kauffman Index of Growth Entrepreneurship is an indicator of business growth in the United States, integrating several high-quality sources of timely information into one composite indicator of entrepreneurial business growth. The Index captures growth entrepreneurship in all industries, and is based on data covering the universe of all U.S. employer businesses (approximately 5 million firms) and a privately collected benchmark of growth businesses. This allows to measure business growth from both revenue and job growth perspectives. Moreover, present trends on business exits—more particularly initial public offerings, a business milestone commonly associated with innovative, high-growth companies are put forward. Read More>>
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