Following on from a series of posts on innovation ecosystems, especially a recent one, “Seeing innovation differently through ecosystem thinking and design” I outlined a need for a profound shift in the business landscape; well in my view, that time is rapidly approaching.

Why do we need to make a really necessary change?

Our present economic models, certainly in the West are so heavily debt-laden, from the effects of over-spending, supporting the Ukrainian war, and the Corvid crisis, and rightly supporting those in economic need and business difficulties.

One of the problems in economic distribution is that applying this in a top-down way is it can often not determine those in need from those who simply gain or are unable to deliver to those the adequate or appropriate support they require.

Our models of economic distribution are simply outdated or built on self-interest or self-promotion or simply enabling preservation for individual benefit and not for the ‘greater’ community.

The next few years are going to be very painful in further adjustments and polarization.

Our politicians continue the hackneyed phrase or idea, said or used so often that it has become boring and has no meaning, of the need for growth and prosperity.

I cannot see this way forward if we remain “locked” in the existing systems of self-interest, benefits being given to selected groups as rewards for support or simply to maintain the status quo.

We are being faced with some enormous challenges.

For example, the biggest challenge is facing rapid Global Warming and the massive challenges of changing our energy systems. If we do not make fundamental decisions on energy generation, moving from fossil dependency to decarbonising systems, we face a very unhealthy future.

We will continue to be faced in ever-increasing our short-term economic spending in essential bail-outs, crisis response and knee-jerk reactions, and the world will continue in a spiral of unsustainable living.

I really wish our politicians would “front up” and give a more honest narrative of what this means for all of us. This Nevada of just spouting out “growth and prosperity” with nothing hugely tangible as what we need to change in ourselves and collectively becomes increasingly meaningless

What we have is just simply not good enough; our innovation processes included

So I need to stop my opening rant, but it does have multiple purposes here relating to innovation.

New innovation is the lifeblood, it is the living proof, the tangible sign we are progressing. New innovation can truly excite us, it can motivate and encourage change in progressive ways. It leads to future value creation and new business models

We are in a world facing many complex and difficult challenges that need this innovation shift.

Yet the way we go about innovation is far too Adhoc, reliant often on serendipity where fortunate discovery leads to really exciting new concepts.

Innovation is very individualistic and conjures up that idea of one person beavering away in a lab suddenly unlocking a puzzle they have been working on and failing time and time again until that famous “eureka” moment where we can celebrate a discovery or invention.

Innovation is still far to linear. We need to finally embrace system thinking

A Linear approach might be acceptable in writing code but not in dealing with unknown difficulties or growing complexity.

One example is the Linear (waterfall) life cycles are sequenced into a set of distinct phases, from the development of the initial concept to the deployment of an ultimate outcome, output or benefits. This approach aims to be highly structured, predictable and stable. Innovation cannot truly function this way; it involves creativity, randomness, testing and exploring novel concepts and is often built on the latest emerging technology or research breakthroughs.

Dealing with a volatile world, VUCA, short for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, and we are indeed in one, this needs very different thinking that systems thinking shown above, moves us towards.

It is often unstructured, unpredictable and unstable. HBR provide a simple descriptor of VUCA “What VUCA really means for you” They provided this handy visual

I repeat (great and new) innovation is never linear yet we do continue to apply our present thinking in this outdated sequential design. We need to change that!

For me managing in ecosystem designed thinking gives us a better chance to break out of our existing cycle and incremental steps to change.

I argue that “innovation ecosystems” provide us with a better approach to dealing in this uncertain world, in collaborative ways and without repeating (again) the arguments of “Building out our innovation ecosystems in design and thinking” covered in that post.

What does shifting to an innovation ecosystem do?

Let me offer here some brief points of the value, I may be repeating myself, but I feel I still need to at present to gain a greater awareness of the need to change.

“It can, in a (future) design, offer a new innovation-based model required to drive economic growth and future value creation”

“By taking an innovation ecosystem approach/ perspective from linear thinking to “whole system” thinking of designing, thinking and collaborating, having an ecosystem design for innovation activity offers a different conceptual framework that is fully end-to-end in its potential.”

“Building an ecosystem-designed approach can capture and achieve access to greater knowledge and becomes more grounded in insights and broader experience, combining artificial and human intelligence.”

“The design is driven by dynamic interactions, events and seen outputs/ outcomes that can generate more transparent understanding and dialogues.”

“Harnessing the digital transformation, through high levels of engagement on technology platforms gives the building blocks for sharing.”

“We are able to move in a higher level of exchange from complicated to complex if we leverage all the digital technology we have at our disposal.”

“Through growing collaboration exchange organisms influence each other from new learning and exchanging, they build out their personal terrain of understanding and through co-creating and co-evolving grow.”

“Ecosystems over time attract if they are seen as ‘healthy’ the growing resources and more exchanges so they build, evolve and catalyse from these interactions and together can re-imagine new solutions.”

“Through this collective engagement, they are moving towards adaptation, forming a changing world that liberates more potential in ‘feeding’ future potential.”

“By connecting up you build the greater potential for scope, scale and spread.”

“You build growing interdependence, collective intelligence, bring greater foresight and interactions, all give greater benefits to innovation.”

So in summary.

So in my view in bringing a distinctive ecosystem thinking and design into innovation, you can accelerate learning and sharing, knowledge building to re-imagine future solutions by spreading the cost and be more effective,

By achieving a more responsive, adaptive and adjusting environment, one that does have a greater chance to grow and build out a different future, hopefully leaving behind the types of legacy we have become locked into today.

We have the ability, the technology and tools to build (thriving) innovation ecosystems if we can 1) let go of the past and 2) embrace this ecosystem thinking approach.

Can we?