Enhanced Open Space (eOS)

I was introduced to the Open Space Technology (OST) in 2003 when the newly formed Facilitators Network Singapore (FNS) brought this to the country as part of their effort to introduce facilitation to the nation. Subsequently, I attended a three-day workshop, where I was ‘certified’ to conduct OST both as an organiser and facilitator.

Embedded in the OST process, are its capabilities of inviting, self-organising, and hosting large audience participation. However, it has limitations. Three are identified:

+ The breakout team lacks a group based process that could effectively ‘pull’ the wisdom out of the participants, organise the wisdom and record the knowledge systematically, and democratically reach a conclusion in the conversation.

+ The participants in the team do not possess the tools necessary to identify their wisdom, critically challenge them, and using the insights to generate new knowledge.

+ The Law of Two Feet, while empowers the participants with the freedom to join and exit the breakout groups, also weakens the groups’ capacity to unstuck and move the conversation forward, and thereby, reaching breakthroughs.

Understanding these weaknesses, I had the opportunity to create the Enhanced Open Space (eOSTM), which brought together three technologies.

These are:

Traditional Open Space Technology (OST)

Open Space Technology is a way to invite and convene different stakeholders to a large scale gathering where participants generate their own agendas, allocate their own time and duration, enthuse participation in the breakouts, and encourage group level conversations. Usually, the gathering is facilitated, and there are principles and rules that participants have to comply with to encourage the democracy in participation, commitment, and contribution at the event.

Rules of OST:

• Whoever comes are the right people
• Whatever happens is the only thing that could have
• Whenever it starts is the right time
• When it's over, it's over
• Where the Law of Two Feet should apply, will apply

Innovation ThinkTM

Innovation ThinkTM was first conceptualised in 2003, developed, tested and implemented in the Ministry of Defence by me from 2004 as a way to help teams focus their creative capacity, use their wisdom, combine knowledge, and generate ideas. Its birth came from my awareness and understanding in the limitations of traditional brainstorming methods where difficulties are in contextualising, screening, and organising large amount of ideas arising from the using these methods.

Innovation ThinkTM (aka iThink) has four steps:

• Brainstorming - drawing what are already forgotten
• BrainConnectingTM - combining and recombine existing knowledge
• IdeaSmashingTM - breakthroughing old frames and heuristics
• AngleOfAttackTM - determining the key thrusts for the idea-solutioning

Tricks of InnovationTM

The Tricks of InnovationTM is a box of tools that challenges assumptions, articulates challenge statements, develops broad ideation approaches, and creates and refines new ideas. The tools enable the users to breakout from their usual framing contexts and thinking heuristics so that they could think freely without hindrance of the past.

Tools in Tricks of InnovationTM include:

+ The Eager Attack – Locating the centre of gravity
+ CSx – Clarifying and articulating the challenge of a problem
+ Reversal X – Finding answers by opposing what’s known
+ SD Cards – Finding answers by examining their attributes
+ Split – Finding answers by divide and conquer
+ iBox – Finding answers by looking at their parameters
+ aSCAMPERTM – Advance SCAMPER for re-finding the answers

When I was told that the Defence Management Group (DMG, Ministry of Defence, Singapore) wanted to enrich her culture with creativity and innovation, I jumped on the opportunity by proposing to Mr Lim Hup Seng (the Deputy Secretary for Administration at that time) the conduct of a large scale event called the DMG Innovation Jam (iJam) on 8 Oct 2003.

This was where I tested eOSTM, and the successful implementation of the process and the positive outcomes at iJam helped the MINDEF Innovation and Transformation Office (MITO) secured her nominated for the DMG Community Award (Team) for Kickstarting her culture for Innovation that year.

The key takeaways reported by the 200 plus participants who attended the whole day event were that participants:

• were introduced to an alternative but highly innovative and democratic approach that engages large audience in creativity and innovation.

• were able to experience an unique group based process that that truly generated new knowledge and breakthrough ideas that was very different from the traditional brainstorming methods.

• were using simple but powerful ideation tools that forced them to think laterally than linearly.


Copyright 2007. Anthony Mok. All Rights Reserved.

Segmentation of Problems - There Is No One Methodology for All Kinds of Problem

Organisations always have problems.

Taking a simplistic view, we can segment most problems along the lines of urgency and scarcity, which leaves us with a 2 x 2 matrix. The problems in each section of the matrix will require a unique approach in obtaining solutions for these problems.

So, no one methodology fit all kinds of problem.

Time based problems are a category of problems that are time sensitive but the teams have the funds to create and implement the solutions. Cycle of InnovationTM is a methodology best suited for identifying solutions for this type of problems because it taps on the diversity in the work group and concentrates the focus of the team on the problem to increase its propensity perform creatively and innovatively.

The roots of Cycle of InnovationTM can be trace to iDive, a process that has been used by the MINDEF Innovation and Transformation Office since 2004.

Cycle of InnovationTM is a 5-step process that that shortens the adverse effects of the forming and storming phases of the team’s development. It takes the team from the creation of an idea to turning it into actual working prototypes within a short span of 3 days, thereby strengthening the team’s capacity to deliver what they have created.

The members of the team will also address issues pertaining to marketing the solution, dealing with sceptics, managing resources, and negotiating between different interest groups. It is fast-paced and is used for refining existing products, and designing and introducing new ones.

These 5 steps are:
There are a number of tools used in the methodology. An example of a tool used in Cycle of InnovationTM is the Innovation Box.

Innovation Box - Combining Parameters into New Ideas

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: creativity innovation)

Please contact me (spaceman@pacific.net.sg) if you want to learn more about Cycle of InnovationTM or if you want to explore the approaches and investments for bringing the technology into your organisation.

Copyright 2007 & 2008. Anthony Mok. All rights reserved.

The Innovation Game - @ Verge of Disaster

A few years ago, I met Richard Mak, the inventor of a board game on entrepreneurship called Zeros to Heros, at an conference. He was exhibiting the game at the event when we chatted.

'How have things been since we met last year?' he asked me.

I replied: 'Busy. I see that you have successfully launched your game.'

'Yes. We were at the schools recently, and the acceptance of the game there was tremendous.' he updated me excitedly. He added: 'How about your game?'

'You mean the MINDEF Innovation Game? Yes. I introduced the game at the Civil Service College's Bluesky Festival on 10 July 2004. Over 200 officers from various ministries played it and the feedback has been great. We have started to receive calls asking us to run the game for their senior executives.' I said. (See side note below for coverage of the game on line)

'This is good. Like to collaborate?' he asked.

'Sorry. I can't do it with this innovation game because of IP issues, even though I develop it. Once I created another, I will reach you again.' I said, and we went on to talk about other things.
It has been some years since I made that promise. Nothing happened because I didn't have the time and energy to follow through. Now, I am please to say that I can finally keep my word. I am introducing the new Innovation Game called '@ Verge of Disaster'.

The game delivers three outcomes to the player. It:

• Creates for the player an access to his/her source of creativity.
  
• Provides the player the technology to overcome his/her barriers to innovate.
  
• Gives the player insights into his/her contributions to these barriers on others.

Side Note:

The MINDEF Innovation Game is a board game designed to help people understand what innovation is all about. The game is conducted as a workshop, in which participants will go through a journey of self-discovery, gaining insights into their own preconceived barriers to innovation, as well as realising the power of innovative, breakthrough thinking.

Anthony Mok facilitating the MINDEF Innovation Game

The MINDEF Innovation Game was created and developed by me, and it has attracted plenty of attention since its introduction in 2003. Here is a list of write-ups on the game:

• Corporate entrepreneurship: exploiting technologies for innovation discovery and breakthrough


• CAPAM - List of Submissions


• Challenge - Innovation takes pride of place in MINDEF


• Civil Service College - Course Details


• ::August Highlights:: - MINDEF Innovation Game Facilitator Workshop & MINDEF Innovation Game Workshop


• MINDEF Innovation & Transformation Office - Introducing the MINDEF Innovation Game to the civil service


• Challenge - 3rd Innovation Circle


• Riding on the crest - NDU's voyage towards organisational and operational excellence

Some feedback from participants:

“The MINDEF Innovation Game had very good learning lessons…I learnt that limits are often self imposed.”

“The MINDEF Innovation Game is not only fun but also very effective in imparting the importance of certain values and practices.”

“The MINDEF Innovation Game is more than an innovative tool. It also teaches some fundamental values (communication, leadership and etc). It can also be used to analyse individual’s behaviors, team dynamics…”

“The MINDEF Innovation Game was interesting helps people understand the concepts of risk taking.”

Copyright 2007, Anthony Mok. All rights reserved.

Measuring the Organisation's Propensity to Innovate

Recently, I was invited to one of the government ministries in Singapore to share what I could do for innovation for them. The host was interested in knowing how an organisation could be measured in terms of her innovativeness.

There are three challenges to her 'how to......?' question.

1st, we need to know what are the characteristics of innovative organisations to which her ministry could be benchmarked.

2nd, we need to know what the ministry has done in reaching and surpassing the benchmark.

3rd, we also need to know what is the impact of all these activities has on the staff in the ministry.

In fact, I have conceptualised, designed, created, developed, implemented and refined a technology in 2003 that addresses these challanges at my previous organisation. The technology is still in use after these past 4 years.

In line with this technology, I have create a newer and updated instrument called the Innovation Circumplex that:

• Uncovers what the people in the organisation have to say about the innovativeness of their organisation.
• Determines the effectiveness of the leadership's strategies for building an innovative organisation.
• Reveals how far the organisation is away from the benchmark of world class innovative organisations.

The knowledge gained from the instrument provides valuable inputs for deciding the kinds of risks to take, the levels of intervention to inject, and the types of resources to deploy in the organisation to bring her propensity to innovate higher.

Without the knowledge, management will be operating in the blind, and this endangers everyone.

Copyright 2007, Anthony Mok. All rights reserved.