Getting to Innovation

Preface

Anyone who has followed management trends for the past forty or so years knows that there always seems to be the so-called Next Big Thing. In the 1950s, basic brainstorming was the rage, with countless articles written about it, some good and some not so good—for example, “brainstorming is nothing more than cerebral popcorn!” In the 1960s and early 1970s, sensitivity groups (or “T-groups”) were in vogue. Group leader gurus would “lead” groups of managers by not leading. That is, after some broad, brief opening remarks, they would silently sit there waiting for someone in the group to say something. After that, they mostly would just facilitate and try to clarify. Supposedly, the “inner manager” somehow would emerge. Again, more research ...