Building Innovation Teams with Designers, Engineers and Entrepreneurs : 12 insights from five years of collaboration with faculty members and students from undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Design, Engineering and Entrepreneurship programs at Tec

Building

lnnovation

Teams

with

Designers,

Engineers

and

Entrepreneurs

12insightsfromfive_yearsofcollaboration with facultymembers and students from undengraduate and postgraduate studies inDesign,

Engineering and Entrepreneurship_programsatTbcde Monterrey,Mexico RicardoSOSA

lndustrialDesignDepartmen±,fecdeMonterrey,Mexico

50

lnnovationisa complex construct arather ambiguous term that

nonetheless has recentiy _gainedbroadinterestfrom academic,

industryand mass-media circles.Theideaofchange hasanguably

gainedpopularityinaworld with ubiquitous crises intheeconomy

theenvironment and the$ocialspheres.

Inthiscontext, some designschools areevolvingtheirapproach todesignfromthecreative_processofimaginingand developing original manufacturable _productsintoa more systemic approach

where creativity isapplied

in

ambitious innovationprojectsthat

addres$ _preblemswhich

"wickedness"

transcends any artificial

disciplinaryacademicboundary.

AttheDesignSchooloflbcdeMonterrey Mexico, thisisreflected

bytheirreoentmotto"Designisonlypossiblebetweendisciplines". Thisde$ignschooi hasbuiltinitstenyearhjstorystrong bonds with the Engineering and theBusinesstaculties,as well as with externalonganisationsandcompaniesintheBajioregionofMexjco

includingSMEs, NGOs and _governmentagencies withwhom

studentsand facultymembers have coIIaborated extensively

indesignstudiocourses fromsemesters 3to9 of thelndustrial

DesignBachelors_programme.

Thisarticle _presentstwelve insightsfrom the [astfive_years

of interdisciplinarycollaboration between three academic

departments:lndustrialDesign,

EIectronic

Engineeringand

Business Entrepreneurship,Itsaim is to _pre$entconcrete

experiences to help other design schools and companies

implementthetypeofinitiativesthatawelikelytocontributetowards innovativepractices.Theseexperiences arederivedfrem_personal

participationand reflection; theyreveal as much about other

disciplinesas theydoabout de$igners,and theiridiosyncrasies.

t.Comprehensiveinnovation

lnwotking acress disciplines,we have noticed thattheterm `innovationr _ishighly

polysemeus.Whilein_generalitreferstoa process of adding value, thismeans differentthingsindifferent discipiines.Althoughevery discipiineuses a hostof implicitand

explicitdefinitions,thefollowinglistdepictsthemoreidiosyncratic

depictionoftheterrnforeach disciplineinour experience.

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･

lnnovation isused in Businessand Entrepreneurshlpcireles

todescribea _qualitativeincreaseinprofitor market share.

Therefore,innovationcases heraldedintheBusinessIiterature

invariablyrefertosuccess insele$.

･

_lnmany Engineeringcontexts, jnnovationdirectlyrefers to

pushing

theexistingtechnologicalboundaries.Documented cases inthe Iiteratureoften includelaboratoryinventionsthat

change current assumptions ofwhat is_possible.

･

_{lnCreativeDesign,}an emphasis is_placedon meaning, and

innovationisconsidered a radicai change of expectations

associated toanew _practice,service or _product.

These three

_type$

of innovation,i.e.:businessinnovation,

technologicalinnovationand semantic innovation

(or

"design-driven""),are complementaty rather than mutually exclusive.

Infact,a comprehensive defjnitionof innovation would include

market suc¢ess, technological accomplishment and a radical

departurefromexpectations, among other things.Whilstcrafting a detinitivedefinitionof jnnovationmay bebeyondinterest,what

isimportantinan interdisciplinarycontext istobeexplicit and empathic intheclarification ofaims and taigets,1nour experience,

thisiscrucial toenable communication, _projectalignment and productivecollaboration.

2.Neverask "Are

youcreative?"

Therearetwo natural answers that_peoplegiveto the_question

"Are

you creative?"and we haveseen thatbothanswers

(yes

or

no) are equally counterproductive to innovation.When _people

believethatthey arenot creative,theybui]da `suicidal' _attitude

towardschange. Thisisa frequentoccurrence inEngineering and other circies where creativity isassociated to _playful,trMal

imageryexereises.Inoon ±rast,most people inso-called creative

industriestendtobelievethattheyare creative and that_thjs attributeisnecessary or even sufficient forinnovation.Thisisa

dangereusassumption and one thatoften drivesforward-thinking

peopletodeeplevelsoffrustrationand teams to highindicesof

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lneur experience, innovativeteams need a balance between

"creative"

and "non-creative" _{members, orrathecwe}

have

leamed

thatlabeMng_peoplethisway isdamagingtoinnovationinboth ways. 1tulyinnovativeteams are those where people know that theycan switch from"more

creative"

(divergent

exploration)to

`'moreproductive"{convengentimplementation)modeirrespective

of their

backgrounds.

Such teams displayfiexibleleadership,

which shiftsfrommembers with more divengentthinkingincertain stages ofa_project,toother members with more convengent skills

atothertimes.

Creativity

speciatistsare tobeavoided frominnovationteams,

lnstead,itismore _productiveto assemble a set of humble and

respectfulspecialiststhat are able to transferleadershipand switchbetweencreativeandproductivestages,triggeringdifferent

abilitiesfromeveryteam member throughout thedeveiopment of aproject.

3.Systemicintervervtions

lnnovativeteamsdevelopsystems thinkingskillsand buildnew

proposalsof systemic interventions

knowing

thatany resolution

toa_problemismerely away tofurtherunderstand problemsand

"dance

_{with systems"2. 0ne way tohelpteamswiththisprecess}

isto introduoea_guidingframewotksuch as DonellaMeadows]

`"TSNelve

_leverage

points"3inorder tobuildacommon ground,This

type

ot_guidehelpstoframediscussions,share ideasand assess

arguments and

-equally

important-theyhelpteams avoid labouF

divisionbydisciplinaryturf.

fearnsshould

_prooeed

with caution inregards to systemic

thinking,as introducingpeople tocomplexity tends to cause undesired responses. Ratherthanavoid such responses, teams

shou1dbepreparedtoovercometheireffectsandtranscendthem.

Anumber of stages can beexpected intheprocessof building systemicteams:

･

_Doubtand denial

is

not an uncommon eariy response when

people

firstapproach problemsfrom a systemic _perspective.

Attimes,thisstageisnotentirelysuperseded and teamsmay

beconstantlytemptedtoreplace a systemic viewpoint with a

more simplistic way outofit

-particulariy

ifartificialdeadlines

are imposed.

･

_{Realisationis}observed when teams are able to _graspthe complexities of a _probiem and visualise itfrom multiple

perspeetives, scales and dimensions includingtechnology, society, culture,theenvironment, the economy

politics,

etc.

Theriskhereisthatteamsiterateinfinitelyintascinatinganalysis

of_problemsand continuously postponeaction

-see

below.

J

_Paralysisoccurs when teams are overwhelmed with the

amount and naiure of information.Conflictinggoais,numerous

requirements and unclear limitsare likelytotriggera sentiment

ofhelplessness.The riskhereisthatteams become unable to

initiateand implementnew actions.

･

_Metivationtakes_placewhen teams see "the _lightatthe end of

thetunnel",usuallyaiteracrisisoraturningpointintheprocess,

This inspirationmay arise fremakeyinsight,an analogy froma

distantdomain, anew oroverlooked _pieceof data,orachange

effocus.Thisisa_positiveoccurrence butmay become counteF

productive

ifateam becomes fixatedwith these ideasinstead oftakingthemasstepping stones

in

thelearning_process.

･

_Systemicactionisthenatura1tangetoftheentire _process.After

el1thedatagathering,analysisand

decision

making, aconcrete

andplausiblecourseofactienisdesired.Iheriskofthi$stagels

thatteamsfongettoengage incontinuous _periodsof reflection

thatleadtolearning.A furtherriskisthatteams end up with

extremely complicated solution_proposalswhere allthesystem

variables are included.Ttulysystemic interventionsareakin

"nudges]'4 or small scale actionsthattriggersett-sustainedand

large-scalechange.

4.`tJust _tellme what_todo":dealing_{vvithpiematureaction}

Acommon trap inwhich teamstendtofallistostartsolving a

probiemas soon as itispresentedto them. This is_padiculariy trueinacademic circles where students are _presentedwith what is assumed tobeadefiniteconstructionsuitably _preparedforthem

toapply and demonstratewhat theyhavelearnt.VLlehaveseen

thatmost teacherscontinue withthepracticeofframing _problems

or _projectswhere theyknow thetangetresponse orsolution.This

isactually thebasisofmost _gradingrubrics, tohelpassess how

faristhefinaloutcome tothe

desired

tanget.Inour experience this

isamajor blocktoboth creativity and innovation.

Innovativeteachers, managers and team leadersingeneral

know thattheirframing ofthetaskor _problemathandisan eariy approximation thatisdue to evolve thus they start by _proudly acknowledging thattheydon'tknow thefinalanswen Thisimplies

a non-trivialshiftofcontrol thatrequires careful planning and management, butthesolutionspace expands and often leadsto

new learningopportunities foreveryone.

1nnovativeteams leamhow tofinda balancebetweennaming and soIvinga_problem.One ofthe most challenging sk"lsthatsuch a

team requiresistoleranceforambjguity. Thisjseven harderfor

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52

technicalsawy peoplewho aretrainedtodo thingsright, rather

thanto_questioniftheyaredoingtherightthings.

5."Complex _{iscomplicated": dealing}

with excessive thinking

lncontrast tothe _{previouspoint,in}our experience teams may

conversely

fail

toinnovatedue toan excessive _ponderingof

the _{problemsathand,}ratherthantranslatinginformationinto

actionable insightsand finaliyintoconcrete action. Such teams insiston developinga comprehensive understanding of the

problem beforedecidinga resolutjon course. The ideathat "problem _{understanding}

and _problemresolution areconcomitant

toeach othee'6reinforces the notion thatno amount ofanalysis solvesaproblem.

6.Noveky bias

The

_quest

for_pureoriginality isflawed.Ahealthydoseofjmitation is_goocias longas itincludeslearning.InalldisciplinesthereIs

an emphasis on "being first",thisisnoticeable inconcepts like "fitst-mover

advantage"', the logicbehindthepatenting system and the drivefororiginalityincreativedesign.HoweveE most cases of comprehensive innovation demonstratethatthere isa clear advantage inlearningfromearlyideasand improvingthem

inordertoachieve a balancebetweenwhat has beencalled"the

threelensesot innovation"7:feasibility,desirabjlityand viability.

Inourexperience, every well-known innovationinhistoryisbased

onveryspecificinstancesofprecedingfailuresorinstancesofprior artinadifferentcontext. Thisiscalled the n-th mover advantage and can beextremely helpfultoaligninterdisciplinaryefforts,as it

lifts_{theburdenfrom}any singie disciplineto"deliver" _innovationin a_{designproject.Aliinnovations}cite multjple _priorartreferences,

and often times itis_ignorancemixed with our tendency towards

attribution effectsratherthanpureoriginality and unprecedented

geniuswhat explains seemingly breakthroughinnovations.

Itis important _{for interdisciplinarydesign}teams to realise

that_{innovationthrivesin}thelinksrather than the nodes ofthe

knowledgenetwotks.

7.Mest innovativeideas areactivelyrejeeted

An additional common misconception ininnovation_projectsis thattheteam's _goalistofind"the

next bigthing",Brainstorming sessions

(often

_funand more productive to build_group ties

rather _{thangood ideas)}are becoming ubiquitous to address all

problemsfrom onganising theend-of-year _partyto increa$ing

sales or decreasingcosts. Inour experience, such sessions

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are often flawed fromthebeginninginthattheirobjective isto

generateavast number of ideas,rather thantrytoassess, learn

and understand what bothnew and old ideasreally mean when

developedintotangiblesolutions.

The reason why most breakthroughinnovationsare _perceived

as "obvious"' _{once they}

are implementedisthattheyare indeed

obvious

-once

we understand them.Thereare two sides ofthe

coinbehind$uch a truism:firstly,most innovationsaren't

"first

to

theworid", intactmany of us may havehadthesame oravery simiiaridea.Inthisca$e the differenceoften i$thatwe didn'tdo

anything about it,we chose nottoinvesttheresources and efforts

toimplementour _greatideaS.A second altemative _isthatthe

ideaseemed chaotic or _plainlystupid before_itwas implemented. ClayChristensenrefers to thistype of solutions as disruptive

innovations9:successfulideas thatmost competitorsareunwi1ling or unable tosee, orthat_theyveryconsciously

@ect

or dismissas

inconsequential,

8.Language and documerttedcases are important

Many of the

biggest

challenges forinterdisciplinaryteams are related tolanguage: team members carryconventions fremtheir disciplinaryand experientiai backgrounds _thatare articulated in ad-hocvocabularies.

leam members from creative _{backgroundstend toperceive}

technicalskillsand knowledgeashardtoapproach mainly dueto

languagebaniers.lnourexperience,themainchallengeassociated toexplaining technicalconcepts toanartistora creative designer

isto overcome theresistance that_theword creates when they

firstencounter it.Oftentimes_theirreactiononce ±heyunderstand

theunderlyingconcept isa_pemplexed

"is

_{thatit?"indicatingthatit} sounds more diracultthanitactually is.VLfiehave _{foundthistobe}a

general

case rather thantheexception.

A fundamentaldifferenceconcerning specialisedissuesisthat

although domainexperts may need todwellon thespecifics and

detailedintricacies,foran outsider thisisunnecessary. Simplec

moreappliedandmeaningfulexplanationsarerequiredtointroduce

otherdisciplinestothefundamentalconceptsandtechniques.We

haveobserved thatforteohnicalexperts itisequallychallenging toapprehend the

_type

ofindefiniteand ambiguous terms thatare commonplace inhuman sciences.

Outsiders

oftentrytofindan

equivaientstructuredapproach toconcepts findingtheexchange

ofsuch ideasfrustrating.

Interdisciplinarytearnsthataim toinnovatemay fjndsupport

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experience, itpaystohavea collectionofcase$ athandwhere

issuesfrom multiplefieldsheipexplain success or teachus

something valuable from failure.Some of thecases thatwe

regularlyemployinclude:

･

_{Thomas Edison}vs.EmileBerlinercompetition inestablishing

thephonograph industry

{cylinders

vs. discs)toillustratethe

processoflearningfromstakeholders'feedback

･

_Segway to illustratetheideathattechnicalaccomplishment is

an insufficientingredientforjnnovation

･

_{Reusable diapers,}menstrual _peds and other disposable

productsbeingreplaced bywashable and reusable alternatives

toillustratethechange ofeveryday expectations and meanings

thatare seidom _questioned

･

_{Stereobeltvs.SonyWalkman(andanumberofAppleproducts)}

toillustratethepowerofn-th mover advantage

･

_European

camel milkfrom

Kamelenmelkerij

Smit$

inHolland

toillustratetheimportance of imitationwith learninginanew context

･

Ebook readers toillustratethe time ittakes fora market to

assimilateanew proposal

･

_Calculators,

_{telephones,MMs} keybeardlayoutstoillustrate

theevolutionatyprocessofconvengence and theemengence of

norms and ¢onventions

-

_{Byciclestoillustratethediverse}range ofmeanings thatthese human-poweredvehicles haveareund theworid

-

_{Wrightbrothers}airplane toillustratethatanew ideacan take

decadesboforepeopleaccept

it

and recognise

it

as "obvioust'

･

Nintendo VViitoillustratethatadeep change of meaning and

expectetion is_possibleeven when the technicalcomponents are not new

･

_{Vibramfivefingerstoillustratehow} research can beappliedjn

thedesignofproducts thatchallenge underiying assumptions

･

_Flippocketcamcorder toillustratethesuccess of a twor$e'

solution increaiing anew productcategory

･

_BuckminsterFullerDymaxion carto-illustratetheimportance

ofthe[ong-termnegative effects

trhe

car) and howtheycan be

anticipated

･

_Ford

_Model

T to itlustratethe importanceof learningfrom

failuresinpreviousversions

(Models

A,B,C,etc).

･

_And many lesseFknown and smaH-scale examples of

adaptation, improvisation and innovation fromsocial _groups

livinginpovertyand hardship.

This type of examples serve to articulate

dialogue,

guide discussionsandraisetheimportanceofcontinuouslearningacross

disciplinesinordertounderstand where innovatjonisappropriate

inevery case: technology-push,market-pul1, change of meanings,

or

_possibly

abalancedand comprehensive approach.

9.Applyingre$earch outcomes

lnevery discipline,thereisa theory-practicegap between the

output of research effortsand theirapplication inaddressing

problematicsituations. When working across disciplinary

boundariessuch distancewidens between differentknowledge

traditionsand

types

of practice.Interdisciplinaryteams invest

significant resources inbuildingrespect and nurturing disciplinary

diversityinorder to ±ranslate and integratecomplementary researchfindingsfremdifferentfields.

Inacademic circies,thechallenge increaseswhen _promotionand

tenureevaluation systems reward disciplinaryoveFspecialisation.

Innovationrequires flexibleassessment criteria to _promote

collaboration initiativesinresearch as well as teaching and

consulting.

10.The _power of mastering soft and hardskills

Adamaging _practicewhen interdisciplinaryteams are formedis

toassign to each disciplinetheirspecialised toolset and roles.

Namely, teams often assume thatdesignersshould beinchange

ofdrawing,engineers should writecomputer code, and business

experts should evaluaterevenue models. Fortunately,theideathat

sketching should betaughtinalldisciplinesas athinkingaide has

been

raised inrecent _yearsiO.

Inour experience, all members ininnovativeteams engage

indrawingor incomputer _programming or inidentifyingnew

businessopportunities. Itisthis

_type

ofcombination ofknowledge and skjllsthatshape the

_type

of contradictory _profilesthathave

bcen associated tocreativity"i and thaiare necessary tocultivate

polymaths.

11.Diverskyinteams

Creativitytechniquesare useless ifthemembers of innovative

teamsengageinroutineeverydayactivitiesandhabits.Imaginative

people enjoy exploration, experimentatjon and the failure associated with tryingnew things.Successfulteamsincorporate members who are comfortable talkingtodifferentpeople

(age,

discipline,ethnicbackground,religion)and cultivateawide range

ofta$te$.

Wb haveobserved the_processesand outcomes oftwodistinct

types

of _groups:teams composed by strangers and teams

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composed by acquaintances"2.

The

former

tend tobe less

efficient butthey surpass others inoriginalityand quality.The

1atterarehighlyefficientbuttheirresultstendtobebelowaverage.

Interdisciplinaryteams develop the capacity toswitch between

these _twostrategies.Theyareable to$witch fromeariy strangeF

likedynamicswhen emphasis on differencesisrequired toenrich

divetgentprocessesinto1ateracquaintance-like dynamicswhen

theaim istoenableagUe and focuseddecision-makingtoact and

implementoriginalinitiativesefficiently

12._UnirTtendedand indirectconsequenoes

LastlMinour experience interdisciplinaryteams can be highly

innovativedue totheir_potentjaltoanticipate unintended and

indirectconsequences of a change initiative.Because systemic change cannot betestedwithout beingimplemented,innovation

requiresdifferentways toassess the _potentialof a _proposal,

Iearnfromsmall-scale trials,and developan understanding from solutions throughoutimplementation.Successfuiteams Iisten toand learnftomfeedback,and thereforeare able to change

course ofactionbasedon new evidence. Thismay

lead

ateam

toconstant trade-offsand dilemmas, and even todeep

means-ends questioning inregards tothedirectionand soope of change

sought. likewise,innovativeteams learnto appreciate change

resistance.Theyreceive negative responses as avaluable source

of insightsand as an opportunity toaddress cha[lenges and

improvepreviouschangeinitjatives.

Byway ofmatn conclusion,thisrange of experiences hasshown

usthatinnovationisnecessarily interdiscipiinaryLThismay be one

ofthemost understated and challenging issues

behind

innovation.

Inthisarticiewe have triedto distillfK)mour experience key factorsthatare likelytocontribute tothecreative developmentof meaningtul and profitabletechnologythatpromotes sustainable

lifestylesintothetwenty-firstcentury.

toask,foronce 1know theproper question,1could solve the

probleminlessthanfiveminutes"

6.HWJ. RITT'ELand MM. Webber

_(1973),

`[Dilemmas _in a

GeneralTheoryof Planning".PolicySciences4,155-169

7.See IDEO: http:llwww.ideo.com/imagesluploadsinew$f pdfstDesignMag-English-June2011.pdf

8.HE.Gardner

_(1994}

CreatingMinds:An Anatomy of Creativity

as Seen Through the Livesof Freud,Einstein,Picasso,

Stravinsky,Eliot,Graham, and Gandhi".BasicBooks,New

Ybrk.9.CM.

Christensen

_(2003}

"The _{lnnovator"sDilemma: The}

RevolutionaryBook that WillChange the Way Ybu Do

Business".Harpe4New bebrk.

1O."fop _{drawers"The Guardlan,26/5/04:http:llwww.guardian.}

co.uklartanddesign/20041may1261art

11.M. Csikszentmihalyi

_(1997),

"Creativity: _{Flow and the}

Psychologyof

Discovery

and lnvention".HarperPerennial,

New Ybrk.

12.R.Sosa and D.Albarran

₍₂₀₀₈₎

`tSupporting _idea

generation indesignteams",ProceedingsofEngineeringand Product DesignEducation 08,Barcelena, Spain,61-66.

Reference

1

.

"Design-Driven

lnnovation" _{byRobertoVergantihttp:llwww.}

desjgndriveninnovation.com

2."Dancing

with systems" by _{DonellaMeadows: http:llwww.}

sustaine:orglpubs/Dancing.html

3."TIArelve

_Ieverage

points"byDonellaMeadows: http:llwww. sustainenong/pubslLeverage-Points.pdf

4."Nudges" _{by R.H.Thaler}

and C.R.Sunstein:http:llnudges.

orgl5.

A tamous _{quetebyA.Einstein}reads:"f _1had

an hourtosolve

a _problemand my lifedepended on thesolution, 1would

spend the

fitst

55 minutes determiningthe _{properquestion}

54T-tf-rtz\Mfik-glrif-r).MtdesFgnthinking

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