Learning:

Idea Management

Discovery

The Art of Discovery and the Model for Discovery

"The real magic of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." – Marcel Proust

"Discovery is seeing what everybody else has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought." – Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Experimentation: The Key to Discovery

Discovering what works requires that you understand the casual links between inputs and outputs. When it come to searching for cause-effect relationships, perhaps the most suitable model that emerges is the method of experimentation that allows the most efficient scientific progress, the scientific method as a model for discovery.¹

The Scientific Method as a Model for Discovery

The scientific process starts with a theory. According to Peter Drucker, every business operates on the basis of a theory that reflects assumptions about such things as its environment, its mission, and the competences it needs to accomplish its mission. Peter Senge, a leading researcher and consultant on learning organizations, refers to such decisions and behavior-shaping assumptions as “mental models.”

In the scientific method of discovery, the theory is followed by hypothesis. A hypothesis simply speculates about a theorized cause-effect relationship, and presents a testable question about what works, developed as an outgrowth of the theory of the business.

Hypotheses are tested by experimentation, the results of which go through evaluation to determine conclusions.¹

Discovering Yourself

"The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover will be yourself." – Alan Alda

The Power of Your Cross-Functional Excellence

If you build broad cross-functional expertise, no idea will be wasted! Your mind can accept only those ideas that have a frame of reference with your existing knowledge. It rejects everything else. If your knowledge is functionally focused, you'll be open to new ideas related to your functional expertise only and will miss all other learning and innovation opportunities. If you develop a broad cross-functional expertise, no new idea will be wasted. It will immediately connect with the existing knowledge and will inspire you, energize you, and encourage your entrepreneurial creativity. The broader your net is, the more fish you catch.

Accidental Discoveries

Many ideas surface in the strangest ways, often when they are least expected. Sometimes they seem to pop up almost by accident. The accidental discovery is triggered by chaos and contradictions, rather than by order and logic. When open-minded people read, listen or watch, they often find things that catch their eye, leading them off into other areas of enquiry.

 Case in Point  Velcro

For thousands of years, man has walked through fields of weeds and arrived home with burrs stuck to his clothing. It’s amazing no one took advantage of the problem until 1948. George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, was on a hike through the woods when inspiration struck. Bothered by annoying burrs that stuck to his clothing, de Mestral stopped to pry them loose. What made them so difficult to remove? he wondered. When de Mestral returned home, he examined one under his microscope. The discovery led de Mestral to invent a hook-and-loop fastener of his own. The principle was simple.

The cocklebur is a maze of thin strands with burrs (or hooks) on the ends that cling to fabrics or animal fur. By the accident of the cockleburs sticking to his jacket, George de Mestral recognized the potential for a practical new fastener. It took eight years to experiment, develop, and perfect the invention, which consists of two strips of nylon fabric. One strip contains thousands of small hooks. The other strip contains small loops. When the two strips are pressed together, they form a strong bond.  Today his invention – Velcro – can be found on everything from clothing and lunch bags to space suits and spacecraft.² It is strong, easily separated, lightweight, durable, and washable, comes in a variety of colors, and won’t jam.

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