Nickname: Dr. Venu Perla

Review: After all, we have to remember that innovation is a combination of science and art. You can master the science part but not 'art'. Interestingly, it is possible to analyze and understand basic attributes of art. Even if you are good at science and art, surrounding environment is very important to trigger innovation in your mind. If you search, you will be able to find many examples in the history of innovation.

Date reviewed: May 22, 2007 7:16 PM

Nickname: bw

Review: I work in an office that once had a noisy ceiling vent. It made a very irritating tapping sound, like a little coin being tapped on a piece of metal. The business manager complained to the building manager, who scheduled the building maintenance crew to address the problem. They climbed the ladder, took the vent apart, looked all around with flashlights and mirrors, and could not find a problem, so they put it all back together and the sound was still there. As a lifelong mechanic turned white-collar office manager, I picked up a large rolled up visual chart that was used for a presentation. I stood under the vent, smacked it once with the rolled up chart, and the sound went away never to return. I'm not a genius or anything, and that is probably not a terribly innovative solution, but sometimes we should just smack the problem once or twice before we try to solve it.

Date reviewed: Mar 8, 2006 1:13 AM

Nickname: Patrick Whitney

Review: Jeneanne Rae's class is a great example of a leading business school knowing the game has changed: there is a power shift from producers to users. Users have unprecedented choices and expect and get offerings that fit individual needs. This is why user understanding is now core to innovation. Other business schools are adopting design methods too; the main case being Rotman including design in its core curriculum. A few design schools are integrating design and business. Stanford is launching classes making it easier for design and business students to work together. At IIT's Institute of Design we enable our Master of Design students to get an MBA in less time than normal. Jeneanne correctly says that corporations demand this. As I write this in my office at the Institute of Design, there are 600 job interviews going on in every corner of the school (for 90 students). Companies come to our event each semester looking for leaders of innovation throughout their companies.

Date reviewed: Feb 28, 2006 6:21 PM

Nickname: bizgeek

Review: I definitely agree with this article. I'm a graduating hihg school student (Philippines) and am planning to get a business course. Man, they really should teach innovation courses, or else all those expensive payments to the schools who create the architects of the future will all go to waste.

Date reviewed: Feb 27, 2006 3:50 PM