The concept of scale has long been used in social innovation to understand how ideas and solutions spread, enlarge or deepen within social systems. In particular, research has pointed to three different ways of working with scaling as complementary paths to real system change: scaling up, scaling out and scaling […]
Innovation
133 posts
System innovation may sound technical and structural, but in practice it often starts with something very human. A story. When many organizations, professions and interests are to move in a new direction, reports, calculations and logical reasoning are rarely enough. Rational arguments are important but they are almost never sufficient. […]
Leadership has always been about getting people moving in a common direction. What has changed is the context. When organizations operate in stable environments, traditional leadership is sufficient. When they operate in uncertain, fast-moving and interconnected systems, it is no longer sufficient. This is when the need for innovation leadership […]
In innovation and social development, the concept of ecosystems is increasingly appearing. But what does it really mean to think in terms of ecosystems, and why is it so important? Thinking in terms of ecosystems is a way of seeing the context, relationships and the whole rather than focusing on […]
Many organizations and individuals are trained to interpret changes in the outside world based on a simple question: How can this benefit us? When new technology emerges, when rules change or when societal challenges become clear, people quickly look for opportunities to protect their position or strengthen their competitiveness. This […]
In many organizations the word complexity is used as an explanation for why things cannot be changed. It is said that the problems are complex, that the outside world is complex or that the systems are too complex to touch. But often different types of complexity are mixed together. In […]
Measuring is a fundamental part of organizational management. What we measure tends to get done because we focus on what is visible, explainable, and evaluable. But innovation is something completely different from production and improvement work. Innovation is a creative and uncontrollable process that does not grow from measurement but […]
As societal challenges become more complex, the way we organize innovation, value creation and collaboration is also changing. Traditional organizations with clear boundaries, hierarchies and ownership structures have difficulties dealing with issues that span industries, sectors and geographies. In this landscape, the concept of a keystone organization has emerged as […]
System innovation is not just about creating new solutions. It is just as much about getting the solutions to spread, integrate and become part of the new system. A pilot can be fantastic, but without scaling it does not affect the whole system. By the time a solution reaches the […]
Systems innovation is fundamentally about people. Technology, policies and structures can change, but if behaviours do not, the system will continue to produce the same results. Therefore, the behavioural level is not a side track in systems innovation, but a central hub. Understanding how behaviours are formed, how they spread […]
System innovation occurs in complex, dynamic and often unpredictable environments. This means that traditional measurement methods do not capture the changes that actually matter. Classic KPIs are based on linear assumptions where input leads to results in a predictable chain. In system change, reality works differently. Effects often arise as […]
The Theory of Change has become an established method for describing how a desired future can be achieved through a chain of assumptions, interventions and mechanisms. The method is often used in project logic, social development and sustainability work. Basically, the Theory of Change is about mapping a logical chain […]
Crisis is a state that no one wants. It is associated with uncertainty, anxiety and often both stress and loss. But from an innovation perspective, there is a paradoxical quality to crises. They force us to stop accepting the current situation and stop giving us the opportunity to postpone the […]
Systems innovation can seem difficult at first glance because the word is often associated with abstract models, complex schemes and cross-sectoral collaborations. A clearer way to understand the concept is to read it backwards. Systems innovation is simply “innovation of systems”. When you see it, you realize that the complexity […]
In innovation work, people sometimes talk about explore and exploit. These two concepts describe two fundamentally different ways of relating to development. Explore is about seeking new opportunities, experimenting and exploring unknown territory. Exploit is about refining, streamlining and scaling up what you already do well. Both are necessary and […]
When people or organizations come together to create something new, a strange and often underestimated stage occurs. In the beginning, there is enthusiasm, consensus and the kind of generosity that only exists when everything is still possible. People plan, allocate resources and say that they will work together with openness […]
Rethinking business models is one of the most challenging forms of innovation. Many organizations have a good understanding of how their products and services work, but far fewer reflect on the logic that makes the business possible, how value is created, delivered and captured. The Business Model Canvas, developed by […]
The term Innovation Valley describes a new type of geographical and thematic innovation cluster where business, academia, society and civil society collaborate in a common vision. While Silicon Valley became the symbol of digital and technological innovation during the 20th and 21st centuries, Innovation Valleys represent the next wave. A […]
Innovation is a way of solving problems in new ways. But not all problems require the same type of thinking, and not all organizations approach them in the same way. In today’s world, where both complexity and the pace of change are increasing, the difference between algorithmic and heuristic innovation […]
It happens time and time again. A small start-up enters an established field and in a few years changes the rules of the game so drastically that previously dominant companies are suddenly in the shadows. Why does this happen? What does the journey look like from the perspective of the […]
Systems innovation is about understanding and changing complex wholes. But before you can change something, you have to be able to see it. That’s why systems mapping is one of the most powerful methods in systems thinking. Creating a map of a system doesn’t just mean visualizing how different parts […]
When we talk about system change, it is often about understanding how different levels of society interact. Some changes happen quickly and visibly, others take decades and happen almost imperceptibly in the background. Multi Level Perspective (MLP) is a method for seeing these different layers of change and understanding how […]
We are all defined by our thinking. Our thoughts shape how we perceive the world, how we act, and what we believe is possible. Therefore, a shift in mindset is not just a change in perspective but a change in reality. It is the foundation of all true innovation. Thinking […]
It’s easy to think that creativity is about finding the right answer. We look for solutions, we analyze data, we test and improve. But behind every brilliant idea there is often something much simpler: a good question. In fact, the most crucial steps in human development often began not with […]
We live in a time when we are getting better at improving parts, but worse at understanding wholes. Our organizations, social systems and economic models have long been built as if the world could be understood by breaking it down into its components. But the reality we are facing; climate […]
When we talk about development in companies, the concepts of innovation and creativity are often mixed up. Innovation is basically about creating something new that is also realized and has an effect in the world. It can be a new product, a new process or a completely new way of […]
Innovation is often portrayed as a question of ideas. If we just get the right idea, success will come. But the likelihood of success with innovation is more about courage, resources and ambition than about individual ideas. In fact, it is precisely the combination of these factors that determines the […]
We live in a time of increasing complexity in almost every area. From global sustainability challenges to everyday work tasks, we face questions that demand both faster and deeper answers. In the midst of this chaos, mental frameworks, or models, offer a structure that helps us understand the world a […]
Mariana Mazzucato has become one of the most influential voices in innovation policy in recent years. Her work has shown that innovation is not just a technical issue, but also a social and political one. Through her book Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism and through her advice […]
In most organizations, meetings are the most common way to address issues. People gather in a room or digitally, an agenda is set, and then we hope that the discussions will lead to decisions, insights or forward movement. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t. The difference between a meeting and […]