Ketso means ‘action’ in Lesotho, where it was created in the 90s by Dr Joanne Tippett, a lecturer in Spatial Planning at the University of Manchester. Ketso was first used to engage rural communities in planning improvements for their villages. It proved to be a powerful tool for social inclusion and driving action. It enables the transition from Ideas to Action in an open collaboration. Great for innovation or service transformation projects. We recently discussed how Ketso Connect can work to increase collaboration whilst sitting in our boxes, we can feel like we are in the same space, working collaboratively across the wires so we can gather the best ideas and build our shared understanding of the issues.

https://ketso.com/guest-blog-enabling-a-culture-of…/

Once at work we cease to ‘play’. Homo Ludens first published in 1944 in which Johan Huizinga defines play:

‘It proceeds within its own proper boundaries of time and space according to fixed rules and in an orderly manner.’

Play does have intrinsic rules – how often do you hear a small child complaining about their pal who didn’t play by the rules? These rules are often co-created – you cannot build a fort with leaves or shoot your team mates for example.  An argument ensures and small children often build a consensus to change or accept that rule.

Innovation tools and techniques can re-encourage that mind set, providing space, authority and skills to apply ‘play’ to an organisational criterion.

However, it is still difficult for organisations and business, in this current economy, to see the real value in growing their people creatively when other targets take precedence.

So how do you marry the creative and pragmatic approach to drive real value for organisations?

One of the methodologies I have come across recently is Mark Browns’ total innovation management framework of the Dolphin Index.

Here he talks about the ambidextrousness of companies that succeed and the need to marry both development streams.

http://www.dolphinindex.org/

I am always looking to discover new ways to marry these two requirements in the programmes I develop.  Play to innovate, whether as an individual or as an organisation, can only build long term viable and desirable value for any organisation wishing to think for their future.

How do you do it – how do apply creativity in people to pragmatic outcomes in a quantifiable methodology?

In a recent conversation with Lucy Gower of Lucidity https://www.lucidity.org.uk/ we discuss how bringing ‘play’ back into the workforce has the potential to unlock the creative thinking of its people to generate better outcomes for their customers.

In a recent search for further understanding about innovation I came across 2 articles that have made me re-think my practice.

Jun Nakamuro, Leadership Development Trainer for Organizational Reform based in the US. In his article ‘Re-Translating Lean from Its Origin’, re-examines the Kaizen methodology that informs  The Toyota Production System.

He looks at the language of Kaizen and its translation and notes how a different view focuses on Kaizen as a mindset.

‘Kaizen is not about making physical improvements. Kaizen is about changing one’s behaviors ‘

Mark Masuoka Director and CEO of Akron Art Museum in the US, wrote an article in 2018 discussing the requirement for our people to have imagination. With the challenge of AI potentially removing transactional work, what remains is work that requires problem solving, vision making, thinking differently and human pattern recognition analysis.

All attributes and outcomes of a creative and active imagination.

http://www.sbnonline.com/article/the-power-of-imagination/

Innovation often focuses on product development and the processes that shape our roadmap to new products. And although there is no doubt that technological innovation can support our move to more sustainable economies and environments, my practice has been focused on developing and growing people and their mindsets.