Design and Innovation as Co‐creating and Co‐becoming with the Future

Abstract

Our world has changed radically over the last several decades. Almost every domain of our lives is affected by disruptions in technology—our economy, culture, and education, as well as social lives. We are living in an environment that is characterized by high levels of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (“VUCA world”). These changes bring about completely new challenges on an individual, an organizational, and a global level. Whereas classical approaches to design and innovation are based on the assumption that we can “solve” these challenges by applying techniques and methods of “problem solving,” of (social) collaboration, co‐creation, or co‐design, this paper challenges this “classical” understanding of “together” and “co‐.” We will develop and take a closer look at three forms of “together” and “co‐,” investigating the relationship between the designer/innovator, his or her material and environment, and the involved stakeholders and their being embedded in ecosystems, as well as the future he or she is designing for: (a) being/working together and collaborating with others (socio‐epistemic dimension); (b) being together, interacting and corresponding with the material/world (co‐becoming dimension); and (c) being together and co‐developing with the future as “learning from the future as it emerges.” It will be shown how these forms of together are related to design and innovation, and we will develop implications concerning new skills and mind‐sets.

Supporting innovation processes using material artefacts: Comparing the use of LEGO bricks and moderation cards as boundary objects

“…One key insight from our study is that it is not (only) the creativity of a single cognitive agent or group of cognitive agents that is responsible for generating novelty or innovation. As shown by Ingold (2014) and Peschl (2019a), creativity is a process of ‘undergoing’, that is, the environment plays a central role as a source of creativity and novelty. It is not so much our own creative act but our ‘submission’ and openness (Ingold, 2013, 2014) to the environment that produces novelty in an emergent process of constant interaction and mutual form‐giving/shaping and form‐taking apart from our social interactions.…”

“…One key insight from our study is that it is not (only) the creativity of a single cognitive agent or group of cognitive agents that is responsible for generating novelty or innovation. As shown by Ingold (2014) and Peschl (2019a), creativity is a process of 'undergoing', that is, the environment plays a central role as a source of creativity and novelty.…”

Learning from the future as a novel paradigm for integrating organizational learning and innovation

“…If an organization wants to identify future potentials, it has to learn to see the future of reality as an unfolding emergent phenomenon carrying in itself a dynamics of bringing things from potentiality into actuality. In such an approach one has to acknowledge that the goal or the purpose is not clear from the outset; rather, it (co-) emerges in a process of cooperation and co-becoming with the environment (Peschl, 2019a). The goal is to tap into potentials of the core (see above) that have not been identified and realized yet.…”

The future of hospitality jobs

“…In the last decade, many researchers have studied and identified what is foreseen to be the desirable skills of the future, skills like entrepreneurship and ICT competencies (Cincera et al, 2018;Crișan, Joița, Zwaga, & Sebea, 2014;Miller, Wesley & Williams, 2012;Zupan & Nabergoj, 2016) leadership (Iordanoglou, 2018;Mumford, Zaccaro, Connelly, & Marks, 2000;Schad & Smith, 2018;Virick & Greer, 2012), communication and critical thinking (Chikeleze, Johnson, & Gibson, 2018;Kek & Huijser, 2011;McCafferty, 2014) and innovation (Gelinas, 2016;Peschl, 2019).…”