Understanding innovation

Abstract

VicUrban, the Victorian state government urban land development agency, is showcasing its sustainability credentials in their new 8000-home Aurora Estate. Aurora will have environmental features which, amongst other initiatives, require the use of materials that are more environmentally sustainable. The EcoSelector was designed to guide the builders in their selection of materials. More or less points are awarded, depending on the materials used for the floor structure, framing, wall cladding, roof cladding, fittings and finishes, and landscaping. The builders are required to meet a minimum overall score for a proposed house before it can be approved by VicUrban. The EcoSelector can be seen as an innovation for sustainability within the volume house building sector. The experiences of the people directly and indirectly involved with the development of the EcoSelector are examined to provide a phenomenological basis for theorizing innovation. Schumpeter's (1934) concept of innovation, while identifying habit as a cause of resistance to innovation, fails to explore the phenomenon socially, relying on explanations based on individual differences. An evolutionary social learning model that draws on Vygotsky's (1978) developmental psychology, Bourdieu's (1977) concept of habitus, and Wittgensteinian (1958) thought is proposed to define innovation, and identify its dialectical form.