Comments on: Innovate your way out of the recession http://www.sitsite.com/blog/2009/03/innovate-your-way-out-of-the-recession/ Thu, 17 May 2012 15:43:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Amnon Levav http://www.sitsite.com/blog/2009/03/innovate-your-way-out-of-the-recession/#comment-343 Amnon Levav Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:02:05 +0000 http://www.sitsite.com/blog/?p=150#comment-343 Thanks. Thought provoking, and a cool video as well. We often refer to what we see in this video, and what you describe in the post, as "Relational Fixedness", sister to Functional and Structural Fixednesses. Just as Functional F is the tendency to ascribe specific functions to an object, Relational F is when we assume, often without even being conscious of it, certain relationships or dependencies between elements. And crisis situations will of course reinforce these tendencies. There is deifintely a good reason - crisis often demands a quick response, which means less time to think, which in turns demands that we rely on the prewired reponses we already posses. But wait, isnt this also an instance of Relational F? Its true that if my crisis is a tiger running at me, the most crucial element is speed of reaction, but is this true of any type of crisis? It could be argued that in modern day crises, at least in some of them, due to the complexity of the factors involved, speed is actually a minus, and a delayed, thoughtful reaction is actually a much better policy. "Slowness is of the essence"... sounds strange, doesnt it? But so does any thought that breaks one of our fixednesses. Thanks. Thought provoking, and a cool video as well. We often refer to what we see in this video, and what you describe in the post, as “Relational Fixedness”, sister to Functional and Structural Fixednesses. Just as Functional F is the tendency to ascribe specific functions to an object, Relational F is when we assume, often without even being conscious of it, certain relationships or dependencies between elements. And crisis situations will of course reinforce these tendencies. There is deifintely a good reason - crisis often demands a quick response, which means less time to think, which in turns demands that we rely on the prewired reponses we already posses. But wait, isnt this also an instance of Relational F? Its true that if my crisis is a tiger running at me, the most crucial element is speed of reaction, but is this true of any type of crisis? It could be argued that in modern day crises, at least in some of them, due to the complexity of the factors involved, speed is actually a minus, and a delayed, thoughtful reaction is actually a much better policy. “Slowness is of the essence”… sounds strange, doesnt it? But so does any thought that breaks one of our fixednesses.

]]> By: Fabian Szulanski http://www.sitsite.com/blog/2009/03/innovate-your-way-out-of-the-recession/#comment-337 Fabian Szulanski Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:41:30 +0000 http://www.sitsite.com/blog/?p=150#comment-337 Excellent post, ladies :) It also reminded me of the concept "You create your own reality". Even if you have to change the statu-quo for that, and come with non trivial ideas. There are plenty of solutions - not magic that solve all problems, but interesting and valuable, such as: - Hiring baby boomers, soon to retire people, full of experience, on a part time basis, who would like to help in any valuable task, specially in implementing creative solutions in this context. (In this case, hiring will be a function of age). This solution is also counter intuitive and socially responsible as well. A variation would be to hire people with mild mental or physical disabilities. - Something similar to the coffee store mentioned, but for in-house entertainment purposes. What about a "Starbucks experience at home"? This would also be aligned with the growing trend of spending less money in theaters, dining out, etc. - Instead of cutting spending, increase spending but buying in a cooperative way with many companies, so by buying in bulk, all would enjoy of great discounts. I hope this helps... Fabian Excellent post, ladies :)
It also reminded me of the concept “You create your own reality”. Even if you have to change the statu-quo for that, and come with non trivial ideas.
There are plenty of solutions - not magic that solve all problems, but interesting and valuable, such as:

- Hiring baby boomers, soon to retire people, full of experience, on a part time basis, who would like to help in any valuable task, specially in implementing creative solutions in this context. (In this case, hiring will be a function of age). This solution is also counter intuitive and socially responsible as well. A variation would be to hire people with mild mental or physical disabilities.

- Something similar to the coffee store mentioned, but for in-house entertainment purposes. What about a “Starbucks experience at home”? This would also be aligned with the growing trend of spending less money in theaters, dining out, etc.

- Instead of cutting spending, increase spending but buying in a cooperative way with many companies, so by buying in bulk, all would enjoy of great discounts.

I hope this helps…

Fabian

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