Hargadon, Andrew. “Brokering knowledge: Linking learning and innovation.” Research in Organizational Behavior. 24 (2002): 41-85.
This was a pretty interesting paper.
Central question: Why is it so hard for organizations to learn from their experience and then forget that knowledge when faced with a new environment.
The punchline is that innovation is basically made possible by distinct domains of knowledge and is the process of applying knowledge from one domain in another, potentially rearranging said knowledge in the process. If you’re lucky enough to be a “knowledge broker” who interacts with many different domains, you win!
Implications for my research: (Ethnographic) user research helps identify the other domains that are relevant and not necessarily obvious.
More detailed notes after the jump.
n Def: Innovation is the application of old knowledge in a new context. (44) Innovation is situated in our society, which is quite fragmented into small domains of knowledge, which enhances the ability of knowledge brokers between domains to innovate. (44)
n Innovation alone is not enough – a community must emerge around the innovation, building redundant ties between the knowledge’s old context and new context. (45)
o Example: Design Continuum – Bringing together knowledge of splints and IVs for Reebok to create the Reebok Pump.
n Model from innovation to learning: Access => Bridging => Learning => Linking => Building (49)
o Accessing domain knowledge, bringing it into the organization, applying it in a different domain and then building more links to build a new knowledge community around the innovation.
n Revolutionary innovations often come from evolutionary combinations (51)
o Their “revolutionary” nature derives from their impact, not their origin
o Example: Ford mass production – revolutionary innovation combining four existing technologies: interchangeable parts, assembly line, continuous-flow production and the electric motor
n Lots more examples/anecdotes that relate the same idea, including but certainly not limited to:
o Thomas Edison turning a rapid telegraphing device into the mimeograph pen which later because the basis for the design of tattoo pens (56)
o Edison’s stock ticker design being applied to a fire alarm design (56)
o Design Continuum combining electric pump and battery from toy squirt gun to emergency room pulsed lavage (63)
n Many innovations are developed collectively/interactively rather than individually, and explicitly NOT through accessing codified knowledge and electronic databases. (67)
o Specific supporting quotes from HP, Anderson and Design Continuum
n Best practices (73):
o diversity in organization, diversity in location = access to more knowledge domains
o team orientation – bringing the solution together rather than coming up with it yourself
o continuing to foster dense networks while growing larter
o maintaining incentives for people to share knowledge – avoiding pressure for “efficiency”
