The Innovative Individual

What Jim Canterucci mentions in his post is a pertinent issue. There is only so much that organizational processes and structures can do to make organizations more innovative.

Let us not forget that above all organizations are not mechanistic systems (though we always tend to assume that they are). Above all, organizations are human and social systems and a product of the human and social systems of the times they are in.

The focus of education and society has primarily been a heavy tilt towards the analytical processes. This is looked at as the holy grail of education.

Therefore, focus of most engineering and MBA education is the building of Analytical skills (I think that's what Henry Mintzberg has against MBAs) . However, in the real world of work there are two more skills that are higher order skill.

According to Bloom's taxonomy higher than analysis are the skills of synthesis and the skill of evaluation.

These are the skills that educational systems somehow never quite tap and develop, and these are the skills that are necessary to develop the innovative individual who will add more value to the organizations and society.