The Hidden Dimensions of InnovationQuest
by Langdon Morris and Bryan Coffman

InnovationQuest is a method of supporting groups of people to create breakthroughs. In pursuit of breakthrough thinking in any organization, there are aspects of the process that are overt and evident, the visible, and other aspects that are not so obvious even to the participants, the invisible.

The visible elements (the preparation, the activities, the environment) have been described in our white paper entitled “Creating Innovation: Elegant Solutions to Complex Problems through InnovationQuest” in considerable detail. There is a lot more to the art and science of facilitating creative, collaborative processes than what we can see. Here we discuss some of the invisible elements that are also critical to success. We approach this by asking a few questions that are central to our goal:

1. How do new ideas and innovations emerge?
2. How do they adapt over time?
3. How are they managed to produce reliable results?
4. How do large groups of individuals work together to apply and support these processes?
   

The first question has to do with the science of EMERGENCE.
The second question has to do with ADAPTIVE SELECTION.
The third question has to do with the science of CYBERNETICS.
The fourth question has to do with the psychology of INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP LEARNING, or cognitive science.

Table of Contents

Introduction
How Do Ideas Emerge?
How Do Ideas Adapt?
How are Ideas Managed to Produce Reliable Results?
How Do Individuals and Large Groups Work Together to Support These Processes?
Conclusion