Editor’s Note: Innovation

Whenever Sheldon Cooper is on the telly, or I read about a fascinating discovery in the world of science, I am reminded of the time I was dead set on becoming an engineer (well it was always a close second to becoming a veterinarian!) but how, over time I decided my calling lay in another direction.

So it is with great excitement that we bring you an issue that quotes Edison and Einstein more than a couple of times!

Addressing leaders wanting to become better innovators at the organisational level, Roshan Thiran shares his top 10 tips, stressing that innovators should not just go against convention, but stand up and be able to persuade others of the value of their new ideas.

After decades in the industry, Ken Neoh echoes some of these sentiments, and offers 15 points of consideration for young people deciding on a career in science and technology, and how they might prepare and better equip themselves at every step of the way to become leaders in the field.

You’re in the box, you’re out of the box – Schrödinger’s cat of course! But not quite. In his article, Raj Kumar walks us through a practical example of how we might break free of the constraints or unseen limitations of “the box” in order to find solutions outside the usual thinking patterns.

On the topic of increasing both the effectiveness and efficiency of the innovation process, Daniel Russell presents the most important factors as well as the role of business leaders in creating an organisational climate of creativity.

A little departure from the topic of innovation, Terry Small shares the virtues of cinnamon, yes our humble kayu manis in this week’s Brain Bulletin.

At a fundamental level, Shane Parrish shares how we can set up the building blocks for innovation. How to go from reading in an elementary way to a syntopical way by asking the right questions, defining the issue, understanding multiple perspectives and eventually having an informed opinion.

Did I promise a cat? In our closing article Rise of the Insight Hunter, Tan Shu Hiong reiterates Parrish’s view of asking the right questions – being curious (however, he deftly avoids mentioning the idiom “curiosity killed the cat”) in order to see the world in a different way.

And finally, this week we bid farewell to Hyma Pillay, a wonderfully effervescent, deeply caring person who has contributed richly to our trove of leadership content with articles that so readily reach out and touch our readers, friends, family and foe alike. Hyma will still be an active contributor while pursuing her lifelong dreams. We wish her all the best!

Have a fantastic read!

KAREN NEOH

Drop us a line or two in the comment box provided or email us at editor@leaderonomics.com

Published in English daily The Star, Malaysia, 24 January 2015