P.I. Podcast: Interview with Mohanbir Sawhney
January 18th, 2008
Last week, I had opportunity to interview Professor Mohanbir Sawhney of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University about his new book, The Global Brain: Your Roadmap for Innovating Faster and Smarter in a Networked World. Professor Sawhney co-authored the book with Professor Satish Nambisan from the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and it is available from Wharton School Publishing.
I’ve been following Professor Sawhney’s writings on innovation for many years, so I was very excited when he agreed to speak with me. As I say at the top of the podcast, The Global Brain falls into the category of “books I wish I could have written,” because it makes a convincing and highly pragmatic case for the pursuit of network-centric innovation. Network-centric innovation is an open and collaborative approach that supplants the closed, firm-centered strategies with which we are all more familiar. These more traditional methods no longer serve organizations well in a Web-enabled world when the raw materials of innovation, especially ideas and talent, are more mobile and widely distributed than ever.
In the first few minutes of the podcast, Professor Sawhney questions some of the traditional assumptions of innovation, and elaborates on the meaning of network-centric innovation, making the point that it’s not just about innovating with customers, but creating innovation ecosystems. He describes the various nodes of IBM’s innovation ecosystem, and this got me thinking about the innovation ecosystems for associations. Which organizations are part of your association’s innovation ecosystem? Does your association belong to one or more innovation ecosystem for other enterprises? Post your responses below as comments or e-mail me with your thoughts.
The Global Brain is a must-read, so I encourage you to pick up a copy today. Please enjoy the podcast, which is approximately 33 minutes long. I look forward to your feedback!
For those interested in more on The Global Brain and associations, please read this excellent interview with Professor Nambisan, conducted by fellow blogger Peter Turner.
Entry Filed under: Principled Innovation Blog, What's New?, Social Media, PI Interviews, Audioblogs & Podcasts, Innovation, Associations, Extreme Makeover, The Association Innovator, Simplicity, We Have Always Done It That Way, Garage Memes
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