BIC: A REGIONAL MEETING PLACE FOR INNOVATORS AND ENTREPRENEURS
On this website, you can find detailed information about the function of the Bluefinger Innovation Centre, located at Melkmarkt 2-4 in Zwolle.
The information is organized under five headings:
Bluefinger Innovation Center, About Innovation, About Innovators, ORIGINAL, and LD Toolbox.
We'll tell you about the Center, our 60-year history of IT, leadership, and organizational development, and our company's mission: Leadership Development processes and enablers.
We'll also explain the design of the two top floors and the roof: the BIC Moose Club, the BIC Moose Business Club, and the blue-green retention roof.
The relevant themes are elaborated and explained in detail in the chapters "About Innovation" and "About Innovators."
The regional ORIGINAL program has a special focus of this website. This program aims to support the development of a regional Innovators network (ecosystem) by organizing numerous activities.
Our program enabler, the LD Toolbox, is also described in detail in the relevant chapter.
In the section below (on Creativity, Innovation, and Innovators), you can read about our unifying vision for the activities taking place in this center.
On creativity, Innovation and Innovators
There is an important difference between a discovery, an invention, and an innovation:
A discovery is the recognition and initial recognition of a phenomenon that has existed for a long time, but that no one previously understood. For example, how Kepler described the heliocentric system.
An invention is the creation of something entirely new, based on new ideas and development. For example, how Edison invented the light bulb.
Innovation is the transformation of creative ideas into useful applications by combining resources in a new way and thereby creating value through new or improved products and/or services.
While discovery or invention can be the work of a single person*), innovation is primarily a product of close collaboration between several people.
*) Even this is debatable in this case. It is not unusual for discoveries to occur simultaneously in different places around the world. The concept of multiple discovery, in which several inventors simultaneously realize the same development, is gaining ground, in contrast to the traditional view—the "heroic theory" of discoveries and inventions. See, for example, Malcolm Gladwell's Big Think (2011).
Creativity is the creative ability to find new and/or unusual but applicable solutions to existing problems.
This creative ability is most strongly developed in a rich learning environment that encourages the development of solutions that lead to innovation. Innovation is therefore primarily teamwork, and not everyone on a team needs to be particularly creative; quite the opposite. In the Belbin team role model, one "Plant" (or "Uitvinder" in Dutch) is sufficient.
The "knowledge creation spiral" (SECI according to Nonaka & Takeuchi) shows us how the process of knowledge creation spirals through the phases of Socialization, Externalization, Combination, and Internalization. The externalization phase, in particular, in which parties share their ideas, sparks inspiration, leading to innovative combinations of ideas. In the internalization step, the integrative learning process, participants arrive at new shared insights, after which a next spiral level in a potential collaboration emerges.
To the left: Belbin's Team Roles model To the right: Nonaka & Takeuchi's SECI model for the knowledge creation process
It's a misconception that only highly creative people are involved in the development of an innovative concept.
It's also a misconception that great innovative concepts always lead to innovations, because many attempts fail. During the development process, more than 95% of these ideas end in complete failure. Before an innovative idea leads to a truly successful innovative product or service, a rigorous process must be completed.
But it's true that setting up an environment in which dialogue and discussion and dialogue are encouraged, will inspire the participants to come up with innovative ideas and take initiatives. Like the Originals Meetings and other gatherings of the ORIGINAL program. By meeting each other, listening to and commenting on each other's stories, inspiration comes up almost automatically. And sometimes, new innovative ideas emerge, almost automatically as well: From Socialization, through Externalization (idea exchange), to Combination and potential innovation. In the inspiring environment of the BIC Moose Club, exceptional individuals (Outstanding Originals) meet and listen to and comment on each other's stories.
So, it's not just about networking (Socialization), but also about Engagement, which can lead to further steps in the spiral of the SECI model.*)
The BIC Moose Club: an inspiring regional meeting place for innovators
*) NB: Concepts and models represent the things we try to grasp, analyze, and communicate about. They are the "words in the language" we use to find and understand each other. But beware!
A model is often an extreme simplification of what happens, with also a dangers: what isn't included in the model, you don't perceive. And the risk is that you are unaware of these unnamed parts of reality, while others may see them. So, it's important that in the actual interplay, the model slowly "evaporates" and that we make room for the "real reality," which is much richer and more nuanced. And that we don't get caught up in "absolute and unqualified belief" and disagreement due to differences in individual perceptions, and by a polarization about whose "truth" is "the right one." Our curiosity about the experiences of others, and their ideas and solutions, must be and remain our driving force.