Extra-condensed knowledge

A consistent lesson from the research on innovation: while unshackled creativity might intuitively seem to be the best route to novelty, actually some of the most innovative outcomes are produced when innovation is constrained.

But the type and quality of constraints matter.
While both outcome and time constraints are, we argue, individually better than budget or risk constraints, they are at their most effective when combined.

We’ve seen this in the development of Covid-19 vaccines.

Genioux knowledge fact condensed as an image

Condensed knowledge

GENERAL CONTEXT

A consistent lesson from the research on innovation: while unshackled creativity might intuitively seem to be the best route to novelty, actually some of the most innovative outcomes are produced when innovation is constrained.
- But the type and quality of constraints matter.
- While both outcome and time constraints are, we argue, individually better than budget or risk constraints, they are at their most effective when combined.

Category 2: The Big Picture of the Digital Age

[genioux fact deduced or extracted from HBR]

This is a “genioux fact” fast solution.

Type of essential knowledge of this “genioux fact”: Essential Deduced and Extracted Knowledge (EDEK).

Type of validity of the "genioux fact".

Inherited from sources + Supported by the knowledge of one or more experts + Supported by research.

Authors of the genioux fact

Fernando Machuca

References

Innovation Starts with Defining the Right Constraints, Fiona Murray and Elsbeth Johnson, April 5, 2021, Harvard Business Review, HBR.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Fiona Murray is the William Porter Professor of Entrepreneurship and the Associate Dean of Innovation and Inclusion at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Elsbeth Johnson, formerly the strategy director for Prudential PLC’s Asian business, is a senior lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and the founder of SystemShift, a consulting firm.