Deep smarts are the engine of any organization as well as the essential value that individuals build throughout their careers. Distinct from IQ, this type of expertise consists of practical wisdom: accumulated knowledge, know-how, and intuition gained through extensive experience. How do such smarts develop? And what happens when people with deep smarts leave a particular job or the organization? Can any of their smarts be transferred? Should they be? Basing their conclusions on a multi-year research project, Dorothy Leonard and Walter Swap argue that cultivating and managing deep smarts are critical parts of any leader's job. The authors draw on examples from firms of all sizes and types to illustrate the connection between deep smarts and organizational viability and continuous innovation. Leonard and Swap describe the origins and limits of deep smarts and outline processes for cultivating and leveraging them across the organization. Developing an experience repertoire and receiving strategic guidance from wise coaches can help individuals move up the ladder of expertise from novice to master. Addressing a topic of increasing importance as the Boomer generation retires, Deep Smarts challenges leaders to take a hands-on approach to managing the experience-based knowledge shaping the future of their organizations.

This book pulls together for the first time, works on knowledge and innovation, including the implementation of new processes and products, written by Dorothy A Leonard over more than two decades. It consists of articles from journals in diverse fields (e.g. the award-winning article on Core Capabilities and Core Rigidities) and book chapters that cover the innovation process, from its inception in peoples' heads to its implementation. An underlying theme running throughout the book is managing the flow of knowledge that propels innovation — especially tacit knowledge. Such knowledge is difficult to transfer or embody in a new product, process or service. However, it is not only essential but often comprises the most valuable component in the innovation. The opening chapter, written expressly for this volume, probes the connections between tacit knowledge, creativity and innovation. İ İ i

Provides managers with the key knowledge building activities they need to guide, control, and inspire. The pioneering book on knowledge management. Probes the relationship between successful innovators and the way they create, nurture, and grow the experience and accumulated knowledge of their organisation.

How does a leader manage for creativity? Many managers fall into the trap of assuming that only gifted individuals--readily identifiable "creative types"--can produce breakthrough thinking, and if you don't have an eccentric genius on your team, your efforts are doomed to mediocrity. Some even argue that creativity is an art that can't possibly be planned or managed without extinguishing the vital creative spark. Yet, say Dorothy Leonard and Walter Swap, today's most innovative, complex services, products and processes spring from well-led, well-managed group interactions. Blending their backgrounds in business and psychology into a fresh perspective, Leonard and Swap sweep aside conventional thinking about creativity to show how managers can actively shape group processes to enhance creative output. They offer proven strategies based on a deep understanding of human behavior for stimulating and directing the group dynamics that lie at the heart of innovative thinking. The book clearly outlines and analyzes each step in the creative process and gives practical suggestions for managing creative teams, including specific techniques for composing groups to maximize creative abrasion, re-channeling the tensions of conflicting points of view into new ideas and alternative options, and failing forward to success. Leonard and Swap explore how all aspects of the work environment, from leadership style to the promotion of passion to the use of space to maximize serendipity, can enhance innovation. Drawing on examples in companies that range from small startups to Fisher-Price, Intel and Hewlett-Packard, When Sparks Fly shows how sophisticated managers can galvanize groups to maximize their creative potential.

Leading Minds and Landmark Ideas In An Easily Accessible Format From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, The Harvard Business Review Paperback Series delivers the fundamental information today's professionals need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. Creativity and innovation are the keys to competitive advantage, and yet many organizations view inspiration as an elusive, unmanageable phenomenon. In fact, proven strategies for fostering and managing creativity do exist--the Harvard Business Review has published some of the best thinking on how to organize for innovation. Harvard Business Review on Breakthrough Thinking highlights leading ideas for incorporating the power of creativity into your strategic outlook. A Harvard Business Review Paperback.

Addressing the critical issue of knowledge transfer within an organization, this book offers practical advice on how to structure the transition of documented information and the even more valuable non-documented knowledge that outgoing staffers have-before it leaves with them.