QUICK SUMMARY
The session introduces DaVinci’s Cube, a three-dimensional model that expands on traditional innovation frameworks by adding sentiment alongside knowledge and use as key motivational dimensions for innovation. The presenters share research from a National Endowment for the Arts project examining how art impacts business innovation, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary approaches and the historical precedent of collaborations between artists, scientists, and industry. The session reveals that while organizations and individuals often value sentiment and use in their work, hiring practices still predominantly focus on knowledge, creating a disconnect in how innovation teams are built.
KEY QUOTES
- “Innovation is no longer linear, it’s dimensional, and let’s build a future at the intersections.”
- “99% of the interview process, especially upfront, is focus on that knowledge, and your HR people are not going to be able to assess on these other axes.”
- “One of the things that we don’t see anymore in R&D is that kind of a unit that is completely focused on experimenting and doing things without having to show ROI.”
FULL SESSION SUMMARY
Introduction to Interdisciplinary Innovation
The session began with an introduction to the importance of interdisciplinary thinking in innovation. The presenters explained that their work was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts Research Lab, focusing specifically on the impact of art on innovation and business outcomes. They emphasized that while many understand the theoretical importance of combining creativity and technology, the challenge lies in applying this understanding to product development and organizational settings.
The presenters introduced themselves: Dr. Ben Knapp from the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICA) at Virginia Tech, who developed a device for using human emotion and physiology to control music; and Termeh Rassi, who has led multiple innovation teams across various organizations and advocates for “thinking outside the box.”
DaVinci’s Cube: A New Innovation Model
The core of the presentation introduced DaVinci’s Cube, a three-dimensional model for understanding innovation motivations. The model builds upon the traditional “Pasteur’s Quadrant” framework from the 1950s, which placed knowledge and use on two axes, creating quadrants for basic research, applied research, and use-inspired basic research.
DaVinci’s Cube adds a third dimension: sentiment. This creates a three-dimensional space where innovation can be mapped according to motivations of knowledge, use, and sentiment. The presenters explained that this model can be applied to understand individual motivations, organizational priorities, and hiring practices.
The research team conducted over 50 interviews with industry leaders to validate this model, analyzed historical innovation cases, and used both manual and AI analysis to map results.
Research Findings on Innovation Motivations
The presenters shared findings from their surveys about where individuals, organizations, and hiring practices fall within DaVinci’s Cube:
- Individual Motivations: Most respondents positioned themselves as being motivated by sentiment and use, with knowledge and use being the second most common combination.
- Organizational Motivations: Similarly, organizations were found to value sentiment and use most highly, recognizing the importance of customer and employee sentiment.
- Hiring Practices: Despite valuing sentiment in their work, when hiring, organizations predominantly focus on knowledge, creating a disconnect between what they value and who they bring into their teams.
The presenters noted that companies like Apple and Pixar are examples of organizations that successfully operate in the space where knowledge, use, and sentiment intersect.
Historical Case Study: Art-Science Collaboration
To illustrate the power of interdisciplinary innovation, the presenters shared a case study involving Stanley Kubrick’s film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” They explained how Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke consulted with MIT’s Marvin Minsky and Bell Laboratories to envision futuristic technologies for the film. Many of these technologies, like tablet computers, later became reality.
The presenters highlighted Bell Labs as a historical example of an R&D unit that allowed experimentation without immediate ROI requirements. They described how Bell Labs permitted artists to use their facilities, leading to innovations like the first digital image published in The New York Times.
This case demonstrated how innovation often emerges not from structured planning but from conversations between artists (who “play” without hypotheses) and scientists or engineers.
Interactive Session
The session included an interactive component where attendees used a digital polling tool to position themselves within DaVinci’s Cube. Participants were asked to rate on scales of 1-10 how much they were motivated by knowledge, use, and sentiment. They then answered the same questions about their organizations and their hiring practices.
The results confirmed the presenters’ research: while individuals and organizations value sentiment and use, hiring practices still predominantly focus on knowledge.
Next Steps
The presenters concluded by emphasizing that innovation is “no longer linear, it’s dimensional” and encouraged building “a future at the intersections.” They mentioned they are currently working on creating mapping clusters with historical relevance to develop predictive models for innovation and are seeking organizations interested in piloting their model.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Innovation thrives at the intersection of knowledge, use, and sentiment, requiring interdisciplinary approaches that combine artistic, scientific, and business perspectives.
- While organizations recognize the importance of sentiment in innovation, their hiring practices still predominantly focus on knowledge, creating a gap in how innovation teams are built.
- Creating space for unstructured experimentation and cross-disciplinary conversations without immediate ROI requirements is crucial for breakthrough innovation.
Delivery on Event Focus:
Aligning Innovation with Business Strategy
This session aligns with the event’s focus on aligning innovation with business strategy by providing a framework (DaVinci’s Cube) that helps organizations assess their innovation approach. By identifying the disconnect between what organizations value (sentiment and use) and how they hire (primarily for knowledge), the session offers a practical lens through which companies can realign their innovation strategies with their business goals. The historical examples and case studies demonstrate how interdisciplinary innovation has led to business success in the past.
Delivery on Event Theme:
Harvesting Innovation and Sowing the Seeds of Future Growth
The session delivers on the theme of “harvesting innovation and sowing the seeds of future growth” by emphasizing the importance of cultivating diverse perspectives within innovation teams. By highlighting the need to incorporate sentiment alongside knowledge and use, the presenters provide a framework for sowing new seeds of innovation. The historical examples of Bell Labs and the Space Odyssey case study show how interdisciplinary collaboration can harvest unexpected innovations that lead to future growth.
Action Steps for Innovation Experts and Corporate Changemakers
- Reassess hiring practices to include evaluation of candidates’ capabilities across all three dimensions of DaVinci’s Cube: knowledge, use, and sentiment.
- Create space for interdisciplinary collaboration by bringing together people with different expertise, particularly incorporating those with arts and humanities backgrounds who specialize in sentiment.
- Establish innovation zones where experimentation can happen without immediate ROI requirements, similar to the Bell Labs model.
- Map your organization using DaVinci’s Cube to identify strengths and blind spots in your innovation approach.
- Connect with the presenters to explore piloting their model within your organization to better align vision and execution in innovation initiatives.