Creative Foresight Spaces

Creative foresight spaces

Elina HiltunenFinland Futures Research Centre

Table 1. Strategic Intent of Innovation Environment by Moultrie et al. [2]

Strategic Intent

Strategic goals To support the firm’s basis of competition

Symbolic goals To symbolically reinforce the firm’s innovation strategy or corporate values

Innovation efficiency

To reduce innovation costs, improve staff productivity, improve speed or lower facility costs

Innovation effectiveness

To improve the quality of innovation outputs, increase the quality and quantity of new ideas and improve the chances of new products succeeding

Teamwork To enhance teamwork in innovation, encouraging better communication (physical and virtual), encourage formal and informal social interaction and motivate staff

Customer input To enable customer input at any (or a specific) stage of the innovation process (from idea through to evaluation concepts and product demonstration to support sales)

Capabilities Development of specific capabilities for enabling and renewal of dynamic capabilities

Purpose of Innovation Environment

Some innovative spaces:Turku City Library

Turku City Library

Turku City Library

NetWork Oasis

NetWork Oasis

Masterfoods

•Designed by Jari Inkinen•Innovation: three zones based on the noise level of the work•There exists: open-space office, meeting and brainstorming rooms, fireplace, sauna

Creative Foresight Spaces-elements

CreativeForesight Spaces

-basic tools that increase creativity: colour pens, paper, moulding wax, big screens, music, lightning- furniture: couches, art

-Futures Windows-scenarios demonstrated-other futures tools-database for emerging issues-top trends

-spaces for various types of work: individual and collaborative-silent room-activating room-teamwork room-virtual spaces

Heinonen and Hiltunen

Heinonen and Hiltunen

The Futures Window, a tool for Creative Foresight Spaces

The Futures Window

48 visualweak signals projected to the wall

group work based on thevisual weak signals, P1

a questionnaire of the method for participants

2 pilots at VTT2006, 2007

Testing FW

Testing FW

Testing FW at VTT

Dates Occasions Key idea Material

Pilot 1 17th November and 1st December, 2006

Two seminars Futures Window material as a starting point of exercises

Power point show of 48 visual weak signals (10 second for each images at the time)

Pilot 2 From 26th February till 2nd March, 2007

A continuous image show for one week in DigiHouse’s lobby

Trigger futures thinking of by passers

Same as in the Pilot 1

Questions in Pilot 1

1. Futures Window gave me new ideas about the future.2. The Futures Window could be a useful activator of

futures thinking in my own work.3. In my opinion, it is important to to think in a futures

oriented way in my work.4. In VTT (or other organization, if I am outside of VTT),

there could be Futures Windows for example in canteens and coffee rooms.

5. It should be possible for all employees to send images to the Futures Window.

6. The Futures Window gave me new ideas about the possibilities of the technology area that I am working with in the future.

Pilot 1.

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FD SD SA FA ? FD SD SA FA ? FD SD SA FA ? FD SD SA FA ? FD SD SA FA ? FD SD SA FA ?

claim 1 claim 2 claim 3 claim 4 claim 5 claim 6

claims and answers

pro

cen

tag

e o

f re

spo

nd

ents

FD= fully disagree, SD= somehow disagree, SA=somehow agree,FA= fully agree, ?= cannot say, N= 30 (40,5% response rate)

Futures Window gave me new ideas about the future.

The Futures Window could be a useful activator of futures thinking in my own work.

In my opinion, it is important to to think in a futures oriented way in my work.

In VTT there could be Futures Windows for example in canteens and coffee rooms.

It should be possible for all employees to send images to the Futures Window.

The Futures Window gave me new ideas about the possibilities of the technology area that I am working with in the future.

Images that stuck to people’s mind

Reason Number of times mentioned by respondents

It irritated me 7

It was a new thing to me 10

It amazed me 5

It made me laugh 8

It raised my interest 16

It raised positive feelings 24

It raised negative feelings 18

Some other reason 11

Conclusions

• Potential tool for triggering futures thinking in organizations

• Employee commitment by possibility to send own images

• Needs a place to stand still and discuss• Possibility to use FW at exercises and

brain storming too