The document discusses learning clusters and how they can adapt to changing environments. It emphasizes that clusters must learn to evolve with external changes and shifting customer expectations. Clusters can learn from each other through open collaboration and sharing knowledge. However, building trust is difficult and collaboration only makes sense when necessary. The document suggests that clusters must look beyond the present to anticipate challenges and ride emerging waves of change. It stresses that challenging cognitive biases is important for clusters to consider new perspectives and be open to doing things differently to drive innovative growth.
2. What do we mean by Learning Clusters
How can Clusters Learn?
Why should they learn?
Challenges to overcome?
o External Environment
o Internal behaviours
Focus for this week
Doing
(sensing)
Reflecting
(perceiving)
Linking
(intuition)
Planning
(judging)
KOLB D A (1984) Experiential Learning: experience as the source of
learning and development
3. Why are we here?
TCI
o Share experiences
o Learn from others
o Take something back
Good intentions fail
o Real world intervenes
o “Day job”
o Difficult to change what we do
4. Cluster’s Environment
Is it a good environment for growth?
• Money – Financial Capital
• Skills – Human Capital
• Knowledge – Intellectual capital
• Access to Markets – Market Capital
• Things – Physical Capital
• Networks – Social Capital
5. Clusters are ...
Subject to changes in external environment
Affected by changing customer expectations
Must learn to adapt and evolve
Listen to those at the edge – early signals
Learning organisations
By nature open and collaborative
Share knowledge
Learn from each other
Learning to work in different way
6. Clusters – Innovative Communities
Communities are driven by
(one or more):
Innovation Communities
exhibit cohesion in some +
diversity in others
Innovation is often expressed
at a communities’ ‘edges’
Purpose
PassionPlace
Perspective
Trust
Beyond Open Innovation, Dames, Robson, Smith & Tumulty, 2007
7. Building Trust
Very important
Very difficult
Trust is necessary precondition for collaboration – in
practice the suspicion rather than trust is the starting
point.
Difficulties in collaboration
“Seeking collaborative advantage is a seriously
resource-consuming activity, so is only to be considered
when the stakes are really worth pursuing…don’t do it
unless you have to” (Huxham and Vangen, 2005)
8. Stimulation and
Acquisition of
relevant
research and
development
L5 FUTURE FOCUS
LOOP
Performance of
individual firms
Overall
performance of
all firms in the
zone
Intensity of
differentiated
competitive
performance
Motivation for
competitive
innovation
Degree of
enhancement of
competitive
innovation
Competitive
level of
platform for
innovation
Sharing of
critical sectoral
knowledge
Extent of
collaborative
initiatives
Extent of shared
response to
common
challenges
L1 INTER-FIRM RIVALRY LOOP
L2 INTER-FIRM CO-OPERATION
LOOP
Global competition
and external market
pressure
Type of cultural
context
L3 COLLABORATIVE
ADVANTAGE
LOOP L4 VENTURE
ATTRACTIVENESS
LOOP
Collection – Cooperation - Collaboration
Competitive
power of cluster
Smith and Brown, Local Economy, June 2009
The Cluster Dynamic Loops
9. Proactive not Reactive
Look further ahead
Anticipate dips
Catch and ride the next
wave
Speed of change ever
faster
Challenging our ability to learn fast enough
Innovation needed
o When speed of change > Ability to learn
10. Activity+
Horizon 2Horizon 1 Horizon 3
Innovation . . . 3 Horizons
Improve the
current
Envision the
possible
Nurture the
emergent
Sustaining innovation Transformative innovation
Disruptive Innovation
David Robson, Head of Energy and Environment Foresight
11. Learning to change
Insanity = doing the same thing over and over again and
expecting different results.
Insanity = doing the same thing over and over again and
expecting different results.
Insanity = doing the same thing over and over again and
expecting different results.
Insanity = doing the same thing over and over again and
expecting different results.
Albert Einstein
12. How do we recognise good ideas
Our current “world view” restricts our ability to learn
Cognitive Bias / Cognitive Frameworks
Visible
Challengeable
Fluid
Hidden
Un-challengeable
Rigid
Intelligence & Information
Analysis Hypotheses
Mental models Assertions
Beliefs Assumptions
Time
Cognitive
Framework
Barriers to Learning
14. You do not have the full picture
Diverse groups learn quicker
Diverse groups perform better
15. Learning clusters
We need to
Be open and collaborative
Value external input
Collective learning is more effective
Look for other perspectives – to complete the picture
Challenge our cognitive barriers – “same as usual” is not
good enough
Be ready to do things differently