Fostering Innovation
Structuring ways to look ahead.
At Wharton, innovation is not just part of our legacy as the world's first business school – it is a core value, defining how we build and support our global learning community. In addition to the wealth of new ideas that springs from ongoing collaboration with Wharton faculty and students, the Wharton Computing staff fosters a climate of "contagious creativity" and innovative thinking.
A few of the techniques currently deployed within Wharton's Computing division include:
Brainstorm
Wharton's Brainstorm is an online idea exchange for Wharton Computing staff. Part blog, part bulletin board, part social networking site, Brainstorm is a custom-developed information-sharing tool.
Brainstorm makes it easy for computing staff members to discuss:
- Ideas they have
- Solutions they are seeking
- Products they are exploring
- Sundry topics of interest to themselves and possibly others
Future Fridays
Future Fridays provide opportunities for staff to meet to discuss ideas or participate in presentations about emerging technologies or industry trends. And have pizza together.
Previous sessions have included:
- Jennifer McDonnell, Green Mission Specialist for Whole Foods Market, sharing her experiences in the world of sustainable grocery retailing.
- Pete Putnam, President of Roam Consulting and publisher of HDTVexpert.com, speaking on the future of display technologies – including organic LEDs, HDTV standards, Blu-ray vs. HD DVD, and trends in digital rights management.
- Steve Kuhn, Director of Product Management for Selectminds, on building usable products and how the techniques of user experience design can be applied to everything from Web sites to toys to retail outlets to enhance the user's experience.
Eavesdropping
Because you can't predict where the next great idea will emerge.
In addition to pursuing staff development and training opportunities within their area of expertise, Wharton Computing staff are encouraged to "eavesdrop" on conferences, seminars, and events outside their daily work to look for future trends and new insights.
Recent eavesdropping activities of Wharton staff have included attending sessions from Yoram (Jerry) Wind's Marketing class on "Creativity" to participating in biotechnology seminars sponsored by Wharton's Mack Center for Technological Innovation.
Aspect
With Aspect, Wharton Computing's internal staff directory and social networking site, staff can create their own categories for expertise, interests, and affiliation to connect with other like-minded staff. Linked in with each user's Brainstorm posts, this internal resource provides a rich snapshot of the diverse culture of Wharton Computing.
Aspect served as a pilot project for social networking features incorporated in the next version of SPIKE.
