Research & Development – Shaun Coffey

August 9, 2020August 9, 2020

How to promote creativity in a research organisation

Five simple principles apply

Gleeson et.al. (1999) propose five principles for promoting creativity in R&D. As they point out, these “are simple principles, indeed stunningly so, given the complexity of the creative process and of the institutional cultures within which R&D operates”. The five principles are:

Goals: Creativity is fostered by setting both creativity and productivity goals but not by prescribing R&D processes to attain them.
Bounded Freedom: Creativity is affected by the psychic balance experienced by the researcher or field participant between what she/he seeks to achieve and what the organisation or group desires her/him to achieve.
Recognition: Creativity is enhanced by reward and recognition, as long as it is experienced as an appreciative and/or informational event and not as a means to control or manipulate.
Social Interaction: Appropriate peer and social interaction is an essential prerequisite to creativity.
Leadership: The development and communication of insightful organisational visions and leadership help foster creativity.

July 20, 2020July 30, 2020

Industry doesn’t need “pure” research, nor does it need “applied” research.

Industry needs research that will answer its’ questions. What industry needs is research that is appropriate to solve the problem at hand, or exploit the opportunity recognised.

Much is written about the divide between industry and academia, especially when it comes to investment of public funds. Should funding should be provided for pure research, or for applied research?

This is a common, ongoing dichotomy in many debates over research, particularly that funded from the public purse. The reality, however, is that this debate is based on the erroneous assumption that industry benefits only from applied research, and that research directed at assisting industry must be applied.

July 19, 2020July 19, 2020

The Dynamics of Discovery

From Archimedes to Edison, attempts to improve quality of life have dictated a need for advances in science and technology. These advances are now widely understood as the key enablers of increasingly prosperous societies.

Despite this long history, the process of managing the expanding frontiers of new knowledge in a way that will benefit society is a work in progress. This is largely due to the unpredictable nature of scientific discovery most famously illustrated by Archimedes, when, upon stepping into the bath, he suddenly realised that the volume of water displaced was equal to the volume of the submerged portion of his body.

His discovery provided the solution to the previously intractable problem of measuring the volume of irregular objects and led to further advances in assessing the density and purity of precious metals among other things.

In the modern world little has changed in how new knowledge is acquired. However, in an attempt to get the best value for their limited investments, governments have devised processes to manage its discovery, often with sub-optimal effect.