Written by Kristen Walsh

When David Kolewsky, a researcher at Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, shared his cutting-edge biomedical research in the 3D printing of human tissues with Bentley MBA (BMBA) students at a recent event, it was more than a crash course in how to break into the life sciences or biotech industry. It offered a broader look into accelerated innovation and rapid change.

“David's work illuminates the creativity and innovation necessary for groundbreaking science,” says BMBA candidate Larissa Fawkner. “Design doesn't just happen in design agencies and architectural firms; all businesses can leverage creativity, innovation and design thinking for a competitive advantage and to deliver value to all stakeholders.”

Design thinking, a concept developed by the Stanford University Design School, is a process that always places the needs of the user demographic at the core of concept development. It focuses on “need-finding, understanding, creating, thinking and doing;” as you create and test something, you learn and improve upon initial ideas.
 

Failure Is an Option

When you have a problem, your first instinct is to find a solution. Not so fast; you have to truly understand a problem before attempting to fix it. 

“To be effective, you need to get to the root of the problem, and understand motivation,” says Andy Aylesworth, associate professor of marketing at Bentley. “In our class we propose big, big problems. And we push students to not think of solutions, and to throw their first solutions away, in order to dig deeper into the problem before thinking of solutions.”
 

The class is a Creativity and Innovation unit that Aylesworth co-teaches with Professor of English and Media Studies Gesa Kirsch for the BMBA. Students are challenged to “get into people’s heads” to learn the root motivations of how and why they are doing something. Then it’s time to get to the details: Create a physical representation of your “product” and put it into the hands of a user. And then use that feedback, even if it means accepting that your first attempt isn’t working. (Put your egos aside!)  

Not being afraid to fail is harder than it sounds, but Aylesworth and Kirsch have advice on how to re-train your brain to develop your mindset:
 

1. Treat the Problem, Not the Symptom
   Make sure you know darn well what the problem is before even attempting to come up with a solution.
    
2. Fail Early, Fail Often
   Learn from your failures, and try again. “Failure” is merely a path to finding a better way. (But try to fail “small” rather than big, and don’t wait until the last minute.)
    
3. Don’t Be Married to the First Idea You Develop 
   Be willing to get out there and find out what works and what doesn’t. You can be creative, as long as you don’t settle and take the easy path.
    
4. Be Positive 
   If you don’t think you can be creative, you will be right. If you can look at failure in a different way, and maybe not fail too spectacularly, you can be more creative.
    
5. Take Risks 
   It’s OK to not know how things will turn out when you start a creative process. In fact, if you DO know, you’re doing it wrong. Be willing to take risks in order to find a better way.  

Innovation Is an Option

When it comes to addressing issues, students work in teams in the class to come up with creative solutions to complex societal problems."

“Part of that is experiencing innovation first hand,” says Kirsch. She and Aylesworth took students to design firms, such as Continuum in West Newton, the Cambridge Innovation Center (a space that houses more than 800 start-ups by providing collaborative workspaces, networking opportunities and office services), and the Venture Café (a weekly meeting spot where innovators, start-up entrepreneurs and venture capitalist investors network).

But innovation doesn’t come without its caveats. Kolewsky’s biomedical presentation — along with reading works such as Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which explores the ethical issues of medical innovations such as cell line research and informed consent — opened up a broader discussion on ethics and innovation.

“It’s important to reflect on intended and unintended consequences of innovation and creativity, including ethical, environmental, social and cultural dimensions, including diversity, gender and race,” Kirsch says. “As you can imagine, these issues are very complex.”

How will thinking creatively and innovatively — with mindfulness for ethics — contribute to your career?

“The easy answer is that business needs people who are creative and ethical,” Aylesworth says. “But to limit this to just career growth and opportunity is to miss the point. Thinking like this leads to personal growth. It helps students see that their first solution is not always the best, and if they keep pushing, they might find something better.” 

“The future of humanity will be determined by the ability of business to leverage innovation to enhance competitive advantage and profitability while simultaneously advancing global social, economic and environmental conditions,” Fawkner adds. “Prosperity extends beyond shareholder profits. Creative solutions within business will ensure a value chain that includes peace and happiness, individual freedoms and liberties, as well as economic well-being and financial prosperity.”