Business, Open Innovation and Art

The book is well written, a great insight on roles of art and how it aligns with different aspects of our lives, connecting societies and affecting business. It provides examples from different areas of business and illustrates the deep role and connection between art and innovation. Thought provoking, it makes you step back and think about the bigger picture in the relationship between human and organization. And, my personal favorite section is that which connects art with climate change and technological development. One of the big takeaways for me is that art is a change, and various applications of art in our organizations and leadership can lead to a more meaningful and purposeful progression in society.

The central concept of this book, especially the chapter on ArtScience collaboration, is both fascinating and long overdue: great art is only possible through inspiration and the same is true of scientific and business innovation. As all three depend on creativity, it is only logical, if not somewhat unconventional, to actively facilitate cooperation between art, technology, and business in the hope that cross pollination will result in out-of-the box thinking: catalyzing technological innovation and nurturing new entrepreneurial ventures.Though this area was first explored at Bell Labs in the mid to late 1960’s, it has unfortunately remained relatively undeveloped. Through a collection of articles the book gives an excellent overview and speaks of the potential of such activities. They cover a very eclectic range from embedding artists within scientific and business units through the application of classical guitar study to foster creative thinking.The collection contains articles in which programs of cooperation between art and science and business are described in detail and the potential of such activities explored. The foreword by BeiBei Song gives an excellent overview to the field and several of the articles go into considerable depth— describing the particulars and effects of various programs. A study on Art-Thinking near the end of the book shows how direct involvement of artists in commercial direction and decision making helped rescue a cultural institute in Dublin.The potential for cross-pollination and innovation between art, science, and business is clear. It is a pity that attempts to foster art/science/business interaction are often limited in scope and duration. As such, this book serves as a survey of practices that have been attempted and the potential benefits both to the projects and the participants themselves. Hopefully this will serve as a reference and inspiration for expanded future studies in this unique and promising field.

Drawing from her experience in the Stanford Graduate School of Business LEAD program (and her captivating "Artful Leadership" workshops), Editor BeiBei Song’s book offers an important evidence-based perspective that encourages managers to explore radically-innovative approaches in today’s challenging business environment.“Business, Open Innovation and Art” provides compelling evidence to pry open the minds of contemporary leaders — whose economic models are increasingly dominated by the stultifying influence of AI (Artificial Intelligence) — and who have not yet redressed with workable solutions the resulting organizational and operational challenges, thus leading to an increase in pay disparity and a decrease in purposeful “Non Gig” work — to consider additional (and potentially more profitable) possibilities within their enterprises’ strategic visions.The book’s eight diverse, in-depth studies fruitfully explore the myriad factors driving success by leveraging the power of art as a key element of business processes. (“Classical Guitar Study As Creativity Training” was my personal favourite.)For, as the editors note, “The 20th-Century mantras of efficiency, the bottom-line and shareholder value no longer suffice as proper guidance.” And, as its description states, “{The} Time has come to recognize the value of art and humanities…. New futures call for anticipatory creativity.” With a power call for a “New Renaissance movement” to achieve harmony between man and nature.Please read this important book.