I switched jobs recently, from a more corporate-focused role to an operative position. As you can imagine, the work and the culture are pretty different. I am still learning how things are done around here, but there’s one thing I noticed almost immediately, and it has given feminist-me quite a lot …
When I started to work in innovation, I remember someone with a lot of experience both in GMP and innovation management telling me that innovation is nice and all, but it would never work in regulated environments. At that point, I agreed. After all,many times when someone tries to teach …
In my previous post, I discussed the theory that the development of agriculture lead to the co-development of settlements and property rights which in turn lead to ownership of things, and people. Apparently, the data is not as clear as I was thinking, as someone kindly pointed out: it’s also …
A common narrative is the following: before the industrial revolution, farming was pretty idyllic. In your mind, there might be images of green family-owned farmland with a couple of cows and lots of perfectly healthy vegetables and crops (Heidi comes to mind). Then big business came along, introduced industrial farming …
There are so many innovation trainings available, it’s hard to decide which one to choose. This is my take on a short review of the “Insights for Innovation” training by IDEO. I took the “Insights for Innovation” IDEO class in 2016, during my first year at Bayer. At that time, …
In episode 304 of the “Mixed Mental Arts” Podcast, they discuss (among other cool stuff) the Cambrian explosion and how it relates to innovation, and I loved how they framed evolution as a context for innovation and creativity. During the Cambrian explosion, most modern body plans (you know, four legs, …
In this article here (Link to HBR), the author describes how blocking out an “untouchable” day weeks in advance has helped them be more creative and productive. It’s not a novel concept, but I did feel surprised by the effect the author claims: from writing 500 words during a normal …
If you were raised like me, the concept of “gossip” has a pretty negative connotation. However, in a podcast I listened to recently, they mentioned how valuable gossip is within an organization and for the status of leaders within their teams. I’m unfortunately not going to share the podcast, because …
I’m an innovation coach at Bayer and as such, part of the coach network Innovation@E&T (E&T means Engineering and Technology – the department, not the field) as well as the overall Bayer innovation coach network. It means that I’m trained in systematic inventive thinking (SIT). I can coach WeSolve challenges. …
In this article here (Link), the author Kathryn Tecosky titles with “Are you in love with your company?” and their first sentence is “If you’re not, you want to be.” She continues her article with pretty agreeable arguments towards more engagement at work and how hating your job can make …
