How do you create a culture of innovation, be it in a business, an institution or a country? This was one of the big questions that came up at our recent Change Lab in Kigali – and something I have been pondering on. So here is a short ‘Food for Thought Playlist’ of interesting ideas and unusual people innovating in unconventional spaces.

We would love to hear your thoughts and any ‘food for thought’ examples you have.

Arunachalam Muruganantham – Saw a problem, imagined a solution, built a machine, failed (a lot), ignored some feedback, listened to other feedback, engineered a business model,  ignored old ideas that didn’t work and has created a significant change in the health, education and economic prospects  of rural women in India with health , education and economic impacts. Here is a link to the article:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26260978

Charles Leadbeater- Suggests that ‘the question we ask will shape the answer we get.’ He looks to Kenya, India and Brazil and into some unconventional places for some innovative ideas in how to deliver education, not just in the developing worlds – but everywhere. So our top tip when searching for innovation is to look not to what’s working ‘now’ but to where change is happening ‘now’. Here is the link to his presentation:

Myriam Sidibe – hasn’t invented anything new, but she argues for a new way to use an old solution to solve a big, global problem – but to do this takes innovative thinking and innovative relationships. Take a look at her amazing presentation here:

Steve Chapman – If innovation is a lovely big cake then it needs some ingredients – here Steve adds in the creativity and imagination which on their own aren’t a great meal but altogether make rocket fuel. Read his blog post here:

http://canscorpionssmoke.wordpress.com/2012/10/13/cpr-for-the-imagination/

And finally – this is an old short favorite of mine. Innovation and a culture of innovation is not just about having ideas, it’s about people adopting and getting excited by one another’s ideas – so how do you create a culture where people will adopt, try and follow each others ideas? Take 4 minutes to look at this priceless way to start a movement.