Philosophy & Innovation

Desman Hidayat

Coursera – On Strategy: What Managers can learn from Philosophy – Part 2

An Online Course by Luc de BrabandereCentraleSupélec

March 2015

Philosophy: the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct. (dictionary.com)

Innovation: the act of innovating; introduction of new things or methods. (dictionary.com)

Innovation can be done by using technology with a new mindset, and we can have this mindset when we explore more about knowledge by thinking as a philosopher

According to Francis Bacon, there are 3 metaphors about acquiring knowledge:

The Ant

Ants collect and use things from outside

Men collect and use information and knowledge that they found from external without using their own thoughts

The Spider

Spiders make cobwebs out of their own substance

Men think and gain knowledge only from their own mind without thinking about external

The Bee

Bee gathers its material from the flowers of the garden and of the field, but transforms and digests it by a power of its own.

Men gather knowledge from external, and then use their own thoughts to transform the knowledge from external and internal into a new knowledge

To be able to innovate, we need to work like a bee. Gather the knowledge and use our mind to transform it into something new. This is how philosophy can be use to innovate.

References

Bacon, Francis. The New Organion [Book One]. 1620.

http://cdn.mymarkettoolkit.com/90/gallery/medium/insect_16864.jpg

https://jeanraffa.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/spider-web-with-dew11.jpg

http://hdwallpapersxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Beautiful-Bee-HD-Wallpaper.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon