Mutual Validation
In 2007, Michael Gelb & Sarah Caldicott (SC) published Innovate Like Edison: The Success System of America's Greatest Inventor. It was given a different sub-title for the paperback: The Five-Step System for Breakthrough Business Success. The system is a 5-step approach with 5 elements in each.
Amazon.com reviews
show that people regard the book highly. This suggests that the ideas offered are plausible and usable. Given a thriving consulting service, there is probably a deeper validity.
If such ideas did not appear in THEE, that could suggest a deficiency. A gross discrepancy might indicate that THEE is just an elegant but misconceived philosophical abstraction. So I will quickly review the book's system, element by element using the authors' «blueprint» chapter of questions enabling self-assessment: as provided by their website.
Download the self-assessment Chapter to check for yourself.
Aims
- To see if there is anything proposed in the book that directly contradicts or is alien to THEE.
- To see how THEE elements and Frameworks click into or resonate with the authors' ideas.
Since initial posting, most of the Frameworks mentioned have been posted. Links are provided with the concluding assessment.
Competency #1: Solution-Centred Mindset
Element #1: Align goals to passions.
is found as a Tetrad in the Structural Hierarchy for the framework for . is the highest level in that .
Element #2: Cultivate charismatic optimism.
This deals with & found in the framework for .
Element #3: Seek knowledge relentlessly.
is another Tetrad in the framework for .
Element #4: Experiment persistently.
Persistence connects directly to to handle obstacles. This is the name for Pentads in . Experimenting suggests , which are needed to overcome obstacles. This could also be advice to be an i.e. as found in the typology.
Element #5: Pursue rigorous objectivity.
This could also be in the typology. However, the self-assessment questions and longer version are about being as found in the framework.
Competency #2: Kaleidoscopic Thinking
Element #6: Maintain a notebook.
Method for developing in the framework for .
Element #7: Practice ideaphoria.
A method from the in the typology, but the longer version suggests it may be about activating a as found in the typology.
Element #8: Discern patterns.
People always see patterns: the types of pattern are covered in the framework.
Element #9: Express ideas visually.
An in the typology.
Element #10: Explore the roads not taken.
This is perspective-centred from the framework.
Competency #3: Full-spectrum Engagement
Element #11: Intensity & Relaxation.
This seems to move between in the framework and in the framework.
Element #12: Serious & Playfulness.
Seems like an injunction to as in the framework, especially as other entities in this framework handle seriousness.
Element #13: Sharing & Projecting.
The questions seem to deal with technical knowledge i.e. no appropriate location in THEE.
Element #14: Complexity & Simplicity.
This is a mixture, but the longer version suggests a focus on the in the typology.
Element #15: Solitude & Team.
«Team» is essentially the social environment. Questions refer to a technique relating to which is identified in the framework with valuing awareness.
Competency #4: Master-mind Collaboration
Element #16: Recruit for Chemistry.
Longer version suggests values in theframework.
Element #17: Multidisciplinary Collaboration Teams.
This is again being from theframework.
Element #18: Environment of Open Exchange.
This relates to ensuring values of the mode exist as in the spiral for progressively
Element #19: Reward Collaboration.
This value creation relates to embedding the in the framework for .
Element #20: Become a Master Networker.
This is a feature of being in theframework.
Competency #5: Super-Value Creation Assessment
Elements #21-#25:
Link Trend Gaps with Strengths
Tune into Target Audience
Apply Right Business Model
Understand Scale-up Effects
Create a Market-moving Brand
No need to analyse these singly, because they all deal with marketing. The framework identifies 28 fundamental marketing strategies, simple and complex, which include these five.
The authors are running a business and need catchy labels. We can use simpler and perhaps clearer language for their 5 Competencies:
• Find solutions
• Think broadly
• Engage fully
• Collaborate effectively
• Market powerfully
You would not be surprised to find these within any Taxonomy of endeavour. As for the constituent elements, these are distributed within 8 THEE frameworks as follows (in order of frequency):
6 from []
5 from Interacting-for-Benefit []
5 from Marketing framework [] based in .
4 from Decision-making Typology []
3 from : Producing Goodness [], Primal Injunctions []
2 from Strengthening the Management Culture []
1 from Ways to Use Language []
1 from []: Not yet posted.
Outcome
Did THEE validate the authors' model?
Did the authors' model validate THEE?
Does THEE add anything extra?
Conclusion
Given that every single Element (except #13) directly embodied and activated THEE entities and frameworks, the book also provides some validation for the THEE-Online conjecture: Precepts, models and tools devised and used with confidence by organizational and management consultants can be precisely located within Taxonomy Frameworks.
By understanding the frameworks that were intuitively selected, consultants and clients could, should they so wish, get additional guidance on their use. They might, for example, foresee potential issues that often arise.
Originally posted: August 2009; Last updated 10-Nov-2010.