Thursday, April 19, 2012

Scientific and Creative outputs - Where's the curiosity?

An excerpt from the article on Innovative Nations by Booz, featuring INSEAD's Soumitra Dutta (S&B Interview, April 2012) reads as below. He states both the delineation and the limitations to highlight his insights and the significance is lost on most of us. 


"We measure five kinds of inputs — institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication, and business sophistication — and two kinds of outputs: scientific and creative. We face many limitations in terms of data availability and methodologies, but we have taken great pains to make sure that we normalize variables in a way that is equitable to the conditions of both emerging and developed economies."




Human capital and research in India? I recall mentioning a few of these issues earlier too - SHRM India SME artefact. I enlisted 10 points of attention for Learning and Development in formal organisations then. My first point was to do with scientific temperament.


This sharing by Booz of Dutta's findings stirs up a feeling of concern. Even if it is met with care, the commitment is difficult to dilute. A courage is required in academia, industry, and in the home, to accord method of inquiry its due place. Leadership is therefore a rising to the occasion, and not just an allowance for rising with the tide. We also need to overcome the notions that confuse between values of analytical thinking and creative thinking. If we honor the attitude of curiosity, then neither form of inference - logical or intuitive will hold us back. 

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