Cohen, Kalyn Culler; PhD
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,1999
SPEECH COMMUNICATION (0459); EDUCATION, ADULT AND CONTINUING (0516); EDUCATION,
HIGHER (0745); ECONOMICS, FINANCE (0508)
One of the more stable findings in the “diffusion and knowledge utilization”
literature is
that simple innovations, those compatible with the existing practices in a field,
are spread more easily
than those which challenge standard practice. Yet it is the more radical innovations
that hold special
promise for advancing the practice of a field. Using an action research methodology,
the author studied
the diffusion of radical innovations in two very different programmatic settings,
first in an undergraduate
affirmative action program on a university campus and later in a philanthropic-driven
effort to fund
charitable work with recoverable investments rather than grants—a
practice that is called
“program-related investing.” The two programs together served
as test cases—one
as a precipitating paradox and the other as a conscious experiment—overcoming
barriers to the
diffusion of an important category of innovations: innovations that require
individuals to practice in new
ways and acquire new skills, that cause some disruption to the broader organization
and that involve the
“soft” technologies of knowledge rather than the “hard”
material
technologies. The literature treated diffuser's descriptions of their innovations
as self-evident, whereas
the author found that diffusers of these radical, practice innovations unintentionally
gave incomplete and
in some cases misleading descriptions of their work. An argument is made that
effective description must
do more than represent the original innovation with some accuracy. It must enable
diffusers to teach
those aspects of their practice which are difficult for them to make explicit
by including opportunities for
practicing side-by-side, whether these be through simulated practice worlds
or actual ones. It must also
enable appropriate transformation of the innovation. This can be best accomplished
by structuring a
dialogue between diffusers and (potential) users to lift up multiple descriptions
of the practice. It is the
process of comparing such descriptions that allows diffusers and users to build
up an understanding
both of the essence of the innovation and of ways in which transformations may
preserve or damage this
essence. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge,
MA 02139-4307.
Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)
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Systems Simulation Group
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