Towards a definition of serendipity in information behaviour naresh kumar agarwal school of library and information science, simmons college, 300 the fenway, boston, massachusetts, 02115, usa abstract introduction. Jun 07, 2016 the importance of serendipity in design thinking. Innovation is the process of making changes, large and small. Definition of serendipity noun in oxford advanced learners dictionary.
Serendipitous interaction key to tech firms workplace design. We firmly believe that the combination of creativity, sustained effort, and chance can drive innovation and discovery. So instead of relying on serendipitous acts of creativity to foster innovation, this white paper describes how an innovation infrastructure can help you bring a steady pipeline of incremental and radical breakthrough innovations to your organization and marketplace. Serendipitous discovery search activity leading to the discovery of something the entrepreneur was not looking for spontaneous recognition sheerutter surprise prediscovery hunch that something has been discovered but lack of preexisting knowledge to make an onthespot evaluation figure1. A framework for strategic innovation innovationpoint llc page 3. Serendipity is a common occurrence throughout the history of product invention and scientific discovery. Walpole had used a talisman to discover a link between two families by investigating their coats of arms in an old book. Most discussions on definitions of serendipity start with some ver. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. Serendipitously definition of serendipitously by the free. The english word serendipity is recognized to be very difficult to translate and the english word has been adopted in many languages.
Percy spencer, an engineer at raytheon after his wwi stint in the navy, was known as an electronics genius. An introduction to social innovation for ngos 4 our research found four major motivating factors for social innovation within ngos, with many organisations driven by a combination of some, if not all, of the following. The growth of innovation spaces is creating real confusion over their differences. Serendipity meaning in the cambridge english dictionary. Means for serendipitous discovery in the innovation process gupea. Here is a discovery that has to be made known to the ophthalmic community in india. Management of science, serendipity, and research performance. A desire to increase the effectiveness and impact of. Aug 23, 2011 serendipity is a hot topic, especially its role in innovation. The occasion was pretty unremarkableit was a happy accident, after alland almost archetypally british.
Serendipity is loosely defined as a happy accident. The creative process the creative process links creativity and innovation with the purpose of producing something of value that can be traded, developed and commercially ex. Serendipitous definition of serendipitous by merriamwebster. This category includes accidents, chance encounters, flatout mistakes, and all manner of random occurrences that lead up to the invention of a new. The value of searching for information is increasingly limited as. Serendipity and the aha moment unexpected insights in the. Innovation is linked to the concepts of novelty and originality. Serendipitous definition of serendipitous by medical dictionary. Eight years ago i published a book, the medici effect, that examines how and why groundbreaking ideas occur at the intersection of different cultures, industries, and.
Synonyms for serendipitous at with free online thesaurus, antonyms, and definitions. Research perspectives on serendipity and information. Hence, the concept of serendipitous innovation network is intended as an inexpensive and flexible alternative for public institutions to drive innovation. There is a scarcity in the studies of practical understanding of how ims is used by organizations in the innovation process. Such a discovery would have fascinating consequences for the debate on the origins of life on earth. All tech considered executives have recently focused attention on silicon valleys. Yet despite advances in our understanding of evolution, what drives innovation remains elusive. Towards a definition of serendipity in information behaviour. One expects there to be a conceptual analogy between an innovation ecosystem and the biological ecosystems observed in nature. Serendipity is the luck some people have in finding or creating interesting or valuable. Information about serendipitous in the dictionary, synonyms and antonyms.
May 14, 2014 disruptive innovation and displacement is happening so fast that many innovation and product development leaders are looking to accelerate and systematize the hardtofulfill ideation and discovery phase of the innovation processthe innovation funnel. Incubator where startups are supported to incubate potentially disruptive ideas at an early stage. Serendipity definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Proper usage and audio pronunciation plus ipa phonetic transcription of the word serendipitous. Rather, we fully embrace that serendipity is a word, like others in a living. After world war ii, mits building 20 became a hotbed of innovation, in part because of a hodgepodge of academic disciplines that were housed there serendipitously. The importance of serendipity in design thinking sky gilbar. Serendipity and strategy in rapid innovation nature. May 23, 20 innovation is becoming increasingly emergent.
Horace walpole coined the word serendipity in a letter to another horacemanndated january 28, 1754. The word is based on a persian fairy tale from the 14 th century titled the. Large companies have begun to systematize first in the united states and now in europe this approach. Serendipity definition is the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for. We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website, including to provide targeted advertising and track usage. Serendipity is also seen as a potential design principle for online activities that would present a wide array of information and viewpoints, rather than just reenforcing a users opinio. Pdf the structure of serendipity working paper citeseerx.
What may be a trivial change for one organization may be a significant innovation for another. Serendipity is a manifestation of creativity in which inspiration comes from outside. Serendipity is often credited with contributing to innovation campanario, 1996, the. Apr 25, 2010 serendipity is a manifestation of creativity in which inspiration comes from outside. A desire to increase the effectiveness and impact of an organisations work for affected communities.
Debrief and share serendipitous discoveries have client team members and designers. To illustrate, take the current holy grail of innovation failure as an example. Eureka what is innovation, how does it develop, and who. In science, research teams are increasing in size, which suggests that science is becoming more organisational. Agarwal will present his work on mapping the conceptual. Serendipity definition of serendipity by merriamwebster. Serendipitous definition of serendipitous by the free. As the largest shareholder in serendipity, management has a longterm commitment and perspective. The model of serendipitous innovation network developed in this study is created around the idea of mobilizing accumulated, local technologies and capabilities. Main types of innovation 1 a product innovation is the introduction of a good or service that is new or. Pdf serendipity and innovation beyond planning and. Serendipitous definition is obtained or characterized by serendipity. Disruptive innovation and displacement is happening so fast that many innovation and product development leaders are looking to accelerate and systematize the hardtofulfill ideation and discovery phase of the innovation processthe innovation funnel. Innovation is to organizations what evolution is to organisms.
Based on this perspective, we can further extend the definition of innovation as follows. Its not just semantics our discussion of the definition of serendipity, from walpoles original to the continuum of todays usage, is not intended as a stern admonishment, recommending strict adherence to historical prescription. Mar, 20 serendipitous interaction key to tech firms workplace design. A serendipitous event is one that is not planned but has a good result. The term was virtually unknown until the 1870s, and gained currency in the early 20th century. While serendipity, by definition, may not be preplanned, this study aims at understanding and describing favorable conditions for serendipitous innovations to occur in interfirm networks. Serendipity is a hot topic, especially its role in innovation. Organizations can take different approaches to innovation.
Serendipitous innovation some innovation is absolutely the outcome of dedicated and determined work to find answers to a problem, but some innovation is just as clearly a bit lucky. Serendipitous or accidental discovery of information has often been neglected in. Serendipity is the occurrence of an unplanned fortunate discovery. All tech considered executives have recently focused attention on silicon valleys workplace culture. In 1945, spencer was fiddling with a microwaveemitting magnetron used in the guts.
Feb 18, 20 to illustrate, take the current holy grail of innovation failure as an example. While serendipity, by definition, may not be preplanned, this study aims at understanding and describing favorable conditions for. Definition serendipity is the ability of making accidental but fortuitous discoveries, especially while looking for something entirely unrelated. The biological ecosystem is a system that includes all living organisms. This paper aims to empirically investigate the effects of the division of labour in management and science on serendipity, which has been considered one of the great factors in science. Serendipitous is an adjective that describes accidentally being in the right place at the right time, like bumping into a good friend in some unusual location, or finding a hundred dollar bill on the ground.
Framework for strategic innovation innovation keynote speaker. Innovation definitions and delineations from the animal behavior field have abounded in recent years. Reader and lalands comprehensive appraisal of the animal innovation literature formulated two widely cited definitions of the phenomenon. Enablers of serendipity as the above argument demonstrates, the dominance of neoclassical approaches to. Serendipitous innovation originates from being aw are of multiple problem spaces e ven in. Serendipitous definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Horace walpole created the word in a letter to horace mann on january 28, 1754 stating, this discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which i call serendipity, a very expressive word. Means for serendipitous discovery in the innovation process.
In highly innovative ecosystems, failure is a commonplace because risk is high and transactions are frequent. Serendipitous interaction key to tech firms workplace. Oct 19, 2012 eight years ago i published a book, the medici effect, that examines how and why groundbreaking ideas occur at the intersection of different cultures, industries, and disciplines. Mar 07, 2020 serendipity is sometimes used loosely as a synonym for luck. This is done by developing an interfirm innovation network model, which fosters the possibility of creating, identifying and leveraging serendipitous. Innovation in the future will increasingly happen in more emergent ways by bringing together seemingly disparate fields and pieces of knowledge. The value of searching for information is increasingly limited as we dont know what to search for in many cases. Even though the nature of innovation has changed, the use of ims does not shifted to the same extent. Thus, the open approach of innovation for a company increases serendipity and thus innovation. I countered this superstition with a serendipitous discovery from my own research.
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