Encouraging spontaneity in innovation

In the next fifteen years, we face a period of change in many areas of our global society. Our social, organizational, technological and physical worlds are changing at a pace which will accelerate the demand for innovation(s) and shorten the time we have to innovate. As a management challenge, encouraging innovation occurs in two general ways: creating innovative products or services to enrich our world; and enriching our organizations with these and other's innovations. Our ability to ensure the quality and integrity of these innovative efforts is being challenged in new ways. One way to stimulate and guide innovation is by introducing the spontaneity of our playful nature into autonomy and interaction, infusing these areas with a natural vitality and guidance. In educational psychology, the concept of playfulness offers a view of social, cognitive and physical spontaneity which this paper integrates into discussion of enhancing innovation in practical and useful way.