- What is special about transition experiments?
- What is the outcome of the vision creation process?
- What is a key idea for a system innovation?
- How do I define the subject?
- How do I create a vision?
- Is a vision immutable?
- Is collective vision creation necessary?
- Who should I choose as participants?
- What criteria should the process meet?
- What knowledge and skills are needed?
- What to do about power differences?
- What to do if participants fall back into the obvious?
- How long does it take to formulate a vision?
What is special about transition experiments?
There are some obvious differences between classical innovation projects and transition projects (transitionexperiments in jargon) as the following table shows.
|
|
Classical innovation project |
Transition project |
|
Objective |
Possible solution for a not particularly complex and often practical problem; innovation with a view to new markets |
Contribution to a wider social challenge (such as a problem associated with sustainable development) |
|
Nature of innovation |
More incremental than radical; no significant change in the regime |
The innovation is by nature radical and represents a break with the existing regime |
|
Time horizon for the innovation |
2-5 years |
Beyond the experiment itself: medium and longer term |
|
Stakeholder |
Specialist staff: researchers, engineers and other professionals in an organisation |
Specialist staff and others: stakeholders from different organisations and/or domains |
|
Learning |
Often implicit and confined to a single domain/company or several key persons. It seldom encompasses a reassessment of fundamental assumptions and values |
Learning about the innovation and structural obstacles is an essential element of the experiment. Findings are translated to the experiment and the environment |
|
Management context |
Classical project management |
Project management is aimed at:
|
Even if your project does not meet all of these characteristics the information on this site will prove useful if the project meets any of the following conditions:
- The project contributes to a wider challenge for the longer term
- The project transcends the boundaries of your own organisation
- The project calls for innovation of the structure or the regime, such as rules, routines, culture, roles and knowledge
In that case, the tips and points to consider presented on this site will help to increase your project's potential to bring about a transition