The sun represents an excellent example of how science can provide professionals with insight into their ability to think more effectively.  The next time you have the sun shining on your face keep in mind that it serves as a reminder of how individuals and organizations invite, process and implement  new ideas.

For thousands of years people believed that the Earth was the center of the universe.  This geocentric world view was generally based on two observations: a)the stars, sun, and planets appeared to revolve around the Earth each day and b)the Earth seemed to be in a state of constant rest.  As early as the 3rd century BC, however, Aristarchus of Samos held a contrary view and believed that the earth revolved around the sun.  This heliocentric view of the world however, received no support from other astronomers and allowed the geocentric world view to be the predominant way of thinking for centuries.

Finally, in the 16th century, Nicolaus Copernicus developed a model to support Aristarchus' heliocentric worldview.  Additional support also came from Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei.  The heliocentric worldview proved too threatening for the Catholic Church, however, and the Roman Inquisition of 1615 charged Galileo with "vehemently suspect of heresy" and forced him to spend the rest of his life under house arrest.

Despite such protests, the heliocentric worldview continued to gain momentum by scientists around the world.

The acceptance of this new idea led to an even greater scientific finding in the 19th and 20th centuries when William Herschel and Edwin Hubble observed that the sun was not the center of the universe either and that other galaxies actually exist in addition to our own Milky Way galaxy.

Tracing the history of the heliocentric worldview provides organizations with valuable insight into the process of how an idea gains acceptance. An idea based on false observation becomes the dominant way of thinking. A visionary challenges that idea but people are slow to support it. Finally after a long period of time others revisit the new idea and disprove the prevailing way of thinking.

Support for the new idea is slowly developed and built through collaboration. The new idea garners enough support over time that it can eventually withstand challenges. Due to advancements in thinking and observation, the once revolutionary idea is itself replaced with a more advanced one. Unlike earlier, however, when ignorance prevented discourse, people use this new idea to help usher in an innovative way of thinking.

Analyzing how your organization approaches new ideas is a critical component to success in today's hyper-competitive economy.

According to IBM's 2010 Global CEO Survey, eight in ten CEOs expect their environment to grow significantly more complex and fewer than half believe they know how to deal with it successfully.  To succeed in today's challenging market "it will be counterproductive to simply to carry on with the current stimuli policies, management strategies and curricular approaches."  Alvin and Heidi Toffler echoed such sentiment in Revolutionary Wealth and wrote "To deal with today, therefore we need not only new knowledge but new ways to think about it."

In its 2011 report: Learning to Innovate, The American Society for Training & Development noted that to remain successful in today's hyper-competitive environment, "companies need to have systems and strategies in place to encourage, develop, and sustain innovation in every role in the organization."

How often does your organization discuss, accept or even invite new ideas? 

What systems and strategies do you have in place to encourage innovation in every role in your organization?