Failure becomes fertiliser in a 'knowledge ecology'

By NEIL SANDERSON

New Zealanders should not fear failure, but capitalise on it, says the head of one of the most famous technology think tanks in the world.

John Seely Brown, chief scientist at Xerox Corporation and a former head of its Palo Alto research centre, says if you work at the edge of innovation, you will fail some of the time.

"But firms that die return their nutrients to the soil," he said, adding that he regularly recruits people who have learned from their mistakes.

Building on his ecology theme, he told participants at the Catching the Knowledge Wave conference in Auckland this afternoon, that there were several other ways in which industry "clusters" such as California's Silicon Valley promote innovation and economic success:

* There is continual interaction between companies and universities. The universities do not simply supply educated workers.

* There is a "risk and reward culture" that encourages innovation.

* Informal benchmarking occurs continuously as people intermingle.

* Mentoring is widespread and effective.

As well as bringing people together physically, as in industry "clusters", Mr Brown says the virtual world of the internet is vital to fostering knowledge and innovation, because it honours multiple forms of intelligence.

Rather than being restricted to text, for example, the worldwide web can provide interactive multimedia to effectively engage auditory and kinaesthetic learners.

"It is a straightforward proposition," he says. "In a time when both the rate of change and the growth of knowledge keep accelerating the more people you have who can learn more in a shorter time, the more competitive you will be."

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