Community innovation
A novel approach to writing a book offers a new way to grow businesses
Beyond technology there is something more complex. Technology alongside humanity. Individuals alongside communities, all building a new approach to business innovation. These ideas form the basis of ‘L’uomo e l’innovazione tra tecnologia ed etica. 100 leader, 7 sfide, 1 comunità: riflessioni ed esperimenti per navigare il futuro’ (Man and innovation from technology to ethics. 100 leaders, 7 challenges, 1 community: reflections and experiments to navigate the future), a complex book edited by Donato Iacovone, Alberto Idone and Angelo Proietti (all with long careers in business management, human resources and organisation).
The book’s most notable feature is the way it was written. The 250 pages are the result of a collective experiment with the ambitious goal of creating a manifesto for a new approach to innovation that is simultaneously human, collaborative and systemic. The nature of a collective experiment is such that the content of the book was ‘produced’ by more than one hundred CEOs, senior executives, and opinion leaders. These individuals met and debated, following a path designed according to the principles of Design Thinking, a problem-solving method based on people and their creativity. The meetings took the form of insightful interviews, collaborative sessions, workshops and in-depth discussions. The result is a plural, practical and clear reflection on how technology, when combined with method, imagination and authentic relationships, can drive real evolution for people, organisations and society.
Thus, the book invites readers to follow a path that begins with the formation of the working community (which inspired the book), progresses to the identification of the ‘universe of enquiry’ (i.e. the description of the chosen subject), and concludes with seven visions of the future, each based on a different theme on which the future can be built: innovation and people; criticism of innovation itself; AI; uncertainty; the continued need to develop market-winning products; organisation and training; and the relationship between algorithms and rights.
This book by Iacovone, Idone and Proietti is not just a collection of texts, but a living workshop. Rather than a linear guide, it is a map of conflicting ideas and questions that open up new possibilities. It is a tool designed to help those working in digital and cultural transformation, as well as anyone who wants to understand how innovation is born and where it leads when we create it together. While you don’t have to agree with everything in the book, it is nevertheless useful to engage with the authors’ ideas and suggestions.
Donato Iacovone, Alberto Idone, Angelo Proietti
L’uomo e l’innovazione tra tecnologia ed etica. 100 leader, 7 sfide, 1 comunità: riflessioni ed esperimenti per navigare il futuro
Donato Iacovone, Alberto Idone, Angelo Proietti
il Mulino, 2025
A novel approach to writing a book offers a new way to grow businesses
Beyond technology there is something more complex. Technology alongside humanity. Individuals alongside communities, all building a new approach to business innovation. These ideas form the basis of ‘L’uomo e l’innovazione tra tecnologia ed etica. 100 leader, 7 sfide, 1 comunità: riflessioni ed esperimenti per navigare il futuro’ (Man and innovation from technology to ethics. 100 leaders, 7 challenges, 1 community: reflections and experiments to navigate the future), a complex book edited by Donato Iacovone, Alberto Idone and Angelo Proietti (all with long careers in business management, human resources and organisation).
The book’s most notable feature is the way it was written. The 250 pages are the result of a collective experiment with the ambitious goal of creating a manifesto for a new approach to innovation that is simultaneously human, collaborative and systemic. The nature of a collective experiment is such that the content of the book was ‘produced’ by more than one hundred CEOs, senior executives, and opinion leaders. These individuals met and debated, following a path designed according to the principles of Design Thinking, a problem-solving method based on people and their creativity. The meetings took the form of insightful interviews, collaborative sessions, workshops and in-depth discussions. The result is a plural, practical and clear reflection on how technology, when combined with method, imagination and authentic relationships, can drive real evolution for people, organisations and society.
Thus, the book invites readers to follow a path that begins with the formation of the working community (which inspired the book), progresses to the identification of the ‘universe of enquiry’ (i.e. the description of the chosen subject), and concludes with seven visions of the future, each based on a different theme on which the future can be built: innovation and people; criticism of innovation itself; AI; uncertainty; the continued need to develop market-winning products; organisation and training; and the relationship between algorithms and rights.
This book by Iacovone, Idone and Proietti is not just a collection of texts, but a living workshop. Rather than a linear guide, it is a map of conflicting ideas and questions that open up new possibilities. It is a tool designed to help those working in digital and cultural transformation, as well as anyone who wants to understand how innovation is born and where it leads when we create it together. While you don’t have to agree with everything in the book, it is nevertheless useful to engage with the authors’ ideas and suggestions.
Donato Iacovone, Alberto Idone, Angelo Proietti
L’uomo e l’innovazione tra tecnologia ed etica. 100 leader, 7 sfide, 1 comunità: riflessioni ed esperimenti per navigare il futuro
Donato Iacovone, Alberto Idone, Angelo Proietti
il Mulino, 2025