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WHITEPAPER
EXPERTS CREATE PROBLEMS
Learn about the three main species of experts.
Discover the ideal profile of experts.
Understand how your company can better leverage experts.
© Presans 2010 – 2020
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRESANS 2020 1
“Experts create problems!” This is how Hervé Arribart, Fellow at Presans and former
scientific director at Saint-Gobain started our interview when I was writing my book
Innovation Intelligence back in 2014. By saying this, Hervé meant two things: first,
experts have the ability to see new interesting intellectual problems – and ways to
address them. This is the good side. The second aspect is less positive: experts can
have a tendency to turn into gurus and become difficult to manage.
Presans is a platform-driven consulting company founded in 2010 at the crossroad
of expertise in science & technology and of strategy consulting & innovation.
Presans’ service portfolio relies on a digital platform, a network of six-million experts
and a team of Fellows. Based on these 3 pillars, Presans delivers complex problem
solving and strategic guidance on innovation to 50+ industrial multinationals. Over
the last 10 years, Presans was involved in hundreds of engagements in various
industrial sectors covering pretty much all the fields of science and technology,
ranging from technologies relevant for any sector (ex. 3D printing) to very niche
technologies such as computational optics or Promethium 147, each time, engaging
on demand one or several of the best experts in the world.
Hervé Arribart’s citation above is a very good illustration of what we sometimes hear
from our clients. “Experts create problems”. “We don’t know how to manage them”.
“We don’t know how to evaluate them”, etc.
With the present whitepaper, we want to share with you some of our
operational knowledge on experts and expertise, accrued over the course of 10
years, in a context of industrial innovation. We want to share with you some of
the key things we learned.
– Albert Meige
PRESANS, founder and CEO
HEC Paris, Academic director
Presans2010
©©Presans 2020
2010––2020
2
2
INTRODUCTION
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ARE BACK ON In this whitepaper, we
THE FRONT STAGE. uncover and describe:
EXPERTS ARE THE NEW ROCKSTARS.
10 YEARS AGO: R&D IS DEAD, INNOVATION IS KING
A decade ago, innovation, open innovation, and quite a few other buzzwords
became popular. It was not fashionable anymore to be an R&D director. It was
1. Three distinct
trendier to be an innovation director. Research centers were has-been. Innovation
labs were the new places to be. Innovation was no longer about developing science
species of experts.
and technology. Innovation was about usages, business models, post-its, colored
sofas and walls you can write on. And also about startup-corporate collaborations.
We thoroughly described this new era in our previous book Innovation Intelligence.
STARTUPS AS CORPORATE R&D LABS, ENTREPRENEURS AS ROCKSTARS 2. Essential skills of
All industrial revolutions and more generally all innovation waves follow the same experts.
pattern: scientific discoveries are made; based on these discoveries, technological
bricks are developed; these bricks are first adopted by a limited number of people,
and then they are massively adopted and combined by a majority. This is when
disruptions at the business level occurs. In this era, innovation is about use-cases
and business model. About combining stuff. Startups are combination attempts.
Many die along the way. A few get acquired or listed. To some extent, in the
3. How companies
combination phase, startups are the R&D labs of corporate groups. Entrepreneurs
are their rockstars. But guess what? The combination phase is transient.
can better
leverage experts.
TODAY: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EXPERTS ARE MAKING A COMEBACK
At some point, the new cycle needs to be prepared. Scientific discoveries need to
be made. New technological bricks need to be developed. And this is exactly what
we have been observing over the last couple of years: science & technology are
back on the front stag. Experts are the new rockstars of innovation… once again.
–––––– IF YOU’RE IN A HURRY, JUMP TO THE
© Presans 2010 – 2020
Sources:
CONCLUSION ON PAGE 28 è
Innovation Intelligence, A. Meige & J. Schmitt, absans publishing (2015).
The Return of the scientific and technological expert, J. Knight, open-organization.com (2020).
3
Nobody knows what trait in a future expert triggers the quest for knowledge. We tend to think of experts as
similar to collectors, but instead of accumulating postcards or luxury vintage cars they collect knowledge.
What is the personal reward that justifies such effort and dedication? Could it be curiosity and the satisfaction
of a desire to know? Could it be the need to create a virtual security blanket? We do not know, but it is
probably a mixture of both of these factors, as well as other ingredients. What counts is the result: experts do
exist, and some of them reach a superior level of mastery in their fields of knowledge.
In this first section of the whitepaper, we will discover:
What an expert is What it takes to become
and remain an expert
Two distinct species of experts: How certain experts mutate
silo diggers and chipmunks into polymaths
© Presans 2010 – 2020
4
“
The journey to truly superior performance is neither for the faint
of heart nor for the impatient. The development of genuine
expertise requires struggle, sacrifice, and honest, often painful
self-assessment.
K. ANDERS ERICSSON
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY, PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCHER
© Presans 2010 – 2020
5
WHAT IS AN
Dr K. Anders Ericsson, professor of psychology at Dr Olga Lelebina, in her doctoral thesis La gestion des
Florida State University, is an expert on experts. In experts en entreprise (2014) provides a detailed
The Making of an Expert, Harvard Business Review description of an expert’s output for her company:
EXPERT? AND (July-August 2007), he defines an expert as a person
who, in resolving problems related to her field, will: SPOTTING PROBLEMS
WHAT CAN A PROVIDE CONSISTENTLY SUPERIOR ANSWERS
COMPARED TO HER PEERS
Efficient in detecting problems and determining their
causes.
COMPANY The word superior implies that an expert has reached
a very high level of knowledge and agility with the
STRATEGY
EXPECT FROM topic. As we will see, this also implies hard, constant
work. An expert is, by necessity, a person who is
willing to dedicate a significant amount of time and
Efficient in selecting the best strategy for solving a
problem.
HER? energy to learning and mastering a field of
knowledge.
SOLUTIONS
Proposing the best solutions, faster and with more
accuracy than do other individuals.
PRODUCE CONCRETE RESULTS
Concrete results are key. It is not sufficient to perform QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
a brilliant analysis of a situation to be an expert. An
expert leaves a trace: the situation is different after Focused on qualitative analysis and novel points of view.
the expert has provided input, the situation has
progressed, the degree of uncertainty has decreased, MONITORING
or some of the potential solutions have been
Acute observers, thanks to their error-detection capacity.
considered and discarded.
–––––– COGNITIVE EFFORT
Source: The Making of an Expert, K. Anders Ericsson, Harvard Business
Review (July-August 2007). Extracting key messages from complex knowledge with
less effort.
––––––
Source: La gestion des experts en entreprise, Olga Lelebina (2014).
© Presans 2010 – 2020
6
TEN YEARS
Ten year is the typical amount of time required for the making of a
high-level expert1. And since Presans is 10 years old in 2020, we
can officially declare that Presans is an expert on experts. Ten years
is not the end of the expert’s development, but rather the moment
where the expert has reached a sufficiently deep level of
knowledge. When the expert has reached this deep level, her
efforts are not over: permanent updating, enlargement, and
refinement are the key to maintaining her level of expertise.
Applying expertise in daily practice is not sufficient for this.
Research has shown that an estimated two hours per day are
required to maintain expertise.
––––––
1
Estimation based on Presans’ experience and confirmed through a number of scientific
analyses.
© Presans 2010 – 2020
7
WHAT SPECIES OF
Even though reality is slightly more complex (as expertise is actually a spectrum), at Presans, we like to
consider that experts fall into two distinct categories: silo diggers and chipmunks(*).
EXPERT ARE YOU?
A SILO DIGGER OR SILO DIGGERS dig deeply in their field of expertise.
A CHIPMUNK? Deep diggers are usually among the best experts in
the world in their field of expertise.
CHIPMUNKS build a network of interconnected
burrows, each burrow being a field of expertise.
Chipmunks’ expertise may not be as deep as that of
the silo diggers, but it covers a much larger territory.
Both species of experts are extremely useful for a company. In innovation projects, chipmunk experts will be
highly valuable and creative as they will leverage and assemble together knowledge from silo digger experts.
© Presans 2010 – 2020
––––––
(*) Chipmunks (or tamias) are cute little animals, part of the squirrel family. 8
“
An expert is someone who knows more and more
about less and less, until eventually she knows
everything about nothing.
ANONYMOUS QUOTATION
© Presans 2010 – 2020
9
HOW CERTAIN
EXPERTS MUTATE
INTO POLYMATHS!
The polymath is the
ultimate chipmunk – the
one your company should
definitely consider involving
in innovation projects
The word polymath, of Greek origin, is not found in all English dictionaries. Even less common is the
equivalent word polyhistor. Both words designate a person who has superior knowledge in a multiplicity of
domains. Polymaths, able to switch easily from one domain to another, have built up expertise in several
fields. In fact, they represent the highest level of what we called chipmunk experts.
Nowadays, some call polymaths multipotential or Renaissance persons. At Presans, we call them
Fellows. This type of expert is a partner of choice in innovation teams. Unfortunately while silo diggers
are generally present in companies, chipmunks are rarer and polymaths are almost inexistent – the main
© Presans 2010 – 2020
reasons are that (1) the population in itself is smaller, (2) they are often scary for human resources and
(3) they tend to end up in managerial positions.
––––––
Source: How much multipotentiality does innovation need?, Jacques Knight, open-organization.com (2016). 10Architecture is a very interesting indicator of how Research & Innovation is organized. A significant number
of our clients are currently re-thinking their research & innovation centers, such as Danone, Total, Air
Liquide, etc. These projects exhibit one invariant trait: they are designed for collaboration and sustainability.
They are open to the world. It’s important to realize this was not always so. Back in the 1950s, research
centers looked very differently. And they looked differently because R&I was organized differently.
In this second section of the whitepaper, we briefly
describe:
Three different research & Zoom in on modern
innovation eras experts
• Concentration & focusing We describe a set of 3 essential skills that
modern experts need:
• Cross-fertilization
• Abstracting
• Connection
• Screening & Modeling
We illustrate each of these eras with an
emblematic research center and we • Connecting
describe the archetype of the
corresponding expert.
© Presans 2010 – 2020
11ERA #1: CONCENTRATION & FOCUSING
50S TO MID-70S
EXPERTS ARE STRONG SILO DIGGERS
• Researchers push their own research.
• Very little collaboration between researchers.
• The organization fishes in its own thinking tank and innovations pop up.
• Big corporations have plenty of time for deploying industrially their basic discoveries.
2020
2010 –– 2020
Presans 2010
––––––
© Presans
Emblematic research center of the concentration & focusing era: Bell Labs (Murray Hill – New Jersey)
12
©ERA #2: CROSS-FERTILIZATION
MID-70S TO LATE 90S
THE RISE OF CHIPMUNK EXPERTS
What’s new? Getting to the bottom of the silo takes too much time and industrial systems are
more and more complex. The consequences are:
• In addition to the still very useful silo digger experts, we observe the rise of chipmunk
experts who are more system-oriented.
• The best experts track novelties through their networks.
• Fertility arises from collaborative interactions between various fields.
Presans2010
©Presans 2020
2010––2020
––––––
Emblematic research center of the cross-fertilization era: Xerox Parc (Palo Alto – California) 13
©ERA #3: CONNECTION
BEGINNING OF THE 21ST CENTURY
EXPERTS ARE KNOWLEDGE SCOUTS WHO CAN SHIFT BETWEEN NEW FIELDS WITH SPEED AND TALENT
What’s new? Knowledge inflation and the Internet. The world of industry has discovered that it is cheaper and faster to
acquire new knowledge coming from outside the walls of the company. The consequences are:
• Knowledge is out there and it circulates in a fluid way.
• The new added value of research in companies is to scout and organize knowledge.
2020
Experts are experienced in changing topics (and therefore can more swiftly enter novel areas).
2010––2020
•
Presans2010
©©Presans
––––––
Emblematic campus of the connection era: Apple Park (Palo Alto – California)
14THE LONGITUDE PRIZE… RE-INTERPRETED BY PRESANS
Although ships exploring the world during the XVII and XVIII centuries could easily measure their latitude, nobody
knew how to measure longitude. To measure longitude, one needs to keep track of time while on board. No clock
was able to keep the proper time throughout the hazards of a transoceanic journey. England, the dominant maritime
nation, was eager to maintain its leadership. In 1714, the British Parliament passed the Longitude Act, establishing the
Board of Longitude and offering a Prize of £20,000 (more than EUR 3.5 million in today’s terms) to whoever could find
a practical method of measuring longitude to within 30 nautical miles (56 kilometers). Among the initiators of the
project were astronomy experts, including Isaac Newton. These experts were convinced that only celestial mechanics
was sufficiently precise and delocalized to provide a solution. But another expert, the clock master John Harrison,
worked from 1730 to 1761 at refining a series of improved chronometers. In 1761, although Harrison’s timepiece was
demonstrated by real navigation tests to provide a sufficiently accurate measurement of longitude, the Board of
Longitude continued to delay recognition of a solution developed by a mere ironsmith. Harrison had to go to court
and enlist the support of the King George III to finally get credit and be awarded a fraction of the prize in 1773. The
official prize was never awarded to anyone.
Why did Newton fail to identify John Harrison as an expert in relation to the longitude
problem? With the famous longitude prize story we want to introduce what we
consider to be the 3 essential skills of experts:
Equipped with better operational
Despite being a polymathic genius, knowledge about navigation,
Newton was reluctant to abstract from Newton’s screening process would
the details of celestial mechanics and have picked up the fact that John
reconsider other aspects of the big Harrison had achieved a greater
level of expertise in the field of
picture beyond that silo, such as SKILL #1 SKILL #2 clockwork design, and that this fact
improvements in another area of
knowledge (clockwork design). Instead, ABSTRACTING SCREENING & was very relevant to solving the
longitude problem.
he ruled out the possibility such
improvements would be able to make a
MODELING
difference.
Newton’s expert network (scientists)
was far removed from John
Harrison’s expert network (people
relevant to clock building). The lack
of hubs connecting these networks
META-EXPERTISE SKILL #3 eliminated opportunities for them
to trade knowledge between each
CONNECTING other. Nobody was there to
© Presans 2010 – 2020
reformulate the longitude problem
EVEN NEWTON in a way that would have made it
easier for John Harrison to obtain
full recognition for his contribution.
COULD BE WRONG! ––––––
Source: Even Newton Could be Wrong, Albert Meige, open-organization.com (2009) 15SKILL #1: In just a few decades, we have gone from a world
in which knowledge – the fuel of innovation – was
rare and in the hands of a few very big players
MODERN EXPERTS OPERATE ON A MORE
ABSTRACT LEVEL
ABSTRACTING (major companies or universities) to today's world As a result, modern experts are more conceptual
in which new knowledge has become a than their predecessors were. They use
commodity produced by a multitude of players sophisticated tools, whether theoretical concepts,
whose mean size is decreasing. From the 1950s computer modeling, or equipment, but they set
The ability to remain at the to the 1970s, the best experts knew all of the
theoretical foundations of their fields and all of
aside the details of how the tools work until they
have pushed a tool beyond its limits. Expertise
frontier of knowledge and the basic properties of the objects they were
manipulating. Mathematicians knew how to prove
today probably requires a greater capacity for
abstract thinking than did expertise in the past.
seeing the big picture the theorems they were using, experimentalists
could open and repair the sophisticated
The knowledge required today is itself more
abstract than knowledge in the past. Imagine
beyond the silos. measurement systems they were using, chemists
knew how the compounds they were using had
using a theorem that you know is valid but whose
proof you learned in college and have forgotten.
This theorem is more abstract than the solid chain
been prepared. In other words, experts were able
to go all the way down to the bottom of the of proof that backs it. Experts must be skilled at
pyramid of knowledge. and comfortable with using black boxes.
MODERN EXPERTS STILL NEED TO
MODERN EXPERTS OPERATE ON THE
LATEST FRONTIERS OF KNOWLEDGE UNDERSTAND THE LIMITS OF THE TOOLS
THEY USE
In the years since, this deep basic knowledge has
gradually eroded. Experts may have been taught The best experts remain conscious that whatever
tool they use has limits and that, if operating in
those basic elements when they were at school,
non-standard conditions, they must double-check
but they are no longer part of the operational
its basics, at the cost of significant intellectual
knowledge of experts. Today’s experts are too
effort. Experts must be able to understand the
busy dealing with the latest layer of knowledge to
black boxes they use.
make sure they can explain in detail the principles
of their phase contrast microscope or the exact
logic of a convergence algorithm. Experts must
remain at the frontier of knowledge and see
the big picture.
© Presans 2010 – 2020
16“NANI GIGANTUM HUMERIS
INSIDENTES”
This Latin metaphor of dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants expresses
the fact that new discoveries are always built on the foundation of previous
discoveries. The metaphor is generally attributed to Bernard of Chartres. It is
also found in a letter written by Isaac Newton in 1676: “If I have seen further
it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
© Presans 2010 – 2020
17SKILL #2: Louis Pasteur said that “fortune favors the prepared
mind”. An expert is not only at the frontier of
knowledge, she must be able to screen relevant
MODERN EXPERTS
KNOWLEDGE
MASTER OPERATIONAL
SCREENING & knowledge for her organization. She must be able to
systematize serendipity. The word serendipity is an old
Another key skill of modern experts is to quickly
screen many pieces of knowledge and determine
which ones of them match present or future needs
MODELING
neologism; coined in 1754 by Horace Walpole, it was
inspired by an old Persian tale, The Three Princes of of the company (hence the notion of modeling).
Serendip, in which the heroes make discoveries by This process is serendipity at work. Most brilliant
observing their environment and making shrewd inventions and innovations were, after analysis, no
more than joining two pieces of knowledge
The ability to screen
deductions based on their observations. The word is
applied to unexpected and accidental discoveries, together. To be able to efficiently perform this
screening, an expert, in addition to mastering the
relevant knowledge and
such as Fleming discovering penicillin by examining an
theoretical state of the art, must master what we
old Petri dish that was contaminated by mold. Even
call operational knowledge. Knowledge based on
expertise for the
though serendipity of course requires luck, it is
her experience of her industry and her company (in
unfortunately increasingly being used to mean just the
terms of science & technology, but also in terms of
organization.
luck aspect. In fact, serendipity is a manifestation of
creativity: it is the ability to see relevant connections — organization, business, competitive landscape etc.),
even among needs not on today’s agenda. while avoiding various cognitive biases. Mastering
operational knowledge requires spending sufficient
time in a given industry and company.
MODERN EXPERTS MASTER THE THEORETICAL
STATE OF THE ART
MODERN EXPERTS ARE ARTISTS
In a world flooded by knowledge production, one of
the key skills for an expert is the ability to master the Presans’ Fellows are, we hope, the incarnation of
modern experts – actually they are meta-experts
state of the art. What are the most recent scientific
(i.e. experts on expertise). We have noticed that
discoveries and technological bricks? What is their
most of our Fellows have a very developed artistic
maturity level? What are the associated trends? What
fiber. We originally thought it was a coincidence,
are the main hurdle to overcome before these bricks
but we are now convinced that it is a key skill.
are available in an industrial context? How long is it
likely to take? Who are the main players? Mastering Artists see connections that most people don’t see.
the state of the art requires dedicating sufficient time This is why they are creative. We are now
to read publications, participate in conferences, visit convinced that modern experts must have a strong
labs, startups etc. artistic fiber to favor serendipity and the screening
& modeling process described above.
© Presans 2010 – 2020
–––––
Sources:
Innovation Intelligence, A. Meige & J. Schmitt, absans publishing
(2015).
Private discussions with Presans’ Fellows.
18“
Fortune favors the prepared mind.
LOUIS PASTEUR
CHEMIST & MICROBIOLOGIST
© Presans 2010 – 2020
19SKILL #3:
Graph theory, a branch of mathematics, is the study MODERN EXPERTS ARE TRADERS
of graphs, collections of nodes or vertices possibly
attached in pairs by links or edges. The degree of a Whether activating the network by contacting
CONNECTING node is the number of links attached to it. A path is a another expert or having a beer nearby a conference
way to connect two nodes via links. The distance with a new, interesting contact, an expert will, one
between two nodes is the number of hops on the way or another, have to enter into a give and take
shortest path linking the nodes. Graph theory is often ritual. Experts love knowledge and will be happy to
applied to the study of human networks. A surprising share a piece of their knowledge with another
expert, but the quality and durability of the
The ability to create fact about real-world human networks is that they
often contain highly interconnected subgroups (often relationship will depend on how well the taker pays
back the giver by sharing her own knowledge.
relevant weak ties with named cliques or small worlds). Most humans belong
to several cliques, such as their family, neighbors,
Modern experts should also have a well-developed
capacity to reformulate questions from their
other small worlds of colleagues, tennis club, catacomb explorer group and
so forth. Any two cliques are, at least, weakly
companies, to avoid cognitive biases and to extract
the right insights from peer experts.
knowledge and expertise. connected to each other thanks to the few nodes they
share. Nodes of a high degree are critical in creating
network connectivity; they are called hubs and play a MODERN EXPERTS ARE HUBS AT THE
major role in connecting cliques; which is essential INTERFACE OF SEVERAL SMALL WORLDS
when it comes to innovation.
In any expert network the key players are hubs,
experts who have far more contacts than the average
MODERN EXPERTS HAVE A WIDE NETWORK expert. The best experts are these hubs, in particular
An expert’s network provides access to a far wider hubs connected to hubs. In our global environment,
base of knowledge than the one based on her field experts in the same field tend to know each other
and to form cliques. The most valuable connections
alone. Networks are common among experts and
for extending knowledge coverage beyond this field
contribute significantly to raise the value of an expert:
are the nodes that connect this field, or silo, to other
experts in the same field know each other, they read
fields. Chipmunk experts are often such nodes,
each other’s papers, they meet at conferences, and
connecting different cliques – which is key for
they often visit each other when traveling. Based on
our experience, the network distance for information systemic innovation.
access is in practice not much longer than two. The
value of a recommendation decays rapidly with –––––
Sources:
distance. Innovation Intelligence, A. Meige & J. Schmitt, absans publishing
© Presans 2010 – 2020
(2015).
Private discussions with Presans’ Fellows.
20“
The success of any kind of social epidemic is
heavily dependent on the involvement of people
with a particular and rare set of social gifts.
MALCOLM GLADWELL
NON-FICTION WRITER, JOURNALIST, PUBLIC SPEAKER
© Presans 2010 – 2020
21We have seen that several types of experts exist and that modern experts share 3 essential skills. Any
company absolutely need both silo diggers and chipmunk experts. Chipmunks – and their ultimate
form, polymaths – are particularly useful for innovation and are very often rare in companies due to the
following reasons:
• Short-term pressure: experts tend not to get enough time for exploration to become and remain
chipmunks;
• No dedicated box: potential chipmunk experts don’t fit the usual “boxes” of the company, i.e. neither
the management path, nor the expert ladder;
• Management: experts with the potential to become good chipmunks more often end up in managerial
position – the company hence looses good experts and risks getting bad managers.
There are three distinct levels at which experts can make decisive contributions within a company’s innovation
process:
• Intelligence: technology watch and broadly speaking innovation intelligence;
• Strategy: contribution to the definition of the innovation strategy and roadmaps;
• Implementation: contribution to the implementation of the innovation roadmaps and problem solving.
Although potentially extremely rewarding, this task often generates a lot of frustrations within an organization.
In this third section of the whitepaper, we provide 3
managerial recommendations to better leverage experts and
minimize frustrations:
Ask for confirmed Ask for anticipation Open yourself to
knowledge chipmunks and
© Presans 2010 – 2020
leverage external
experts 22“
The long-term vision should reconcile and
integrate possible disruptions, from which short-
term knowledge strategies may be deduced.
ERICK LANSARD
THALES, DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION
© Presans 2010 – 2020
23ASK FOR
ASK FOR CONTEXTUALIZED STATE-OF-THE-ART ASK FOR MISSING KNOWLEDGE
PAPERS (1)
As well described in the so-called C/K theory, innovating
CONFIRMED
The company should ask its experts to produce a requires creating new concepts (C) leveraging
contextualized state-of-the-art paper for each of the knowledge (K). This knowledge can already exist – in
key domains. The paper should be a document that which case it should be covered in the state-of-the-art
KNOWLEDGE will serve as a reference within the company on a
given key domain; a way to get some sort of common
operating system. On a given key domain, the state-
papers. If the knowledge is not readily available, the
expert should identify a way to either acquire this
knowledge outside of the company if it exists or develop
of-the-art paper should: it in-house if it does not exist.
In order to efficiently • Provide an exhaustive, detailed and comparative
ASK FOR RAPID SOLUTIONS
solve problems and
list of the sciences and technologies;
• Analyze which of them are the most appropriate Experts, although very knowledgeable, do not have the
contribute to roadmaps,
to the company’s business; answers to all the questions. However, thanks to both her
• Evaluate the maturity level of these technologies; theoretical & confirmed knowledge (science &
the company should
• Describe the associated trends; technology) and her operational knowledge (modes of
• Define the vocabulary; operation, tools, processes etc.) an expert should be
Provide orders of magnitudes;
consider that the primary
• able to extract relevant elements from her brain and
• Map key players related to the domain. build an ad hoc method to deliver answers rapidly to any
and immediate function Answering such questions is bread-and-butter type
work for experts. The answers should be
problem in her field of expertise – avoiding blind spots
(which can be tricky for experts).
of an expert is to provide documented. In addition, the contextualized state-of-
the-art paper should take into account the strategic –––
confirmed knowledge.
Source:
and operational business context of the company. C-K design theory, A. Hatchuel & B. Weil, Research Engineering (2009).
Such reference state-of-the-art papers will facilitate
decision making, communication between
collaborators, or the integration of new collaborators.
–––
(1)
In French we would call such a document a “référentiel de
connaissance” rather than “état de l’art” to stress the fact that it is
customized for the considered industry, company and business context.
© Presans 2010 – 2020
24ASK FOR
GO BEYOND CONFIRMED KNOWLEDGE AND INVOLVE EXPERTS IN YOUR INNOVATION AND
ASK FOR INSIGHTS AND OPINIONS STRATEGIC ROADMAPPING
ANTICIPATION
Experts’ inputs also include insights and opinions. Involving experts in innovation and strategic
These may touch on the unstable frontier of roadmapping has a dual benefit:
knowledge, particularly during the early phase of an
First, insights from experts remove some of the fog that
innovation. Both the questions and the answers are
surrounds the always uncertain path of innovation. Of
In order to put together
about the future. Given a field of science and
course, when discussing innovation with an executive, a
technology, in addition to the questions listed in the
project manager, or other team members, the expert
technological roadmaps,
previous page:
should outline the contours of the future based on her
• What are the main hurdles to overcome to make expertise, including any speculative insights (which may
companies need experts •
theses fields usable in an industrial context?
What is the corresponding time horizon?
be contrary to the expert’s training and natural
inclination). The expert is expected to do such
to be able to state • How to make a technology compatible with the
targeted application?
extrapolations, provided she also describes under what
conditions the extrapolations would be confirmed, and
technological opinions •
•
What are the most probable scenarios?
What signals are we likely to observe in the
elaborates on the uncertainty that needs to be
eliminated, or lists alternative scenarios.
even if these opinions •
future if such or such scenario becomes true?
What issues are we likely to face during the
Secondly, by involving experts in the process of
aren’t yet fully confirmed
roadmap definition, a company in return sharpens the
scale up and industrialization phase?
• Etc. ability of these experts to screen the global flows of new
by a solid set of
knowledge, ideas, tools, results and discoveries.
Only high-level experts who regularly visit
experimental facts.
international conferences in their fields can provide
thoughtful answers to forward-looking questions
such as these.
© Presans 2010 – 2020
25WHY VERSATILITY IS ESSENTIAL
OPEN YOURSELF
WHY YOUR COMPANY SHOULD OPEN ITSELF TO
CHIPMUNK EXPERTS Experts have made the choice to cherish knowledge, and
they are consistent in that behavior. In most cases, this
TO CHIPMUNKS
Any company needs both types of experts (silo diggers
and chipmunks). Chipmunk are rarer and companies choice is not compatible with managerial responsibilities.
should open themselves to them because: Human Resource (HR) management experts have addressed
AND LEVERAGE
this problem. Among the many solutions proposed, the dual
• Versatility: chipmunks can change their field of ladder, a system introduced in the United States in the late
expertise when the environment of the company 1970s, has had some success and provides experts with a
EXTERNAL EXPERTS
evolves; career path. However, the results of such a system range
from fair to disappointing. Managing experts is difficult: it is
• Innovation: chipmunks efficiently connect straightforward and rewarding when their assigned tasks are
knowledge and communities that are far apart, they within their expertise, but it may become very difficult when
In order to remain versatile are creative and they know how to interact with silo
diggers.
the company’s priorities are only marginally related to those
of the experts.
and agile, your company
should hire experts who show HIRE POTENTIAL CHIPMUNKS AND PROVIDE THE
RIGHT ENVIRONMENT
LEVERAGE ON-DEMAND EXTERNAL EXPERTS
The knowledge distribution among the experts in a company
signs of being or becoming At the time of hiring, select experts who show signs of
being or of becoming chipmunks. This can be done as part
always reflects the history of the company. Companies
should cultivate an awareness of the future relevance of
chipmunks and should of the interview: discuss the expert’s fields of interest, and
gauge her response when presented with a challenge that
fields of knowledge that currently are not part of their
knowledge base.
leverage on-demand external lies outside those fields.
In a world of continuous and accelerating change,
experts. The company should then provide the right environment
allowing chipmunk experts to develop:
mismatches arise between the pool of in-house experts and
the strategic avenues the company may need to consider.
Such mismatches are frustrating both for experts and
• Identify internal experts with the right potential; managers, but relatively normal.
• Nurture internal experts by allowing them to spend
Strategic anticipation alone may not be sufficient to ensure
enough time outside of the company and to interact that companies will be able to integrate new knowledge fast
with external seasoned chipmunk experts; enough. Most companies today, particularly the front-
• Release these experts from excessive short-term runners in the innovation race, are solving the problem—at
least in part—by relying on external experts.
© Presans 2010 – 2020
pressure.
Needless to say that the company should maintain a real- –––––
time mapping of its internal experts. Source: Innovation Intelligence, A. Meige & J. Schmitt, absans publishing (2015).
26CONCLUSION: MODERN EXPERTS
HAVE A CHIPMUNK MINDSET
A NEW ERA FOR MODERN EXPERTS RECOMMENDATIONS LEVERAGE EXTERNAL
INNOVATION ARE CHIPMUNKS FOR COMPANIES EXPERTISE
The present era retains the legacies of We have seen that various species of Experts in a company can have a strong Meta-expertise is of course an attribute
open innovation and entrepreneurship experts co-exist: silo diggers who impact at three distinct levels: of chipmunk type experts. Once your
that were so central to the early 2010s. master a very narrow and deep field of intelligence, strategy and organization starts to cultivate the
But it combines these approaches with knowledge and chipmunks who cover a implementation. To maximize their chipmunk mindset, it is ready to
a strong drive to advance technological wider and more diversified field of impact, the company should make sure leverage external expertise of any kind.
innovation within a business knowledge. Ultimate modern experts to: Tap into the deeply specialized
environment that is more and more (especially for innovation) are knowledge of silo diggers, or expand
1. Ask for confirmed knowledge;
complex. Companies are increasing polymaths (cross breeds between silo your big picture vision and networks
2. Ask for anticipation;
their investments in scientific and diggers and chipmunks). Polymaths are with chipmunks. By using the services
3. Open yourself to chipmunks and
technological knowledge to create generally also experts in expertise, i.e. of an intermediary with robust
leverage external experts.
unassailable competitive positions and meta-experts. At Presans, we call them processes, such as Presans, you
Your company may also want to asses
are adopting more and more a systemic Fellows. Modern experts share 3 combine the advantages of speed and
in-house expertise leveraging the
approach. essential skills: abstracting, screening risk management with the added
essential skills we have described and
and connecting. benefit of confidentiality. Openness
use them as a framework or as a
and secrecy can very well be used
barometer.
together.
© Presans 2010 – 2020
27ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
ALBERT MEIGE, PhD
Albert Meige has been an entrepreneur since his teenage years, when he began by
selling magic! He currently is the founder and CEO of Presans and an Academic
Director at HEC Paris. Trained as a Telecom Engineer, he holds an MBA from HEC
Paris Business School and a PhD in Physics from the Australian National University. In
2008, the École Polytechnique awarded him its Innovation Prize. He has authored
multiple works on innovation and digitization, over a dozen peer-reviewed academic
publications, two patents, as well as the “Formation de l’Esprit Entrepreneur“ report
for the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (2018). Albert
is an ultra-trail runner and a seasoned photographer. He can solve the Rubik's Cube
in less than fifty seconds and loves underground urban exploration…
© Presans 2010 – 2020
PRODUCTION
authors: Albert Meige – photographers: Albert Meige and CC0 – bullet proof readers: Jacques Knight,
Kristine Martirosyan, Pascaline Le Berre, Hervé Arribart and Bernard Favre – acknowledgements: our
beloved clients and Fellows we interviewed to prepare the present whitepaper 28TOWARDS Founded in 2010, Presans is the number one on-demand
OPEN
consulting platform in France for industrial open
innovation. We inject scientific and technological
expertise into innovation projects for global industrial
clients, via six main service use cases:
Open Problem Solving
ORGANIZATIONS Strategic Innovation Guidance
Open State of the Art
Presans' vision is to Talent & Partner Sourcing
accelerate the Synergy Factory For more information, be sure to
transformation of Lateral Expertise Approach visit our website at
companies worldwide into presans.com
Open Organizations that To do so, Presans uses both its proprietary big data and to visit our blog
leverage on-demand technology to map expertise worldwide, a network of open-organization.com
teams of talents. over 6 millions experts and its team of Fellows (industrial
innovation veterans).
© Presans 2010 – 2020
PRESANS
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRESANS 2020 contact@presans.com • www.presans.com • www.open-organization.com 29You can also read
