Anthony Townsend over at the Institute for the Future’s blog has posted a link to a new paper discussing the impact of an increasing knowledge base on innovation. He offers a nice summation that basically indicates a continual cause and effect loop whereby knowledge in society is increased by specialized researchers, hence increasing the need for more highly specialized researchers. The rub is that to create innovation (or inventions, the term Anthony uses) we now need collaborative efforts in team settings. I have not downloaded the report yet, but plan to soon.
This whole discussion fits well with the ongoing debate in Extension concerning whether field based educators should be generalists or specialists. To me the answer falls closely within Townsend’s description. To add value, we will need to have in-depth specialization. But to be able to respond to community and society needs, we will need the flexibility (both individually and institutionally) to come together in teams to address issues. It’s a give and take balance between developing specializations that allow us to be proactive, and the mindset that let’s us consider issue based solutions.