Introduction

Lester and Piore (2004) discussed the importance of combining 'analysis' and 'interpretation'-two fundamental thinking processes that gave managers, designers and innovators the concepts and tools to keep new and successful products flowing into the market and to move forward in the face of uncertainty. Lester and Piore (2004) observed, after studying cases of product development (e.g. cell phones, medical devices, blue jeans), that managers who were innovators used both 'analysis' and 'interpretation'. The former is essentially a rational problem solving process while interpretation is used when one tries to make sense of an event or a new piece of information. While managers easily recognise the importance of analysis, the role of interpretation is not widely understood or even recognised. This article will examine the difference between analysis and interpretation to emphasise the importance of interpretation when teaching students, specifically those from the engineering and science disciplines, to be innovative and creative.

Limitations of Analysis

Analysis is an essential thinking process that breaks down large and complex problems into smaller and more manageable components. This process works best when alternative outcomes are well understood. However, analysis is not useful if the problem is not yet well-defined. This is when the interpretative process comes in to define or extend the range of alternatives available. In this way, the processes of analysis and interpretation could complement each other. However, most engineering or science students, who are trained predominantly in analysis, are not comfortable with the process of interpretation. In NUS, the implementation of the University Scholars Programme is a step towards rectifying this imbalance by exposing small groups of engineering and/or science students to opportunities that develop both their analytical and interpretive thinking capabilities.

Table 1. Interpretation vs Analysis.

Combining Analysis and Interpretation

As can be seen from Table 1, analysis and interpretation are fundamentally different resembling the contrast between 'yin' and 'yang'. To succeed in the real world, a combination of interpretation and analysis is essential but may not be commonly or consciously practical. Educators need to better appreciate the critical role of interpretation by creating, cultivating, renewing and enriching the spaces where interpretation can take place.

Concluding Remarks

In order to enhance the capability for innovation among engineering and science students, educators need to strengthen their education in liberal arts and humanities. Students will be able to broaden and deepen their interpretive capabilities as they will learn important skills from literary critique, historical perspectives as well as linguistic and artistic accomplishments.

For Frans Johansson (2004), the opportunity for drastically enhancing creativity and innovation at the 'intersection' of ideas is clearly demonstrated. However, Johansson highlights a major problem: as experts in their fields, many potential innovators tend to take a particular point of view and may not appreciate other alternative perspectives. As a result, 'associative barriers' are erected, making intersectional ideas less likely. This is perhaps another instance where the process of interpretation will be useful as it highlights ambiguity, delays judgment and gradually overcomes the established pattern of thought, and hence, the associative barriers. Understanding the importance of interpretation is also relevant to an emerging area of research and economic development for Singapore, Interactive and Digital Media (IDM), as announced by Dr Tony Tan, Chairman of the National Research Foundation. IDM is an intersection where technologists, artists and social scientists would meet and explore collaborative, interdisciplinary research and innovation opportunities. Technologists (e.g. research scientists, engineers) will need good interpretive capabilities to participate and contribute significantly to innovation in IDM.

References

Lester, R. & Piore, M. (2004). Innovation-The Missing Dimension. Harvard: Harvard University Press.

Johansson, F. (2004). The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts and Culture. Harvard: Harvard Business School Press.