The Problem of Innovation: A Problematization and Experience Analysis of how Innovation has been Established as a Particular Type of Knowledge and Practice

Abstract

This thesis is set out to investigate how the problem of innovation has been established as a particular form of knowledge and practice. This is done through a problematization and experience analysis inspired by Marius Gudmand-Høyer’s reading of Michel Foucault’s philosophical approach. The analysis was formed jointly through a collaboration with Tryg’s innovation department, NBCI, and analyses of the innovation literature. This form of analysis was driven by an ambition to co-philosophize with NBCI as practitioners of innovation, and thus to use them in their capacity as thinkers rather than reducing them to actors of innovation. In the analysis, we found that innovation to a large degree has been established as a particular form of knowledge and practice through its introduction of a market-oriented mental disposition. Additionally, we found that the concept of innovation lacks a clear definition and as a consequence, innovation becomes the name of a commitment to the possibility of improvement.