Changing the way we do business

Abstract

In order for innovations to occur in any sector, new ideas must both be developed and deployed. Major barriers to ideological change often stem from individual or organizational paradigms-an inability to imagine unfamiliar ways of doing business. Major innovations and paradigm shifts took place at the turn of the century, in response to a rash of fires that destroyed a host of major American cities. Since then, new discoveries have emerged from the research community, but many have not been deployed into day-to-day practice. The author urges another major paradigm shift-to imagine how fire safety design could differ dramatically from today's familiar practice; and to search for strategies to effect innovation in the 21 st Century. © 1992 Kluwer Academic Publishers.