Exploring innovation processes from a complexity perspective. Part II. Experiences from the Subsea Increased Oil Recovery case

Abstract

In this second part of the papers, exploring innovation processes from a complexity perspective, we present an empirical example to strengthen further the relevance of the approach. The example draws on a longitudinal research initiative conducted in cooperation with the Norwegian petroleum company Statoil ASA. We conducted our research into the Subsea Increased Oil Recovery project in an attitude and understanding of emergent participative exploration, an approach rooted in the complex responsive processes perspective. We demonstrate how this perspective reorients attention towards the everyday communicative action which constitutes innovation processes. Our findings suggest that innovation could be understood as self-organising emergence of conversational patterns, identity formation, power relations and leadership. We argue that seeking to explain innovation efforts in complexity terms opens up potential for the movement of thought in innovation research.