Denmark Denmark: A Lesson in Innovation Text

Denmark has garnered international attention for its creativity: Copenhagen’s restaurant Noma is consistently named one of the world’s best for its whimsical interpretations of Nordic cuisine. Manufacturer Bang & Olufsen makes sound systems and audio products so cutting-edge that New York’s Museum of Modern Art shaped an entire exhibit around the company’s designs. To add to its inventive atmosphere, Denmark also ranks as the happiest country on the globe in an annual survey conducted by the University of Leicester.

 

The country is a paragon of innovation—and to professors Clay Warren and Nils Olsen, it seemed like the perfect place to study how organizational structures and societal values shape a person’s predisposition for creativity. 

 

The two professors led 16 students through Copenhagen for 10 days during the field portion of their course “Communication, Decision-Making, and Innovation: The Special Case of Denmark.” 

 

“This course was designed to facilitate a collective discussion of innovation and how the country’s model can be potentially replicated in other parts of the world,” Dr. Warren said.

 

The class met on campus for two intensive three-day sessions, building a conceptual base before getting to the country. Once they arrived in Copenhagen, the group visited businesses, educational institutions and cultural hubs to analyze organizational structures as well as communication and decision-making processes.

 

“Copenhagen is a natural selection given its high levels of creativity within the culinary, architectural and renewable-energy domains,” Dr. Olsen explained.

 

Junior Sonya Dhindsa, an organizational sciences major, had never been to Europe and wanted to understand how decision-making and business happens abroad. She found Denmark strikingly different than the U.S.—particularly, she felt, because some Danish government policies make it easier for people to develop at their own pace, leading to more creative freedom and innovation. These policies are grounded in the philosophy of Nikolai Grundtvig, the father of Danish adult education who advocated for the education of all people, regardless of gender and social status. 

 

The class spent an afternoon at the historic and well-preserved Vartov, Grundtvig’s old headquarters, where Danish educators explained how their country’s approach to learning has paved the way for Danes to feel empowered to be creative.

 

Ms. Dhindsa also learned how company environments can motivate workers, something she paid special attention to during a visit to Greener Pastures, a Danish company that develops iPhone applications.

 

“Their office was really unique. It had a huge green wall and felt open and really beautiful. They said they prefer to have a more creative office because it inspires more thinking,” she said.

 

In addition to seeing Greener Pastures, students also visited the country’s National Museum; the 171-year-old TIVOLI Amusement Park; a number of ultra-modern buildings designed by the famed Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG); the Danish Royal Opera House and much more. The loaded schedule left Ms. Dhindsa with one piece of advice for students interested in taking the class next year: “Bring comfortable walking shoes. You’re going to do a lot of exploring."