Collaborate to Innovate!
During the past 25 years of consulting with some of the most forward thinking organizations in the world, I've noticed a curious trend. My clients' efforts to innovate, no matter how sincere or well-funded, usually undervalue one of the key drivers of innovation -- and that is the ability of their workforce to successfully collaborate with each other.
In their singular rush to accomplish the extraordinary, they have forgotten that innovation is a team sport.
While the ideas that spark innovation may originate in the fertile imagination of a few creative thinkers, the act of translating those ideas into products, services, and breakthrough ways of doing business requires a set of interpersonal skills that has become all too rare in today's corporate environment.
The reasons for this can be distilled down to an outdated mindset that continues to subvert even the best designed "innovation process" -- a mindset that promotes competition over collaboration.
One need look no further than the average corporate landscape for proof: silos, turf wars, and territoriality rule the day.
Time and again, aspiring innovators, project teams, change agents, and internal sponsors run into time-wasting roadblocks that can be traced to the same root cause -- the inability of a diverse group of people, working for the same company, to navigate the highly charged process of working together instead of against each other.
Sound familiar? What can you do, this week, to radically increase the odds of your team or department becoming more collaborative?
Comments
I absolutely love the synergy of a brainstorm session. Something about it brings me to life. While working as a team has its own challenges, the ideas that come out of a collaborative session are invaluable. Thanks for the reminder.
Posted by: Robertkennedy3 ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](https://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 21, 2013 06:27 AM
Robert: You are most welcome! Keep on innovating and attract the people who you can collaborate with. Much needed for all of us. We are all in this together!
Posted by: Mitch Ditkoff at February 21, 2013 11:45 AM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)
