Openness, empathy, inclusion and collaboration are key to an innovation culture.
Innovation is all about connectedness, ideation and collaboration between individuals, sharing reflections and findings, and realising potential together. It is in all my experience ideas shared, that grow to something of height potential, through collective intelligence it take off and fly. There are many findings supporting this, and most often it is a matter of cultural settings promoting this, driving teams taking off, bringing on a ride of joy to the full.
Below are some excerpts from Margaret Heffernan’s Ted Talk – Why it’s time to forget the pecking order at work.
… Social capital is what gives companies momentum and robustness. Social connectedness to each other is key to highly achieving teams. A culture of helpfulness is essential to success, and it routinely outperforms individual intelligence. Helpfulness is about people getting to know each other. Companies do not have ideas, only people do. No idea is born fully formed, it emerges like a child, full of possibilities, and it is through their generous contribution, faith and challenge, that they achieve their potential. What motivates people is the bonds and trust they develop between each other. Investing in time to know each other, build the momentum and robustness of successful teams and companies. Look for what happens between people, that’s where the drama is, it is the outstanding collaborators that enjoy the long careers, because bringing out the best in others is how they found the best in them selves. It is not about individual superstars, it is all about everyone matters. A lot of things have to change for companies to outperform. Management by talent contest has routinely pitied employees against each other. Now, rivalry has to be replaced by social capital … let people motivate each other. Now, we need to redefine leadership, as an activity in which conditions are created, in which everyone can do their most courageous thinking together. …
Also check out Heffernan’s book Beyond Measure
http://go.ted.com/beyondbook
Take care!
Christian Appelt