An interesting article in a recent issue of Science Magazine noted that the authors have observed that the current practice of scientific research is marked by a significant movement toward a team-based approach, as distinct from a more individualistic pursuit of knowledge. Further, the authors note that breakthroughs seem to come from smaller rather than larger teams. “Small teams tend to disrupt science and technology with new ideas drawing on older and less prevalent ones. In contrast, large teams tend to develop recent, popular ideas, obtaining high, but often short-lived impact.”
This observation is consistent with our experience in the domain of innovation, and two elements of the underlying explanation is that the social dynamics of small teams build from individual curiosities and enthusiasms, and the intimacy of a small team that can nurture the mutual trust necessary to engage in risk-taking. Conversely, large teams are often burdened by a more prevalent ‘groupthink’ mentality that can diminish the willingness to take risks, largely because when people don’t know each other well they prefer the ‘safer’ path. Groupthink, as you may know, is a name for the commonly experience social pressures that arise in groups, whereby people distinctly prefer social harmony, and often avoid the difficult topics that would rock the boat.
Since disruptions by definition have to rock the boat, unless the team members are very confident in their social position in the group and the group’s overall security in the larger organization, more radical (and possibly more valuable) ideas are likely to be suppressed.
This offers an important insight for innovation managers who are charged with looking for breakthroughs, as it suggests that smaller teams of 5 – 8 people are much more likely to succeed than larger ones. It also helps to recognize that the highly abstract notion of building trust provides very tangible benefits in the quality of the work.
The article also notes that, “Science can be seen as an expanding and evolving network of ideas, scholars, and papers.” This is an interesting confirmation of a comment made decades ago by Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy, who noted that, “no matter who you are, most of the smartest people work for someone else,” which reminds us that the way to access those smarts is through a network.
Hence, you might ask yourself how strong you network of collaborators and partners is, and how actively you’re working with them to gain insights and improve both your understanding of the changing environment, your capacity to take effective action, and your innovativeness. The recognition of the power and importance of networks also lies behind the invention of an important element in innovation practice, Open Innovation. The concept is simple enough – open your ideation and innovation processes to people who are not part of your organization. These may be customers, non-customers, partners, suppliers, academics …. For example, the Korean cosmetics company Missha used a membership process to engage thousands of its customers in testing products and developing ideas for new ones. Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly company created and open innovation platform called The Lilly Open Innovation Drug Discovery (OIDD) Program to engage pharmaceutical companies, research institutions and academia in a unified global communications network with the intent to both uncover and create innovation that may positively impact the people they serve. They also created and spun off an open innovation platform called InnoCentive, which provides open innovation services for other firms.
This are just two examples from hundreds we could cite that express how organizations can tap into larger networks. And this discussion made us think about our own organization, and we noticed that it’s also configured not only as a network, but in fact as a network of networks. Since many leaders in their fields prefer to work not as employees but as entrepreneurs, we’ve gradually built up a strong network of partners across many of the fields in which innovation practice must be experienced.
After taking a bit of an inventory of many of the firms we work with, we found that our partner firms cluster into these groups: consulting partners, technology partners, research partners, and learning partners. Working through and with our global network of consulting partners, we can bring extremely talented innovators and leaders to projects throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia; our global technology partners help us to understand and apply new technologies, and to share a deep expertise in how emerging technology can be applied to a variety of innovation projects. And as a very active member of the International Association of Innovation Professionals we participate in the ongoing sharing of knowledge, skills, and new ideas with hundreds of fellow members globally.
Taken together, these organizations represent a tremendous breadth and depth of expertise across all facets of the innovation journey. We love working with them because they’re super talented, deeply committed to great work, and we always learn valuable lessons and skills.
Below is a list of fifteen key partner firms we’ve worked with during the last two decades, and who thus help us to develop our own ‘expanding and evolving network of ideas, scholars, and papers…’ and talent!
InnovationLabs Consulting Partners
Airvision – Experts in retail store design and location, consumer experience design, digital marketing and brand development.
Callaghan Innovation New Zealand – The New Zealand government’s innovation arm, Callaghan runs brilliant programs to help New Zealand firms compete in the global marketplace, and also provides exceptional technical and engineering skills to address important innovation challenges.
China Institute for Innovation – A leading innovation consulting firm in China, CII has developed a thriving practice by facilitating breakthrough products and business models for a wide variety of Chinese and multi-national firms
Common Thread – Extraordinary capabilities in public health and communication for development (C4D), providing crucial guidance for social change and health initiatives. Common Thread designs social and behaviour change strategies that bridge the divide between well-meaning policy and actual human behaviour.
InnoEdge Consulting Hong Kong – InnoEdge specializes in the assessment, planning and execution of enterprise transformation.
InnovationLabs Thailand – Our partner firm based in Thailand offers a wide range of exceptional consulting and training services throughout Southeast Asia.
Matter Group – Brilliant consultants and facilitators working to help organizations solve complex problems.
WOW – Ways of Working – This exceptional team brings transformative insights and guidance to organizations looking for better ways to align the talent of their individuals with organizational goals and strategies.
InnovationLabs Learning Partners
Innovation Leader – The leading media company in the innovation realm, covering innovation with exceptional clarity, and offering multi-dimensional learning experiences for innovation practitioners worldwide.
International Association of Innovation Professionals – The world’s leading professional organization for innovators.
InnovationLabs Research Partners
Point Forward – One of the world’s leading ethnographic research firms, with a broad portfolio of clients across technology, health care, and consumer goods,
Quotient Design Research – Brilliant observers and researchers who bring skills at the highest level to uncover the important tacit dimensions underlying any complex problem or challenge.
InnovationLabs Technology Partners
FutureLab – Our technology partner sister company, focusing on the meaning and implications of blockchain technology and its disruptive power.
Red Team Engineering – An exceptionally strong consortium of engineering and software talent that brings high levels of innovation to technical challenges and IT operations.
ICS – World class software, hardware, and systems operations talent that finds unique ways to add value and improve efficiency.
Of course no such list could be complete without mentioning our clients, for they are often the source of the most profound learnings, and our way of working is designed to promote enduring partnership with them and long term value creation for them.
InnovationLabs Publications
Our newest publications are scheduled for release in Q2 2018:
The Big Shift: The Critical Trends Driving Global Change That Everyone Should Know
A review of key trends driving change in the world, discussion of the implications of change on the mindset and skills needed for success in the new economy.
Blockchain Revolution Manifesto
Exploration of the broader economic and social implications of blockchain technology, and a forecast of some of the applications that will bring forth the greatest disruption and also create the most value across society.
Please keep your eyes open for the formal announcements, coming soon.