Collaborativity

In an open source world, there is neither room nor time for ‘closed door’ thinkers who prefer to solve problems on their own. Access to knowledge and technology is no longer privileged and the need to access ideas across far-reaching global organizations has forced the creation of new ways to do this.

Every company needs to make the shift from a ‘my’ idea culture to an ‘our’ idea culture and send the message out that game-changing thinking can come from anywhere. A local office manager can be the impetus for an idea that others can build upon and find a home for anywhere in the world. All that is needed is a forum for his or her idea to be heard.

Figuratively and literally, organizations need to tear down walls that constrict blood flow and start harnessing the creativity that lies dormant inside their walls. Group creativity should not be reserved for company off-sites. It should be an everyday way of doing business.

In James Surwiecki’s book, The Wisdom of Crowds, he makes the point that “under the right circumstances, groups are remarkably intelligent, and are often smarter than the smartest people in them.”

A group of passionate stakeholders in a business, bringing diverse perspectives and talents
to a particular challenge, can be an incredibly powerful creative entity. We call this COLLABORATIVITY and we believe it is the key to unlocking the creative potential
of any organization.

Alex Osborn, one of the founders of BBDO, the renown global advertising agency, first employed organized ideation efforts in 1939. He noted in his book, Applied Imagination, that at the time, participants described it as ‘brainstorming.’ The name stuck. The only problem is that 90% of what is called brainstorming is worthless.

Just getting people together for some friendly exchange over coffee and muffins rarely accomplishes anything. Structure is the ally of COLLABORATIVITY.

In their Harvard Business Review essay a few years ago, authors Kevin Coyne, Patricia Gorman Clifford and Renee Dye seemed to agree, stating that “the best ideas emerge from brainstorming sessions when people are actually instructed to think ‘inside’ the box, with clearly defined goals and objectives.”

Furthermore, it’s about the quality of the outcomes, not the process. Raw output needs to be synthesized, the best ideas need to be identified, built upon and brought to life. Done right, creating a culture of COLLABORATIVITY can help any organization get to better ideas faster, regardless of how complex the business challenge may seem. And in the process, get everyone thinking in the same direction.

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