Forget brainstorms and ping pong tables. True innovation thrives in a carefully curated environment that fosters long-term, collaborative connections.
In today's dynamic business landscape, a relentless barrage of articles advocate for "disruptive ideas" and "intrapreneurship." Yet, many companies struggle to translate these buzzwords into reality. The culprit? A flawed understanding of innovation itself. It's not just about generating a flurry of ideas; it's about nurturing them into impactful solutions through sustained collaboration.
Hackathons and other rapid-fire innovation initiatives often fall short. They excel at sparking creative collisions, but fail to provide the scaffolding necessary for those sparks to ignite lasting change. Participants, brimming with initial enthusiasm, underestimate the long-term commitment required to bring ideas to fruition.
Successful innovation is a marathon, not a sprint. It necessitates a skilled intermediary – a maestro who orchestrates a symphony of collaboration throughout the entire journey. This guide explores the crucial role intermediaries play in fostering long-term, high-performing innovation teams.
Step 1: Building
Trusting Relationships – The Bedrock of Collaboration
Moving beyond introductions and structured discussions, intermediaries create a space for genuine connection. Take Unreasonable Impact (UI), a partnership between Barclays and Unreasonable Group, for example. UI meticulously selects ventures and individuals who not only demonstrate financial viability and social impact, but also possess the collaborative spirit needed to thrive within the UI community.
UI fosters "team psychological safety," a Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson's term for an environment where entrepreneurs feel comfortable sharing both successes and challenges. To achieve this, UI avoids hierarchical structures, opting for the terms "fellows" and "collaborations" instead of "mentors" and "mentees."
UI meticulously designs its programs, incorporating workshops, team-building activities, and community dinners. These seemingly mundane meals play a crucial role. Divided into small groups with a UI mentor, fellows delve into personal experiences, fostering deeper connections. Quiet reflection periods are also woven into the program, allowing participants to process experiences and solidify relationships.
Consider two UI fellows – one developing recycled 3D printing and the other working on residential wind turbines. During a lunch, they discovered shared interests and connections. This blossomed into a fruitful collaboration, leading them to explore ways to integrate their technologies for a novel appliance. By the time of our interview, they were actively pursuing joint grant applications.
Step 2: Cultivating
Collaboration – From Idea to Implementation
Once a spark ignites and a relationship forms, collaborators must define shared goals, establish metrics, and design processes to translate their vision into reality. This intricate roadmap creation process benefits immensely from external perspectives.
The importance of sustained support is often overlooked by organizers of innovation challenges. However, intermediaries like the #WirVsVirus initiative in Germany recognize this gap. Following their initial online hackathon that yielded 1,500 ideas, they provided a robust six-month follow-up program. This program offered participants access to domain experts, investors, and potential partners – mirroring the support provided by intermediaries.
Many intermediaries focus solely on refining ideas, neglecting the human element of collaboration. Research on cross-disciplinary teams highlights the critical role of team dynamics in fostering productivity. Here's where intermediaries excel by adopting a coaching role and creating safe spaces for open communication.
Impact Hub London, part of a global network of entrepreneurial hubs, exemplifies this approach. Mentors not only provide business and technical guidance, but also offer "holistic support and motivation," as their website emphasizes. Mentorship engagements last three to nine months, focusing on building trust, establishing expectations, and defining roles – all essential ingredients for successful cross-sector collaboration.
The Innovation Ecosystem (IECO) at Portugal's Nova School of Business and Economics exemplifies this approach through programs like Project X. Mentors guide student-corporate teams on innovation methodology and team dynamics, fostering trust and navigating the complexities of the innovation process.
Step 3: Sustaining
and Managing the Team – The Long Haul
The critical nature of long-term support is underscored by the experiences of two UI ventures we tracked. The first, established during the pandemic, faltered due to the pressure to establish roles and responsibilities amidst tight timelines. The second, however, thrived by recognizing the need for a more structured approach. They established a joint venture, providing the necessary framework and resources for sustained growth. The UI community's foundation of trust enabled this flexibility, minimizing bureaucratic hurdles.
Intermediaries play a vital role in navigating the complexities of long-term collaboration. By facilitating workshops, calls, and retreats, they create opportunities for teams to renegotiate roles, adapt to changing dynamics, and implement new governance structures. These "reflective checkpoints" offer a platform for social entrepreneurs to learn from their experiences and course-correct strategically.
The entrepreneurial journey is fraught with emotional ups and downs. Intermediaries can provide a much-needed support system, as highlighted by the contrasting experiences of two social entrepreneurs. One, lacking a space to share anxieties, ultimately suffered a breakdown. The other, however, thrived within a supportive network of mentors and peers gained through various programs.
Beyond fostering individual collaborations, intermediaries like Casa do Impacto in Lisbon cultivate entire ecosystems. Events like the "Founders Breakfast" promote informal connections and knowledge sharing among social entrepreneurs. OpenIDEO, a platform studied by one of the authors, incorporates weekly calls specifically designed for community reflection and experience sharing.
During a workshop we facilitated, a UI-led venture faced a situation where new team members had not yet established relationships with those managing daily operations. The workshop provided a platform for trust-building and reflection. As one UI fellow remarked, it allowed the team to "think about what worked, what did not...and in hindsight what we'd have done differently."
Building a Network of
Support: From Barclays to OpenIDEO
UI fosters a vibrant ecosystem connecting social entrepreneurs with mentors, investors, and fellow innovators. Alumni connections blossom, with past fellows becoming mentors themselves. Barclays' investment in 80 Acres Farms, a UI fellow's vertical farming venture, exemplifies this synergy.
OpenIDEO, focused on social and environmental challenges, mirrors this approach. After years of standalone challenges, they launched the Food Waste Alliance – a network of ventures, experts, and stakeholders. This online platform facilitates knowledge exchange, prototyping, funding opportunities, and collaboration. Rise Products, a food upcycling start-up, benefited immensely. Funding from another Alliance member enabled them to prototype a barley waste flour process. They also connected with collaborators who would later form an upcycled food association.
The "move fast and break things" mantra celebrated in Silicon Valley has its limitations. While hackathons spark creative ideas, they often fail to provide the long-term support crucial for translating those ideas into impactful solutions.
This is where intermediaries step in, offering much-needed guidance and fostering a collaborative environment where innovation can truly flourish. By recognizing the importance of human dynamics and providing long-term support, intermediaries empower teams to navigate the complexities of the innovation journey and translate nascent ideas into groundbreaking realities. This shift in focus has the potential to significantly reduce the high failure rate that plagues new ventures, fostering a more sustainable and impactful innovation landscape.
