Innovation: Diverse Teams outperform, network your Organization

Great posting on the 4 things you need for an innovative culture. My favorite one is of course on collaboration:

All too often, we think of innovation as the work of lone geniuses who, in a flash of inspiration, arrive at a eureka moment. Yet the truth is that research shows that the high value work is done in teams, those teams are increasing in size, are far more interdisciplinary than in the past and the work is done at greater distances. …

In another, more wide ranging study, scientists at MIT and Carnegie Mellon found that high performing teams are made up with people who have high social sensitivity, take turns when speaking and, surprisingly, the number of women in the group. There is also a wealth of research that shows diverse teams outperform more homogenous units.

So the evidence is both abundant and clear, if you want to make your organization more innovative, don’t go searching for hard driving “A” personalities spouting off big ideas and interrupting others, but rather seek diversity, empathy and to network your organization so that teams interact more effectively.

Source: If You Want To Build An Innovative Culture, You Need These 4 Things | Buzz AffCart

And the comment on (informal) networks is great, too:

So before you embark on your next reorganization designed to “break down silos” you might want to think about how informal relationships develop within your enterprise. The truth is that innovation is never about nodes. It’s always about networks.

Source: If You Want To Build An Innovative Culture, You Need These 4 Things | Buzz AffCart

Let us not forget one important aspect to be innovative: Trust your people and your teams. Command and Control is the death of innovation. To many hierarchies are the death of innovation. Look at the plans of Dieter Zetsche, the CEO of Daimler, to break down hierarchies to stay competitive.