Eureka – energy harvesting!  What was the moment like when engineers understood what could happen when they married the wasted energy from driving our vehicles in store parking lots, with the concept of spring loaded kinetic road plates to create enough energy to power a store’s checkouts?   

We can only begin to imagine that moment, but even more provocative is how the engineers were able to combine these two ideas that  didn’t have definitive connections.  Providing a framework around the idea of connection, is a recent 6-year study of 3,000 creative private sector executives by Professors Jeff Dyer of Brigham Young University and Hal Gregersen of Insead.  The professors looked at how innovators in the private sector think, and concluded that there were 5 skills inherent to these individuals:  Associating, Questioning, Observing Details, Ability to Experiment, and Networking with Smart People.  

When asked what they considered as the most important skill, they responded that associating, the “cognitive skill that allows creative people to make connections across seemingly unrelated questions, problems, ideas” is key.(3)   

So for a moment, lets embrace these findings and the idea that the ability to associate seemingly unrelated ideas and fields is the most influential and important skill, as supported by these other skills.  

The question then becomes, how are we in local government developing and growing these skills within ourselves and those in our organizations?  
Let’s take a peek at the playbooks of some our private sectors examples to learn how they are nurturing their innovators’ skills, especially the ability to associate.

Nap pods!  Yes, that’s no typo but actually another benefit of working for Google.  “A report in the June 2009 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed that a nap with REM (or “dream”) sleep improves people’s ability to integrate unassociated information for creative problem solving, and study after study has shown that sleep boosts memory.”(5)  

Google understands this and provides nap pods that block sunlight for their Googlers.  Sure, we don’t expect city halls to be providing nap pods anytime soon, but perhaps closing your office door or borrowing an office for a few minutes of sleep isn’t such a bad thing after all.

Another example comes from the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Program in Social Entrepreneurship at NYU.  The program has taken a unique approach to learning; rather than the traditional approach of studying in one school with exposure to different disciplines, this program “exposes a highly selective group of graduate and undergraduate students from throughout NYU to the cross-disciplinary skills, experiences, and networking opportunities needed to advance and support their efforts…”(4)  

Students are immersed in fields from across the university to provide them deeper experience, and yet along the social entrepreneurship track for the purpose of bridging together ideas and fields for the purpose of sustainable change.

General Electric created its own leadership program for entry level professionals that allows employees to go through a series of rotating assignments for over two years.  “Young professionals receive accelerated professional development, world-class mentors, and global networking that cuts across GE’s businesses.”(1)  Even the John F. Welch Leadership Development Center was designed “to encourage exploration and spontaneous connection with other learners. It’s very structure is a reinforcement of what is best about learning at GE: authentic human connection coupled with the invigorating pursuit of ideas.”(1)

Shell appears earlier in this Ambassador update (pg. 7), but it also provides an excellent example of how the company is working to develop the ability of its employees to associate.  Shell and the Chinese have been working in partnership to understand the issues and challenges faced by each.  Shell has begun sponsoring doctoral and post-doctoral research with Chinese researchers, allowing them to work in their laboratories in Amsterdam, while Shell staff works in Chinese facilities.  Through this exchange, Shell is “gaining greater understanding of the issues facing China, while they are benefiting from our technical expertise in coal.”(6)

Looking now towards IBM, they have opened their annual meeting to the entire world, creating Global Innovation Outlook Teams (GIO) that engaged in dynamic, honest, frank conversations called “deep dives.”  As IBM characterizes, “These free-form conversations, fueled by a diverse mix of expertise and perspectives, are inevitably candid and spirited. Collectively, they result in an explosion of ideas that spark new relationships, policy initiatives, and market opportunities for all involved.”(2)

How are we nurturing our inner innovator?

The common theme that ties our examples together is the continual focus on exposing staff to new ideas, environments, people, and processes in efforts to help them connect the dots that have already been connected, as well as draw new lines that haven’t been seen before.  In this light, the possibilities are endless! Consider in your own organization:

“Deep Dives” with staffs, within the larger community, or among a regional group of local governmental units and or stakeholders.
Professional staff swaps between local governments; or considering partnering with a local company in your community.
Rotating assignments for staff for an extended period; and or expanded job descriptions that reflect a multi-disciplinary approach.
Consider your own personal activities: traveling abroad, artistic endeavors, meditation, physical activities – what are the ideas that inspire you and can any of their concepts be associated with our work in local government?

Brainstorm with your colleagues! Send us your ideas and we’ll start a virtual conversation of brainstorming ideas in our Ambassador Updates.

References:
1. General Electric.  www.ge.com.
2. Global Innovation Outlook Teams (GIO): IBM. www.ibm.com/ibm/gio/
3. How Do Innovators Think? Harvard Business Review, HBR Editors’ Blog. Fryer, Bronwyn. September 28, 2009. blogs.harvardbusiness.org
4. The Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Program in Social Entrepreneurship at New York University. 
5. The Simplest Way to Reboot Your Brain. Harvard Business Review. October 2009. Ignatius, Adi, Editor in Chief.  www.hbr.org
6. Shell: Working in Partnerships. www.shell.com