As the previous article on the Knowledge Network mentioned, Alliance Innovation Ambassadors have been exploring the “The Innovator’s DNA” article published by the Harvard Business Review.  The study revealed five discovery skills that distinguish the most innovative entrepreneurs:
associating, questioning, observing, experimenting, and networking.  Innovator’s leverage these five discovery skills to ignite their creative thinking.  

This month we are exploring networking as an innovation igniter for your organization.  This fifth discovery skill calls for us to stretch beyond our normal circle and connect with different people to obtain new ideas and diverse perspectives.  From Pierre Omidyar, founder and CEO of eBay, stating “I really look for insights from unexpected, non-expert direction by seeking out people with diverse backgrounds and diverse ways of thinking” to Michael Lazaridius, founder and CEO of Research in Motion, whose story we will share in a moment, successful entrepreneurs extend their knowledge domain by seeking out their complete opposites to discuss ideas and obtaining divergent perspectives.     

Beyond Our Normal Circle
We have all seen CrackBerry addicts, but do you know where the inspiration for the original BlackBerry came from?  Michael Lazaridius, founder of Research in Motion, was at a conference listening to a presentation by Coke which had just implemented wireless technology in their vending machines.  The technology allowed individual vending machines to send a signal to indicate they needed refilling.  This was Lazaridius ah-ha moment, and the HBR articles goes on to state that the most innovative CEOs attend “idea conferences” that bring together people from all over the world and from different backgrounds to listen to their newest “ideas, passions, and projects (3).”  

Yes, this is a plug for the Alliance’s own Transforming Local Government Conference; however, the inspiration and mission behind TLG is to create a thinking conference—to create an environment for local government professionals from all areas of service and all areas of the country to connect, share, and engage in dynamic content that encourages freethinking and fosters unprecedented ideas.

The Big Ideas Meeting is also a way in which the Alliance brings together forward thinking individuals from not just local government, but the foundation, non-profit, for-profit, and academic worlds to explore questions and exchange ideas.  As Frans Johansson illustratively fames in the Medici Effect, it is through the intersection of disciplines and cultures where the explosion of ideas and innovation occur.

Connect with Different People
As mutually beneficial as your relationships with your City Engineer, Asst. Economic Development Director, and Budget Analyst can be, those relationships most likely have a pattern and although new information and ideas are exchanged, it doesn’t compare to the ideas ignited by connecting with people and worlds that are at complete opposite of your normal routine.  So how do you connect and immerse yourself in those types of environments?  

One idea is to travel abroad.  Interestingly enough, another HBR study found that “the more countries a person has lived in, the more likely he or she is to leverage that experience to deliver innovative products, processes, or business.” The results go on to say that “ if managers try out even one international assignment before becoming CEO, their companies deliver stronger financial results than companies run by CEOs without such experience.”  

As a local government professional perhaps it is not in the cards to live abroad, but consider traveling as a way to find inspiration and take the time to observe and learn about customs, cultures, and routines (3).
 
Another idea described in Finding Your True North by Bill George is the idea of creating your own “Board of Directors.”  For most of us, as we initially embark on building our board of directors, the first few names that come to mind are probably those we know in local government.  Pause for a second and think about connecting with different people – who could you include on your board of directors that would consistently bring inconsistency to your way of thinking (1)?  

In our last Ambassador Virtual Forum, a few of you brought up the idea of creating an organizational database that would catalog all of the various skill sets within your organization.  An organizational database of that nature is a very powerful tool and could help you connect with people that have completely different skill sets than yourself.  Again, these connections can help you to see the world through a different lens and ignite new ideas.

Obtain New Ideas and Diverse Perspectives
Finally, in an effort to obtain new ideas and perspectives, the study offers the idea of hosting an “Idea Launch”.  Ideas launches are gatherings where you are able to meet a few new people from diverse backgrounds, companies, industries or countries and exchange ideas and feedback on those ideas (3).     

In closing, consider which networking activities would aid in your development?
• Attend a Thinking Conference
• Create Board of Directors
• Travel Abroad
• Create Organizational Database of Skill Sets
• Host Idea Launch

This month’s Time to Ideate wraps up our study of the Harvard Business Review Article “The Innovator’s DNA” and the five discovery skills that distinguish the most creative executives.  The five skills give us a starting point, and like any good run, it takes practice.  Asking the right questions, building your network, experimenting with new ideas, and pushing yourself into “the intersection” of new disciplines and associating very different concepts with one another – all this takes practice.  However, with these skills, your courage and as the article describes an “active bias against the status quo”, you will make small strides in the work of transforming your organization.

References
Finding Your True North. George, Bill, Andrew McLean, and Nick Craig.  Jossey-Bass, 2008.
How Do Innovators Think? Harvard Business Review, HBR Editors’ Blog. Fryer, Bronwyn. September 28, 2009.
blogs.harvardbusiness.org
The Innovator’s DNA.  Harvard Business Review, Gregersen, Jeffrey and Clayton Christensen.  December, 2009.