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"It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent; it is the species that is most responsive to change."
Sir Charles Darwin

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Good morning from a stunning Vancouver morning. 

 

Brene Brown and the Harvard Business Review are two perspectives that at first might appear disconnected, but I hope you'll see the connection in a couple of minutes. 

 

In her wonderful book, Daring Greatly, that we've been reading together when we get a chance at home, Brown speaks eloquently about connection and belonging. Connection she writes "is the energy that is created between people when they feel seen, heard and valued; when they can give and receive without judgement." Belonging she writes "is the innate human desire to be part of something larger than us." http://brenebrown.com  

 

And then, last week, a friend sent me this piece from HBR knowing I would be interested. https://hbr.org/2015/01/the-capabilities-your-organization-needs-to-sustain-innovation The capabilities your organization needs to sustain innovation are, according to the research described here, are:

 

"Creative abrasion. New and useful ideas emerge as people with diverse expertise, experience, or points of view thrash out their differences. The kind of collaboration that produces innovation is more than simple “get-along” cooperation. It involves and should involve passionate discussion and disagreement."

 

"Creative agility. Almost by definition, a truly creative solution is something that cannot be foreseen or planned. Thus, innovation is a problem-solving process that proceeds by trial-and-error. A portfolio of ideas is generated and tested, then revised and retested, in an often lengthy process of repeated experimentation. Hence Edison’s famous definition of genius: “1 percent inspiration; 99 percent perspiration.” Instead of following some linear process that can be carefully planned in advance, it’s messy and unpredictable."

 

"Creative resolution. Integrating ideas – incorporating the best of option A and option B to create something new, option C, that’s better than A or B – often produces the most innovative solution. However, the process of integration can be inherently discomforting, emotionally and intellectually."

 

These capabilities make good sense, but underneath them are two deeper capabilities; connection and belonging.

 

The HBR article gives Thomas Edison as an example. “...he didn’t work alone. As many have observed, perhaps Edison’s greatest contribution was not one single invention, but rather his artisan-oriented shops – a new way of organizing for innovation that has evolved into today’s R&D laboratory with its team-based approach [Like Pixar].  Edison may get the credit for “his” inventions – it was his laboratory, of course – but each typically arose from years of effort that included many others." 

 

In fact, connection and belonging are likely precursors of innovation. "Innovations most often arise from the interplay of ideas that occur during the interactions of people with diverse expertise, experience, or points of view. Flashes of insight may play a role but most often they simply build on and contribute to the collaborative work of others."

 

If you are seeking a more innovative culture for your team or organization; you will need to be confident that creative abrasion can happen. It will only happen when people are connected and belong. You will need to be confident that creative agility is possible.  "Messy and unpredictable" is only safe if people are connected and feel a sense of belonging to a greater good. You will need to be confident that creative resolution is possible, and it will be "discomforting, emotionally and intellectually." Moving through such discomfort is only possible when people are connected and feel as though they belong.

 

In the end, you cannot force people to be innovative; as a leader you can only create an environment where the organizational capabilities of abrasion, agility and resolution are seeded and nurtured. And such an environment requires that people are connected with each other and belong to something larger than anyone individual.

 

May this week seed connection and belonging for each and every one of us.