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The new creative organization
I’ve worked for very small and very large organizations, plus a few in between. I’ve observed radically different methods of dealing with innovation.
One took great pride in its lack of size. It hired freelance talent, contractors or outsourced to larger companies whenever if necessary. That kept overhead low and allowed us to build teams with appropriate expertise on a per project basis. If things slowed down, we didn’t have to let anyone go.
Another advantage was our ability to get fresh thinking on every project. After you work with someone on a few projects, you learn their thinking patterns and their ideas become somewhat predictable. That’s not true of everyone, but more than a few. I’ve also noticed that working with people I don’t know produces unpredictable and often totally unique results.
It comes down to communication. Shared language, references or experiences don’t exist with new collaborators. You repeat what you understood the other person to have said. “No, that wasn’t what I meant, but it’s interesting.” And he/she repeats what you said. But, again, “That’s not quite it either. But that’s interesting.” Collectively, you stairstep your way to a solution neither of you could reach independently. In learning each other’s meaning and often enhancing that by slight misinterpretations, very interesting things happen.
An article in the New York Times an innovative company named InnoCentive which takes this idea a step further. They are a problem solving resource for a number of blue chip companies. But InnoCentive doesn’t solve the problem directly. They solicit ideas from 90,000 biologists, chemists and other scientific professionals worldwide. These people compete to create the best solution and are rewarded handsomely – if theirs is the best solution. And, it’s all done via the Web.
Why not take that idea a step further? Consider a Web based consultancy that combines outsourced professionals into teams. Teams collaborate on line through social software like QMIND which permits storyboarding, communication, review, response and approval cycles.
This is the new generation of creative organizations where innovation is king and second best doesn’t count. This reflects what Frans Johansson termed “intersectional thinking.” But, the addition of social media for communication and collaboration delivers the promise of a flat world.
Chas Martin
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