LEADERSHIP INNOVATION: Creative Collaboration to Maximize Potential

By Steven K. Haught, MBA

Today, I will continue developing the theme I began in yesterday’s article, Leadership Innovation: Sandpaper without the Sand.

A company doesn’t have to rotate it’s personnel into wildly varying positions to achieve the goal of idea stimulation, or cross-pollination of concepts that merge into a new innovation.  

It can be as simple as providing an environment which allows employees to easily work on various/differing projects, while discussing their work and outcomes in a group environment.  The idea is to create a multidisciplinary approach, where various activities and discussion can be happening with the purpose of seeing what outcomes are possible as each person shares in multiple projects at the same time. Some concepts will intuitively lend themselves to this type of thinking, others will not.  The key to creating innovation is to pour as much into the pipeline as possible and see what comes out.

Creativity researchers Howard Gruber and Sara Davis see a strong link between the most creative people and their tendency to work on multiple projects. Gruber notes that Charles Darwin is a good example of this.

Throughout Darwin’s life, he alternated between research in geology, zoology, psychology, and botany, always with some projects in the foreground and others in the background, competing for his attention. He undertook his celebrated voyage with the Beagle with “an ample and unprofessional vagueness in his goals.

And then there are the earthworms. Darwin could not get enough of earthworms. This great scientist, who traveled the world, studied the finches of the Galápagos, developed a compelling account of the formation of coral reefs, and—of course—crafted the brilliant, controversial, meticulously argued theory of evolution, studied earthworms from every possible angle for more than forty years. 

The earthworms were a touchstone, a foundation, almost a security blanket. Whenever Darwin was anxious, puzzled, or at a loss, he could always turn to the study of the humble earthworm.

Gruber and Davis have coined a term for this melting pot of different projects at different stages of completion, they call it a ‘network of enterprises’. They argue that the parallel project approach has four benefits:

1. Multiple projects cross-fertilize. The knowledge gained in one enterprise provides the key to unlock unlock another.
2. A fresh context is exciting; having several projects may seem distracting, but instead the variety grabs our attention. We’re like tourists gaping at details that a local would find mundane.
3. While we’re paying close attention to one project, we may be unconsciously processing another—as with the cliché of inspiration striking in the shower. Some scientists believe that this unconscious processing is an important key to solving creative problems. John Kounios, a psychologist at Drexel University, argues that daydreaming strips items of their context. That’s a powerful way to unlock fresh thoughts. And there can be few better ways to let the unconscious mind chew over a problem than to turn to a totally different project in the network of enterprises.
4. Each project in the network of enterprises provides an escape from the others. In truly original work, there will always be impasses and blind alleys. Having another project to turn to can prevent a setback from turning into a crushing experience. The philosopher Søren Kierkegaard called this “crop rotation.” One cannot use the same field to grow the same crop indefinitely; eventually the soil must be refreshed, by planting something new, or simply taking a break.

Gruber and Davis argue that with the right network of enterprises, an impasse in one project can end up feeling somewhat liberating. If you fall down the wrong rabbit hole you have the ability to pivot to something fresh.

The writer can pull out some old notes, a scientist can turn to a puzzling anomaly they have wanted to investigate. What would have been a depressing waste of time for a single-minded person can become a creative renewal and enthusiasm for someone with several projects in play simultaneously. That’s the theory, but in practice it can be a source of anxiety. 

For some people, having many projects in play is a stressful experience that can quickly degenerate into frustration and stagnation. An example of how this emotional and creative blockage manifested itself in the workplace might be summed up like this… rather than turning to the study of earthworms for a break, you instead turn to Facebook, shop on Amazon or surf the web, when you should be working on projects.

There can be negative aspects of multitasking and dividing one’s attention and focus. The goal here would be to find out the number and type of projects which give a person the benefits outlined by Gruber and Davis but still keep that number manageable enough to not create an undue amount of stress. This will take a bit of trial and error to find out each workers threshold.

Discovering the best formula and methods for managing multiple projects is up to an individual’s personal style.  The key is to have a system that allows you to minimize stress and maintain the productivity timelines of each project.

There are many very good software application for project management and even the old fashioned “white board” and yellow stickies” to keep project organization at the forefront for one and many to share in the creative process.

Cross-fertilization is a powerful formula for finding pathway to innovative solutions.  Merging ideas from many minds is the key.  Adding a measured dose of chaos to your work can benefit you greatly.

But there are also times when this cross-pollination concept is far less useful in a team environment and more useful to a single creative individual.  Time away from a project, working on another, allows your mind to refresh and find new pathways to discovery.  

Either way, individually on/off a project or in a cross-pollination collaborative team environment, a company that adopts this development strategy, can produce some amazing results.

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