In Wired this month, Kevin Kelly and Steven Johnson talk about where ideas come from. That ideas and innovation rarely come about through isolation of individuals. Ideas are more than your idea alone, but about bringing everyone to your idea. Its amazingly simple. But there is a myth about the lone inventor who pops up with an idea when in reality the greatest innovations have come about through an idea that was shared and made better through collaboration.
“…innovation doesn’t come just from giving people incentives; it comes from creating environments where their ideas can connect.” – Steven Johnson
Exactly. Idea-people create ideas mainly because its in their DNA, they have books that they keep track of ideas. I am one of those people. I write business plans to see if its a baseless idea, an idea ahead of its time, or a rational concept that is marketable. When I have an idea that is worthwhile, I bring it to my “committee” who generally rips it apart. I have run through hundreds of ideas and business plans and 1-2 have become workable. In the enterprises, innovation happens through collaboration and just recently have companies like IBM, Saleforce.com and Microsoft pulled together services that allow employees to find knowledge and relevant information and connect that information with a person. Business is personal again.
If you are an individual or company considering collaboration tools, this is important. When I blogged about the WHY of collaboration, this could be where it starts for your organization. Allowing and providing tools for employees to collaborate within the company is a lot better than the alternative.
Without collaboration tools, how does your company foster and encourage ideas and innovation? What are the roadblocks?
