This video inspires me. For 7 minutes 43 seconds, I am transfixed:
I have started working with a group that is exploring ways to innovate within a complex, multi-party, multi-pronged social service delivery system.
As I pondered how to continue to add value to the work of the group, I began musing about innovation itself. What is it exactly and how do you help groups produce it? At its most basic, innovation is something new. But, a new idea remains just an idea until it is offered to a broader group – no matter how limited that group might be. The ideas of one person become so much more when they are expanded on by a larger group through collaboration.
Enter the Marshmallow Challenge – a deceptively simple game that has groups of 4 build the tallest structure they can in 18 minutes using 20 pieces of spaghetti, a yard of tape, one yard of string and a marshmallow – the marshmallow has to end up on top of the structure.
This challenge has been extended to many, many groups and has revealed some key lessons about how groups collaborate to produce innovative ideas. The most successful teams are those that:
The inspiring lesson here is that the underlying assumptions in any innovation exercise must be identified early and need frequent testing through prototyping. Doing this creates effective innovation – innovation that could actually result in something new, different, better.
Spending a bit of time on a fun exercise like the Marshmallow Challenge seems like a great way to reinforce that innovation is “a contact sport” and could help groups realize that it is okay to slow down, do a little prototyping and testing so that it achieves more “TA DA!” moments than “Oh-Oh” results.
One of my favourite places in town is Habit Coffee. I can ride there on my bike (admittedly I do this more during the summer) and meet my husband for a mid morning break. Not only does it have great coffee – it also has a feel that I find energizing – cool periodicals, great music, vegan goodies…
My husband flipped me this photo one morning when I couldn’t join him. Even without being there it made me smile and feel good. Is this daily ritual a good thing or, is it turning into a bad habit? As my mother might say, “Coffee is like the new smoking – just think how much money you are spending every day not to mention the time you are wasting!”
I was understandably happy to find an article in the Globe and Mail that suggested that in fact coffee breaks are good for productivity. Not only that, it states that studies have found that the social interaction associated with taking coffee breaks is especially important for knowledge workers (or consultants) who frequently work in isolation from their peers.
Getting out there in the world and connecting with people is critical for boosting the ability to remain creative and productive. So remember that next time you head to your favourite spot for a break – think of it as a productivity boost rather than a work break – an investment in your creativity quotient.
Where do you most like to hang out for a break? What makes you feel energized and ready to tackle that next tough task?
It seemed eerie that last night, on the eve of launching my new website and blog, I should stumble upon the following passage in William Gibson’s, Pattern Recognition:
“Musicians, today…put new compositions out on the web, like pies set to cool on a window ledge, and wait for other people to anonymously rework them. Ten will be all wrong, but the eleventh will be genius. And free. It’s as though the creative process is no longer contained within an individual skull, if indeed it ever was. Everything, today, is to some extent the reflection of something else.”
The free exchange of ideas and knowledge on the web has expanded my ability to find the best sources of information and has greatly enriched what I am able to offer my clients. I’m excited to be entering this global collaboration and to put my “compositions” on the window ledge for your thoughts, reflections and reworkings.
