What do a business author, a financial journalist, a medical illustrator, and a software architect have in common? If I said advice on innovation, would it surprise you?
Practically Radical, William C. Taylor’s latest book, is a wonderful thought provoker, full of stories of companies and their leaders who take a novel approach to improve profits and create new enterprises. One of Taylor’s main concepts addresses the idea of engaging customers and in some cases any interested persons for ideas for new products, solutions to business and technical problems and even product design. Although companies are constantly receiving feedback from customers, Taylor encourages readers to reach beyond customers – and well beyond the responsible employee group – to track, value and encourage participation from the human race.
This is very reminiscent of the data presented by financial journalist James Surowiecki in The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations. Surowiecki asserts that ideas submitted by a wide range of people are better and more innovative than those of a single individual or an ongoing committee.
Software architect Blaise Aguera y Arcas illustrates the power of collective intelligence in his demo of the Photosynth project. Photosynth technology takes Flicker photographs, which include partial images (e.g., of a structure or landscape) submitted by anyone, anywhere and intelligently combines the partial images of a subject (e.g., the Eiffel Tower) to create a perfect image of the complete structure for all to use and enjoy. This convergence of independent images to create a whole may lead to new discoveries, connections or historical revelations drawn from the wider audience that the picture now reaches. See the TED Talk, Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos Photosynth.
In the same vein, in the well-known TED talk, David Bolinsky Animates a Cell, Bolinsky, a medical illustrator and animator, explains that he took on a project for Harvard to animate a cell in an enlarged movie format to unveil the amazing activity that goes on in these complex metropolises called our cells. “Cells work to help our bodies – huge entities that they will never see – function properly,” he says.
If we think of each individual as a cell, we can extend that thought to say that each of us is ultimately working to make this world function better, even if we don’t realize the part we play. As in the Photosynth project, the contributors don’t necessarily know about the end product that’s being created. This concept is proven in Taylor’s Practically Radical. Over and over, he provides instances where contributors, unrelated to the business’ reward system, offer profitable ideas for improvements.
4 Ways to Get to Your Best Solutions
So how can your business achieve benefit from the arguably infinite number of ideas in the collective intelligence? Here are 4 ideas:
1. Expand the decision process and encourage diverse opinions when developing your business vision, strategies and product plans.
2. Create a structured system to evaluate options and put ideas into action.
3. Restructure your reward and recognition systems: no leader or business unit should feel it has to come up with the answer alone. To assess performance, focus on business results (instead of the source of innovation) to encourage everyone to accept others’ ideas.
4. Develop a recognition program for submitting ideas so business units seek a wide range of ideas and encourage active participation.
The best strategies and initiatives are developed with extensive input and participation, tapping into the intelligence of many. As I advise clients, it never hurts to ask everyone.
Sharon Terry, Director of Strategic Initiatives at LaserBeam Consulting, helps executives unleash their own and their business’ full potential, allowing them to amaze their customers, leapfrog competitors and grow rapidly.