The Key to Innovation: Collaboration

Today every company, regardless of its maturity or that of its industry, has to scramble to differentiate and compete successfully. Whether it's improving the value and efficiency of a process, reimagining an existing product, or disrupting a market with a completely new concept, organizations must innovate successfully.

Author, coach, and trainer Theodore Henderson says, “I can tell you from observation that innovation is not for geniuses working alone. It is a group activity….”* This is reinforced in a McKinsey article** that cites cross-functional collaboration, continuous learning cycles, and clear decision pathways as a key enablers of innovation.

Whether you call it a group activity or cross-functional coordination, collaboration is all about individuals working together to produce or create something. Sounds simple, but it can be nearly impossible in an organization that is siloed by operational barriers.

Breaking down these barriers takes leaders skilled at creating a culture of cross-company networking and individual staff members skilled at creating internal networks. Together, they create nimble organizations, characterized by employees who operate in cross-functional teams and in rapid learning and decision-making cycles.

Leaders must set the example for staff by building and maintaining a network of relationships to stay connected with colleagues above, below and at their peer level across the organization. Staff must make a deliberate effort to get to know people, both personally and professionally, in other parts of the organization, and look for opportunities to work across boundaries to create new value for customers.

In future articles, we'll look in more detail at the mindset change and behaviors that are essential to silo-busting networking and collaboration.