We all know that old black-and-white movie stereotype, the solitary mad professor hunched over his test tubes and complex equipment behind closed doors, where strange things inexplicably go bump in the night.\u00a0 Mysterious and unpredictable, scientists and inventors were then allowed their eccentricities.\u00a0 We expected them to be reclusive and to differ from the norm – unusually bright, but perhaps not terribly well equipped with interpersonal skills.<\/p>\n
Nowadays, however, to be an innovator is in vogue.\u00a0 The search term “innovation” yields 578 million finds on Google – almost as popular as the term “leadership” (796 million)! \u00a0Everyone, it seems, wants to be an innovator.\u00a0 In a fast-moving competitive world, the ability to come up with new ideas, products and processes that result in market gain or cost reduction, is highly valued.<\/p>\n
Enter the reality of \u00a0the 21st<\/sup> century innovator: often working in an organisational team (though possibly remotely), in well-lit state-of-the art facilities, he or she is connected to a diverse range of electronic data sources brimming with latest research findings from\u00a0interactive global communities of respected peers.<\/p>\n This connectivity is not so new in academia.\u00a0 But if you look closely at big industry, innovators are increasingly expected to be as connected and to reach out beyond the confines of their own laboratories and offices and get involved with innovators in other organisations.<\/p>\n But why is collaboration on the rise?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n One factor is a knock-on effect from globalisation. \u00a0The strategic imperative of growth has pushed many organisations to extend their reach far beyond their initial shores, giving access to cheaper raw materials and\/or labour, not to mention the benefits of more\u00a0favourable tax regimes. \u00a0However, following a merger or acquisition, there is pressure to harvest value from synergies.\u00a0 This inevitably involves the elimination of perceived duplication.\u00a0 Restructuring can ensue, a consequence of which can be the thinning out of teams.\u00a0 The internal talent pool is reduced, and with that a growing need to outsource for specialist expertise.<\/p>\n Add to this the sheer profusion of research data and speed of technological developments – it is more difficult to process all this with limited internal resources. \u00a0Which is why many organisations now see collaboration as a key strategy to help stay current and enhance their ability to get ahead of the innovation curve.<\/p>\n A brave new world<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n For many technologists and professionals with specialist expertise, collaboration can demand skills that are not their natural preference.\u00a0 Perhaps the old stereotype had some truth in it – many (though certainly not all) innovators have a natural preference for introversion. \u00a0That is, they get their energy from within, and can be depleted by interaction with large groups of people. \u00a0\u00a0Plus a high proportion are more task-focused than people-focused.\u00a0 So it\u2019s no surprise that technical competence in dealing with complex problems that require depth of concentration is the fuel that carried many to this level in their career. \u00a0A successful technologist or professional specialist could well have spent most of their career cloistered in their narrow field, and perhaps only ever have worked with a small, close team.\u00a0 Now they might find they are being asked to seek out and collaborate with complete strangers. \u00a0Quite a push out of their comfort zone, for many.<\/p>\n So what are some of the top skills that will help the more introverted in this new world?\u00a0 They include the ability to<\/p>\n Each of these merits an article on its own, but a few brief highlights for now\u2026<\/p>\n 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Be a hunter \u2013 network to find appropriate partners<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n A complex landscape has emerged in the last decade. \u00a0It consists of potential collaboration partners, brokers and funders. \u00a0E.g. Innovate UK and its catapults, the Knowledge Transfer Partnership, LEPs, universities, are to name a few.\u00a0 Some organisations have actually created a senior executive role dedicated to navigating and hunting in this landscape to find the right partners, and to harvest associated Government funding that might otherwise be difficult to locate.<\/p>\n Smaller firms, however, don\u2019t have the luxury of dedicating a whole person, and may need their innovators to do some of that hunting themselves.\u00a0 Introverts and extroverts probably need approaches that suit their natural preferences. \u00a0Natural extroverts will probably enjoy outreach to all and sundry, whereas someone more introverted can play to their strengths \u2013 researching, and then focusing where to expend their precious interactive energy. \u00a0The introvert is really good at building meaningful relationships that tend to be of greater depth with a smaller number than an extrovert. \u00a0So clever targeting is a smart thing for an introvert to do. \u00a0 Identifying who to target can be made easier if they simply think to reach out to their possibly tight but trusted existing network.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Build trust quickly \u2013 and maintain it<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The Dowling Report<\/a><\/span> names \u201cStrong and trusting personal relationships\u201d as the number one Key Success Factor in successful collaborations between industry and academia.\u00a0 A senior technologist from a major multinational tells me he knows after 20 minutes in a room with a potential collaborator whether he can work with them or not.\u00a0 In fact, Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy<\/a><\/span> says that we form a view of someone\u2019s trustworthiness within seconds. \u00a0It seems we unconsciously assess two factors \u2013 warmth and competence. \u00a0And interestingly it\u2019s not their competence we prioritise \u2013 it\u2019s their warmth.\u00a0 In cavemen days, \u201cit was more important to figure out if your fellow man was going to kill you and steal all your possessions than if he was competent enough to build a good fire\u201d.\u00a0 Technologists whose careers have been based on competence may need to rethink what they believe matters when trying to build trust with others.\u00a0 This is one of the reasons I encourage participants of the Innovation Network<\/a><\/span> to network with as much emphasis on the way they welcome someone, as on what they may say.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Align agendas, while recognising differences<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Unsurprisingly the second most crucial Key Success Factor for collaboration named in the Dowling report is \u201cShared vision goals and objectives, setting in place clear expectations\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 This requires clarity about one\u2019s own purpose for collaboration and the outcomes one hopes to achieve, being able to communicate them well – and being a very good listener.\u00a0 What are the goals and objectives of your partner?<\/p>\n Not all of the other party’s goals will be common to yours.\u00a0 Building a strong foundation on what is common, is essential.\u00a0 However, it can also pay dividends also to pay attention to any aspirations they may have that differ from yours. Acknowledging them and finding a way to accommodate them reasonably may make the difference between a one-off collaboration and a fruitful long-term one. Finding them out later can come as a bit of a shock – but need not have done so, had the conversation taken place early on. \u00a0So it pays to be curious and ask pretty direct questions from the outset – which one might have more license to do than one realises (why not\u00a0play the eccentric card to one’s advantage \ud83d\ude09 ).<\/p>\n Wishing you friendly, focused and fruitful hunting.<\/p>\n Siobhan Soraghan<\/p>\n Director, Active insight<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We all know that old black-and-white movie stereotype, the solitary mad professor hunched over his test tubes and complex equipment behind closed doors, where strange things inexplicably go bump in the night.\u00a0 Mysterious and unpredictable, scientists and inventors were then allowed their eccentricities.\u00a0 We expected them to be reclusive and to differ from the norm […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[17,15],"tags":[19,18],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.active-insight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.active-insight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.active-insight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.active-insight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.active-insight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2525"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/www.active-insight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2587,"href":"https:\/\/www.active-insight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525\/revisions\/2587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.active-insight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.active-insight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.active-insight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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