Group Genius Power of Collaboration

1. Group GeniusPower of Collaboration John Boys Brent Ackerman

2. What is Collaboration? Collaboration is the act of working with another or others on a joint project.

3. 7 Characteristics • Innovation emerges over time. • Successful collaborative teams practice deep listening. • Team members build on their collaborators’ ideas • Only afterwards does the meaning of each idea come clear

4. 7 Characteristics • Surprising questions emerge. • Innovation in inefficient. 7. Innovation emerges from the bottom up.

5. Innovation Emerges Over Time • Happens bit by bit, step by step • Normally hard to see individual steps or progress (invisible innovation) • Invisible Innovation- Build up to an invention or innovation remains “invisible” until that breakthrough

6. Deep Listening • Most groups don’t take every member’s ideas and thoughts into account • Don’t count out other’s ideas • Create a pool of designs/methods and don’t eliminate options until all opinions have been voiced

7. Building Blocks • As an extension of deep listening, don’t tear other’s ideas down before having a group decision on the idea. • Build on each other’s ideas.

8. Building Blocks • The final product isn’t your idea but a collage of every member of the groups’ ideas and thoughts. • Let other’s ideas influence or change your idea on a given project.

9. Clear as Mud • Only after the fact does the meaning of each idea become clear. • This is where counting out ideas before their given a chance comes in • Its hard to tell the impact something will have before giving it a good thought

10. Surprising Questions Emerge • Most innovation doesn’t just come from answering old questions, but from coming up with new questions and problems and finding results for them. • The deeper you dig, the more dirt you will find, resulting in a fine-tuned operation, invention, project, etc.

11. Innovation is Inefficient • The road to innovation is not an eight-laned interstate but a windy road with many wrong turns and at times uncertainty. • Usually, many dead ends and “wrong turns” eventually result in progress or good ideas, and eventually these good ideas pile up and result in innovation! • “I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison

12. Building From the Bottom Up • Being innovative doesn’t necessarily mean you have a strong leader but, in turn, a group who is motivated towards the same goal. • Groups must also be flexible to results and methods to achieving new solutions. • Groups must be Group oriented!

13. Highlights • Be Group Oriented- be focused towards achieving the given goal with the group, not by your own means • Step by Step- innovation occurs one good idea at a time, not by one giant leap • I Think We’re lost- Don’t be afraid of wrong turns or mistakes, because these will lead into good ideas and a step closer to your goal

14. Highlights • From The Bottom Up- Innovation begins from a group towards a common goal, a leader is not necessary, just a group who is willing to work together to achieve the task at hand. • Don’t Bring Me Down- Don’t count out ideas before they are given a chance, it’s a group effort, not an individual achievement.

15. Summary • Innovation is the motor and driving force in everything. Whether you are running a Fortune 500 company or a small business, doing a simple class project or graduate research, innovation is the key to success in any group atmosphere. • Being patient, flexible, and focused towards the common goal is half the battle.

16. TEST QUESTION!!! List the 7 main characteristics key for group innovation.