Principles of Creative Collaboration
Innovations often emerge from creative collaboration. People work together creatively to produce something new and different. But what are some principles of creative collaboration?
White Space
White space is where ideas collect, combine and grow into useful innovations. Available white space ensures that there is a place for new ideas or variations on ideas. White space might be blogs, computerized discussion boards, flip charts, white boards, or idea-capturing software. First-shift nurses use logs to communicate to second-shift nurses. On blogs or discussion boards, participants can build on each others’ ideas asynchronously, long after an ideation meeting. During traditional ideation sessions, flip chart paper flies as ideas and action plans are captured.
Resource: Michael Schrage’s
No More Teams
This book gives as indepth look at the dynamics of creative collaboration.
White communication space matters because it is a neutral space for captured ideas. The ideas are no longer Richard’s or Jill’s; they belong to the white space. Therefore, ego is more easily pushed aside, and real communication can happen.
Creative Abrasion
Innovation creates excitement and exuberance. Innovation happens at the confluence of ideas. When participants are shooting off ideas, some ideas will inevitably run into other ones. Accordingly, innovation isn’t always pretty. Sparks and fur will fly. Ideas will bounce wildly and boomerang back. During these times, people will step on each others’ toes. Well-meaning abrasion may occur. Management should encourage creative abrasion. Polite, well-mannered people, sitting at a table with hands folded and mouths shut rarely invent anything. Active, vociferous, wild-minded people do, and they can come across as abrasive.
Diversity
Diversity breeds innovation. Sameness produces same thought patterns and same ideas. Diversity comes in many forms: gender, age, functional silos, religion, racial, thinking styles, and information-processing patterns. Diverse points of view allow for different angles of vision and differing patterns of perspective.
Meeting Places
Creative collaboration necessitates places where people come together. This might be as informal as a water cooler or coffee table, or may be as formal as an innovation room like I see in more and more places. Though research has not been done, I believe that cubicles produce more creative collaboration than offices. There are no doors to close, so people will much more readily walk into another’s cube than another’s office. Informal discussions, under these circumstances, are encouraged by this setup.