Introduction
Innovating Is Collaborating

The CFO of a unicorn EdTech company recently shared a story with us. He explained that while his organization kept going during the COVID-19 pandemic, he noticed something surprising: Individual productivity actually went up, yet when it came to strategizing and solving complex problems as a team, it was clear that something was missing. Team productivity had gone down.

It was difficult for groups to find the time to come together for complex problem-solving. A general lack of alignment caused re-work, delayed schedules, among other things, and set teams back. Teams also struggled to build consensus and confidence.

They of course tried adding more tools to the toolbox, but that didn't completely fix things. Seeing this negative impact, the immediate answer was to go back to the office.

We hear this from our customers all the time. Go back to the office. Go back to the water cooler. That font of innovation that seems to create ideas-or at least that's what we think because that one time we had that great idea there, the one that transformed our company. But was it really like that? Or was it just a place for people to talk and gossip?

When it comes to innovation, we can do better. We must.

It's no secret that organizations today struggle to harness the power of innovation. Evidence suggests that CEOs want a more cutting-edge culture and more agile teams. They're seeking the fountain of youth for their organizations, yet real innovation remains difficult to achieve.

Many organizations strive to make innovation a process. Models and methods for innovation abound. Some describe it using a stage-gate model. Others look at innovation as a cycle with loops and phases. Still others distinguish between types of innovation-as in Doblin's 10 types of innovation-noting that each has its own unique dynamics.

From another point of view, innovation is seen as something that's fueled by luck, something that can't be controlled or managed. For instance, the now-infamous story of the Post-it® developed at 3M is held up as a chance event. The company was trying to make a super-strong adhesive and ended up with a solution that led to the invention. (Spoiler alert: It wasn't luck-the sticky note was a direct byproduct of having the right collaborative environment.)

But eureka is not on tap at the water cooler. Serendipity won't be found at the Ping Pong table. Aha doesn't roam the hallways. And when what works in theory doesn't work in practice, what then?

The truth is that innovation is neither formula nor accident: It's people and collaboration.

Innovation is what happens when teams work together solving real problems, improving products and services, and driving business outcomes. It's teams doing the hard work-trusting, playing, prototyping, and producing. Innovation is the team turning possibility into reality, working together to imagine a better future and doing what's necessary to make it happen.

It's not some lone genius, nor is it only a few teams in the labs. Innovation is the responsibility of all teams in all departments and across all business workflows.

Rather than building momentum, teams are more often worn down by a web of endless meetings. Trapped in a room or a Zoom, there's too much talk and too little understanding. In some meetings, a lack of structure leads to chaos. In others, the well-planned agenda leaves no space for questions, exploration, or innovative ideas.

The harsh reality of work today is that teams are stuck-stuck in a state of disconnection. Everyone sees it and feels it. No one knows what to do about it.

Why Disconnection Matters

Consider the story of the cleaning crews for Japan's Shinkansen, the fast trains that speed at nearly 200 miles per hour (320 kph) just three minutes apart. At the Tokyo Station, a 22-person crew has to turn around a thousand-seat train, including wiping down tray tables, replacing seat covers, cleaning bathrooms, and collecting anything left behind. They manage to do all of this and more in just seven minutes.

It wasn't always like this, though. Previously the job was considered dirty, manual labor. Morale was low, and performance was poor, leading to frequent train delays.

Then, Tessei, the company managing the cleaning crews, introduced a program called "Shinkansen Theater." Dull uniforms were replaced with bright-red suits. Cleaners were allowed to speak with passengers. Recognition of colleague accomplishments was encouraged. And when work on a train is complete, the team now lines up to bow in unison to applause from the passengers about to board.

Many people like to point to the efficiency of Japanese work culture or the execution of well-coordinated work. But that misses the point. It wasn't until Tessei created a feeling of human connection that the pace of servicing trains picked up and delays plummeted. The cleaning crews were more connected to each other and to their mission. Even passengers felt more connected to the system and have started cleaning up after themselves more. Connection drove the engagement that led ultimately to efficiency, not the other way around.

Disconnection Puts Organizations at Risk

More madness than method, most meetings end with a lot of time wasted and little to show for the effort. People disengage as a result-from their teams, their jobs, and their organizations. For instance, according to a Capgemini1 report, 56% of people feel disconnected from their colleagues because of remote work (that's a global average).

Having a strong connection to the mission of the group is an important factor in providing team cohesiveness, but it's not enough. Disconnection also happens through a series of small moments as people interact with each other. All of the eye rolls, "I told you so's," and other micromoments take a toll and add up. Little by little, our willingness to collaborate goes down, and teams get disconnected.

The consequences are real: People feel unseen, ideas are lost, and everyone gets frustrated. Or worse, alignment and engagement suffer, and teams lack clarity of direction. The entire reason teams form -that is, so that people become something greater together and do something they could never do apart-fails before it even gets started. Disconnection means the team can't do their best work.

Executives see the threat. They continue to hope the office, the traditional all-in-one solution for collaboration, holds the key. Surely bringing teams together in person will bring connection and collaboration back too. But going back is not going forward: The office is an obsolete fix to the collaboration problem. It's not enough to bring your brightest people together and wing it. And while tools and technology may keep us in touch, they are not enough to keep us connected.

Without connection, teams can't exist. Without teams, innovation is impossible. If leaders can't solve the disconnection problem, their teams can't do their best work. They can't innovate. Disconnection puts organizations at risk.

What Do We Mean by Connection?

Teams are made up of people, and the relationships between them directly influence the nature and quality of collaboration. This is not to say colleagues need to be friends or considered like "family." We have different types of relationships at work, but these person-to-person relationships are of critical importance for effective collaboration. Work is social, and incorporating personal connection is foundational for teams to function well.

But it goes deeper than that. More and more people want their work to be connected to a deeper purpose. These days people are willing to prioritize connection to the organization's purpose over an increased salary. At the same time, purpose-driven organizations are seeing greater attraction and retention of employees.

We can also refer to "connection" in relation to society and connection to nature and the planet that people feel. These aspects of connection, too, are important to the conversation here.

Finally, there is a connection of work to life. We've long separated the two, trying to find work-life balance. This assumes they aren't connected when they are. What we do for a living is part of who we are. The Great Resignation of 2021 was also in part due to a resurgence of people connecting with their own lives. From this perspective, the future of work is really about the future of lifestyle.

Truth is, connection motivates us. Really. Don't believe us? Take author Jamil Zaki's, word for it. A professor of psychology at Stanford University, he shows that acts of kindness toward others help form stronger connections between people, which in turn inspires them to do more for themselves and for the world.2 Connection isn't just about helping people feel comfortable with colleagues, it's actually what moves them to do their best work.

Connection looks like believing in each other and believing in the work we do together. And if innovation comes from atypical alliances, then the ability to connect different people, different ideas, and different perspectives is critical to making it...