How do you exchange innovation insights with other leaders?

The key step is to clearly identify what your desired outcome is. Military leaders call this the "Commander's Intent", and it is the driving force in all operations and planning. There are hundreds of different ways to accomplish something, and that is what innovation is, discovering and refining those methods and capturing them to pass on. As long as there is a clear endstate that is being worked towards, it allows you and your team to truly think in a manner that is not limited on how you can get there.

Prior to engaging on a given topic, you must first understand the discussion framework, authoritative references, and current thought leaders. Generally, I try to avoid providing comments commonly deduced from the news. Your comments need to synthesize information that speak to something valued by your audience which means you also need to understand your audience. Once you know the topic, your audience, and the purpose of discussion, you can then provide value through comments that broadly articulate the various steps to success. I always leave enough discussion space for others to provide input and generally strive for a principles based approach rather than structured rules which limit flexibility.

Be clear, however, that innovation rarely comes from moment of individual genius, but spring from a rich diversity of perspective, led and managed well, to spring new ideas.

Innovation is the antithesis of 'best practice'. It engages critical thinking to ask all those hard to justify "why" questions leaning into "what if?" A lot of innovation comes from not studying business but looking at nature. Wondering why whales have tubercles has led to innovations in passive flow design for lifting bodies in air and water. Observing bio-design can suggest new ways to optimize services and products.

This is not easy, but it is straightforward. Challenging your assumptions and perspective-taking requires deep amounts of humility and cultural intelligence. If you practice this skill, you'll improve getting better all the time, and improving the outcomes as you bring diverse teams together.

The vast majority of collaboration occurs through business realted associations like industry conferences, journals, or local community groups. People like to associate with like minded professionals outside work and these groups support those relationships. To identify these groups, it helps to understand what makes someone a professional in their field. Some employ an apprentice style of development while others rely on academic certifications, and some may require continuing education.

Innovation can sometimes be viewed as the actioner not complying with the rules or established processes. I challenge that innovation is the first step in discovering new process that will one day become outdated by new innovation. Don't be a Change Monster!

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Building trust is easier to say, but harder to do. It's said that, "trust arrives on foot and disappears on horseback", and allowing people to feel safe to innovate means you need to do this with authenticity.

One must keep a mindset of continual learning. Every individual has different life experiences and paths that impact how they approach and see things. Therefore, you must take an inventory of what your limitations and or mental roadblocks would be so you prepared to identify them and consider alternative viewpoints candidly.

Being innovative and sharing the insight should always come with the caveat, what you believe to be true and brilliant, may not be somewhere else; and so huge doses of skepticism about your own Greatness will help you reflect more fully on the outcomes.

I found one of the best ways to engage and exchange information was to invite a fellow innovator to see and discuss our approach. It firstly transmitted that we trusted the other party, and demonstrated our respect for their knowledge and experience. By way of example, I was able to convince a senior Army Leader who was challenged by Network Security, to see first hand our Network Operations Center and talk with the operators, designers, and Company Leadership. It was a highly productive afternoon for all!

It's a fallacy that simply working with diverse teams provide more innovative outcomes; infact they can under perform homogenous teams. What does produce eight times more innovative outcomes is a diverse team with an inclusive culture. So, effective leadership and management are key factors.

To exchange innovation insights with other leaders in a way that benefits both parties, consider setting up regular brainstorming sessions, workshops, or roundtable discussions where ideas can be shared and debated openly. You could also engage in reciprocal mentoring, where you share your expertise in one area with a colleague who, in return, shares their expertise in a different area with you. Platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Google's Workspace offer spaces where teams can collaborate, share ideas, and innovate together. Taking advantage of such technology can foster a more collaborative environment and allow for more diverse perspectives.