"How to Implement a Collaborative and Innovative Culture".

(Area: Collaboration)

(Reading Material "Collaboration Advanced Course: Collaborative Business Models and Strategy in the New Age", Hugo Céspedes A.)

Many organizations like to talk a lot about how "Collaboration drives Innovation", but when it comes to developing a truly Collaborative Culture, all those words do not materialize in many actions (less in terms of Innovation).

Yes, of course, they have a brainstorming session and end up buying a new communication software. Your mission statement may even mention Collaboration. However, if we look at how the work is carried out on a daily basis, the subject changes. The departments work in isolation or even against each other. Employees know where the problems are or how things could be done better, but they don't think it's safe to speak up. They also know that those who take all the knowledge are the "rock stars" who go their own way, not those who work in teams.

Some Concepts to Complement Previously.

Organizational Culture: Corporate Culture refers to the character of the organization's internal work environment and its personality, outlined by its core values, ideas, business principles, work practices and operating styles. The declared fusion of ideas, principles and styles of operation, customs and ingrained attitudes, and work environment define the Corporate Culture of an organization; which is important because it influences the actions and approaches of the organization to conduct its business. In a very real sense, Culture is "the operating system" of the organization, it is the organizational DNA. In Adaptive Cultures, there is a spirit of doing what is necessary to ensure the lasting success of the organization, as long as the new behaviors and operating practices demanded by management are seen as legitimate and consistent with the core values and business principles that underpin the Culture. Adaptive Cultures lend themselves especially well to organizations with rapidly changing strategies and markets. The more the Culture and Strategy align, the more the Culture drives the organization's personnel to manifest behaviors and adopt operational practices that promote good strategic execution. Ultimately, Organizational Culture is embedded in and shaped by its core values and the ground it sets for ethical behavior.

Purpose: Regarding the Purpose , we have the "Personal Purpose" and the "Organizational Purpose". Personal Purpose refers to the Purpose of a person and is related to the fact that each of us has a Purpose in life. This "Personal and Non-Transferable Purpose" often has little to do with what we had wanted for our life or what others told us it was. Each one must discover what it is, although deep down we have always known it. Every time an apparently irrelevant fact moves us and resonates within us, it is an unequivocal sign that we are getting closer to what we had always sought. When you feel intimately good doing something, strange as it may seem to us, it is that we are aligned with that Purpose. This Personal Purpose has to do with contributing something of value to the world or to others. Personal Purpose often has something to do with the gifts and talents we have always possessed. The Personal Purpose that gives full meaning to our lives is nothing more than the dedication of all our personal gifts and talents directed towards a good cause, whether it is an activity that gives value to the world or that benefits or helps someone (What for we came to this world?)

On the other hand, the "Organizational Purpose" is the one that is related to entrepreneurship (answers the question: Why do we exist? Why the organization?). It is the Purpose that comes to be what organizations exist for beyond making money. An organization or brand with Purpose is, therefore, "one that uses its unique position and capabilities to address a social, individual or environmental need." According to a study by the Linkedin platform together with Imperative, they published a "Purpose Work" report, carried out in 40 countries, resulting in the fact that, in the last three years, 58% of organizations with a clearly articulated Purpose and understood, they experienced a growth of more than 10% while 42% without a clear Purpose, obtained negative growth. Thus, we can say that "Purpose Driven Organizations have a declared and measured reason for existing, a mission that all employees know." Through an internalized Organizational Culture, they offer jobs to their employees that allow them to experience the Organizational Purpose through 3 basic elements: "Positive Impact on Others", "Personal Development" and "Performance of Work through strong relationships with their peers". Finally, "the correlation between job satisfaction and Purpose orientation is consistent across virtually all countries studied, thus it follows that PURPOSE IS A MOTIVATOR independent of differentiators in region, culture, or language." .

Mission: Describes your current business activity and purpose ("who we are", "what we do" and "why we are here").

Strategic Vision: Describes the direction an organization intends to take in order to develop and strengthen its business. It expresses the strategic course of the organization in preparing for its future. The Strategic Vision portrays the future business horizon of the organization ("where we are going"). Effectively communicated Vision is a valuable management tool for recording staff commitment to actions that will move the organization in the desired direction. The Strategic Vision only becomes a reality when the vision statement is in the minds of the members of the organization and then translated into concrete objectives and strategies.

Objectives: Organizational objectives are performance goals of an organization, that is, they are the results and products that management wants to achieve. They function as benchmarks to measure the operation of the organization. The management purpose of setting "goals" is to translate the Strategic Vision into specific performance goals; they are the results and outputs that management wants to achieve. Organizational objectives present a managerial commitment to achieve particular results and outputs. Well-established organizational objectives are quantifiable or measurable, and contain a deadline for their achievement.

Introduction to Collaborative Culture.

"A COLLABORATIVE CULTURE IS ONE IN WHICH COLLABORATION IS USUAL AND DELIBERATE."

It is not an environment where Innovation occurs, nor where nobody likes to go to work. In today's complex, ever-changing business world, if you don't realize your team's full potential through Collaboration, your organization will be left behind.

So how can we make our company policy more Collaborative? To do this, we need more than just hanging a few teamwork posters, but it is a more feasible and rewarding task than we might think. This is a small guide to get down to work on this task.

A Collaborative Culture.

Collaboration occurs in almost all organizations, but not all of them have a Collaborative Culture. Where is the difference? "A Collaborative Culture is one in which Collaboration is habitual and deliberate. Collaboration doesn't just happen if someone initiates it. Instead, it's embedded in people's everyday work processes and the attitudes they take about that work". In essence, a Collaborative Culture "values the idea that together we are better". It focuses on the idea that Collective Intelligence drives the most creative solutions.

Advantages of a Collaborative Culture: This search for creative solutions makes many organizations investigate ways to be more Collaborative. Today, there is no more buzzword than "Innovation". Innovative companies are the most popular, but there is much more at stake than popularity points. The inability to innovate can lead to the inability to survive.

Likewise, we are witnessing more and more that Collaboration is one of the most effective ways to Create Innovation. One study found that companies with Collaborative Cultures were five times more likely to be high performers.

A Collaborative Culture encourages Innovation by bringing out the best in employees. When we feel part of a "team effort", our vitality, productivity, and adaptability increase. Collaboration generates feelings of "community and involvement". It makes us feel "happier and less stressed".

In short, collaborative employees are engaged employees; and engaged employees are employees who stayed. Aside from employee retention, having a Collaborative Culture reputation can help an organization when it comes to recruiting the best talent.

Barriers to Collaboration in the Workplace.

If Collaboration is so wonderful, why don't we put it into practice?

Simply because some people have not developed the skills they need to contribute to a Collaborative Culture. In a survey it was observed that more than a third of the candidates for job offers failed to demonstrate their ability to work in a team.

Even if employees are good at Collaborating, they may hold back in their workplace. This happens when "managers direct each and every move instead of relying on employees to Collaborate". When, in addition, "the employees consider that it is not safe to raise their voice or express their disagreement".

When an organization likes to promote Collaboration as a value, employees notice it, but the truth is that this is something that is only emphasized from time to time. In other words, Collaboration is perceived as something to be done in special cases, not on a daily basis. In addition, there is no doubt that employees are not evaluated or rewarded for it.

"WHEN AN ORGANIZATION DOESN'T TALK INTERNALLY ABOUT SOMETHING GOING WRONG, THEY MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN FROM IT."

Some organizations have an ingrained Culture of Working in isolated units that compete with each other instead of Collaborate and sharing. Staff hoard information and knowledge as a source of power.

On the other hand, others strive to keep up with all the new ways that allow us to work and Collaborate. They don't help your distributed teams build the trust and relationships needed to Collaborate effectively. Employees may lack the necessary communication tools to Collaborate with colleagues in other locations. Or, on the other hand, the organization considers the tools are a panacea: “We have bought this new program, so we already have a Culture of Collaboration! However, it takes much more than that.

What are the Main Characteristics of a Collaborative Culture?

a) Transparency and Knowledge Sharing: First of all, Collaborative Cultures are transparent cultures. A truly collaborative workplace is one where you're not trying to figure out what bosses really want. To Collaborate effectively, your team needs to align around common goals and be clear about how to work to achieve those goals.

In a Collaborative Culture, leaders freely share news and information, be it good or bad. Keeping quiet about defeats or setbacks creates an atmosphere where rumors fly and employees feel they are not trusted.

When an organization doesn't talk internally about something that went wrong, it misses the opportunity to learn from it. In a Collaborative Culture, the most important thing is not that you or your team always win, but that you learn from everything and that you improve the organization by sharing what you learn.

Although it can be scary to communicate what is going wrong, employees are also sometimes hesitant to communicate what is going well. A particular person or team may feel that their information and best practices are their exclusive property. They may be afraid of losing their edge over peers or other departments if they "give away" their secrets. However, this only ends up harming the organization. Collaborative Cultures promote the documentation and sharing of best practices in order to get the most out of everyone's experience. They also offer the appropriate technological tools to facilitate this exchange.

b) Relationships Based on Trust: An organization that wants to become more Collaborative will never achieve it just by telling employees: "Get to Collaborate more", especially if employees are used to making decisions or generating ideas mainly by themselves. your account. Collaboration flows from relationships based on "trust". They don't just happen, but here are ways to encourage them:

i) Collaborative Spaces: To promote relationship building, your workspace needs “engaging spaces” where employees can Collaborate. Wouldn't you rather Collaborate in a comfortable and inspiring place instead of a dingy meeting room?

You can also see if there are any changes you can make to your physical space to bring together or people with different areas of expertise. Covering up with one of your colleagues in the kitchen or on the terrace can spark conversations that lead to Collaboration. Probably the most famous example of this is Pixar Headquarters (or you could try Cross-Collaboration in a more formal way.

"COLLABORATION FLOWS FROM RELATIONSHIPS BASED ON TRUST."

ii) The Right Tools: Now, team members don't need to be in the same space to Collaborate effectively. The right tools can go a long way toward how effectively employees across locations can communicate, build relationships, and become Trusted Collaborators.

iii) Collaboration Strategies: Although the members of your distributed team manage wonderfully with your virtual Collaboration tools, it is important to give them opportunities to spend time together in person. These opportunities could materialize, for example, in going to a conference together or asking teleworkers to come regularly to the office.

c) Leaders Leading by Example in Collaboration: Aside from fostering transparency and developing relationships, leaders play another important role in creating Collaborative Culture. For Collaboration to truly take hold as an organizational value, leaders must become "Collaborative role models". The members of their respective teams will pay attention to what they say about the Collaboration (or at least, we hope so!), but "they will pay even more attention to what they do". So what should leaders do?

i) Lead by Example: Leaders cannot tell employees to use a new Collaborative brand or communication tool if they don't use it themselves. Team members have to see the leaders using them.

ii) Don't Go Lonely: Leaders also undermine Collaborative Culture if they claim to Collaborate, but then behave like “lone rangers”. Some leaders may find it humiliating to admit that they don't have all the answers, ask for other opinions, and really listen to dissenting voices, but ultimately, all of this does nothing but benefit their team and their own.

iii) Show Respect: When leaders expose their vulnerability, they show how much they respect the contributions of their team members. Employees "want to be respected more." In this way, the kind of environment is created in which everyone wants to give their best.

iv) Empower Employees to Collaborate: This involves taking a step back from micromanagement and giving team members more wiggle room. It involves building Collaboration into the team's "processes" (for example, setting aside time in schedules for others to review projects). Also, share, provide employees, through daily coaching and even special training, the skills they need to Collaborate.

v) Reward Teamwork: Finally, leaders who want to create a more Collaborative Culture should pay attention to the behaviors they actually encourage. If you talk a lot about Collaboration, but then praise and promote employees who are more individualistic, the rest of the team will pick up on it.

d) Take the First Steps Towards a Collaborative Culture: Developing a Collaborative Culture can be an ongoing process that requires commitment. Where should you start then? Put important information in "one place" and make it easy to see to increase the transparency of your organization.

And How do we Create a Culture of Collaborative Innovation?

Do you consider it important that companies worry about creating a Culture of Collaborative Innovation? It is said that companies that do not spend time exploring future trends may not survive in the markets.

Companies that want to survive and grow must create the necessary conditions to Innovate . This means being able to identify trends and generate new ideas to address those trends. Setting the conditions for an innovative environment is an ongoing commitment because new trends emerge all the time.

Innovation must be a shared responsibility. Today, everyone in business must feel compelled to contribute fully to Innovation. This ensures that new ideas continually flow into the process.

Why Create a Culture of Collaborative Innovation?

There are some obvious advantages to making innovation a Collaborative effort. Having more people involved means having a more diverse set of perspectives to explore future opportunities. Plus, giving everyone a chance to provide ideas boosts team morale and creates shared ownership (vital for when it's time to implement those ideas).

Creating a Culture of Collaborative Innovation can seem daunting: It takes deliberate effort to make it happen. However, some simple activities can be very effective in getting a company to take the first steps towards creating an "innovative environment".

Steps to Establish a Culture of Collaborative Innovation.

These are some initiatives to formalize the Culture of Collaborative Innovation in an organization:

a) Start with a Purpose: Before jumping into describing initiatives, it is necessary to talk about "Purpose". The Purpose is the reason for the existence of your organization. It is the basis on which you and your team can make decisions that will impact your customers. Without a clear Purpose and Mission, it will be extremely difficult to achieve a Culture of Innovation.

b) One For All and All For One: Although the Collaborative Culture for Innovation is important, you must have a person in charge who is responsible for promoting and carrying out this process. The person in charge of the role of Innovation Director does not have to be in charge (like a boss), but rather foster a cross-functional philosophy on Innovation. It is essentially about "facilitating and creating the conditions in which Innovation can emerge". This means educating the company on what Innovation means, explaining how it is done and how to evaluate it, and doing everything possible so that "innovative ideas are adopted" (1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ).

Saying that Innovation is a shared responsibility means that all members of the company must have an innovative mindset.

In your organization, you certainly may or may not choose to have a Chief Innovation Officer. The title of the work, in this case, is not particularly relevant. But having someone to defend the initiative is. Paper will most likely help create the right conditions, and that means, among other things, making sure the innovation mindset is universal and achieving "business growth".

c) Spread Enthusiasm to Your Team: Hopefully creating enthusiasm around innovation is not too difficult. In general, people feel good about being part of forward-thinking teams. However, engaging team members and making them a part of the process, especially in the early stages, can be complex. This complexity stems from making sure everyone is heard because, at best, everyone is excited to participate. At worst, team members are passively waiting for others to guide the process. Whatever the case, conducting "internal surveys" early in the implementation process can be really helpful in getting people involved. Internal surveys are a simple and relatively easy way to create enthusiasm and commitment to Innovation. Surveys are a method that helps shape the team's opinions on topics that they are passionate about. Consider using internal surveys to ask your team about their perception of the current state of your product or service.

Design an internal survey to learn more about the Culture of Collaborative Innovation that exists in your organization. Here are some questions you can apply to your workforce:

How do you describe our current clients? What are the two things you like most about the organization? What are the two things that interest you most about the brand? Who, in your opinion, will be our future target user? How will the company help you succeed? What do you think will be the next big trend in technology?

Most likely, the results of the internal surveys will reveal a wide set of perspectives from which you can draw some themes about what might come in the future. These topics represent the insider point of view, instinct and opinions in experience of those who work with your product on a day-to-day basis.

d) Encourage Conversation: Another good way to stimulate a Culture of Collaborative Innovation is through the promotion of deep conversations. A "Blitz Talk" is a very short presentation, typically 10-15 minutes long, that talks about goals and is about sharing knowledge and engaging the audience to motivate action. Blitz Talks will deepen the conversation that emerges from initial internal surveys, such as technology and industry trends. These talks will also create the opportunity to explore new topics, such as global trends, and topics that will promote "creative thinking " (without getting lost along the way ).

Blitz Talk are excellent for planting the seeds of Collaborative Culture and for expanding and sharing knowledge about what companies need to prepare for the future.

It's also a safe space for team members to contribute more complete and rich ideas (more than they would through a survey, for example). Therefore, to increase the potential of Innovation, it is extremely important to make the exchange of ideas an established practice.

e) Align your Ideas: Both surveys and conversations are very effective ways to lay the groundwork for a Culture of Innovation and open the door for people to express their ideas. However, to encourage exploration of these ideas, it is necessary to turn them into the workshop format and finalize the Collective Vision.

Sparking interest and deepening thought about new ideas, is essential for a Collaborative Innovation Culture to thrive, but if team members can't see themselves executing those new ideas, all the talk about Innovation is for nothing.

The fact that this Innovative knowledge is tangible and executable will keep the team focused on implementation. If the team is aligned and you can clearly see the path you want to follow, you will be able to withstand the pressure of reactive demands in the short term and in favor of the long term goal.

Because many team members may not be participating in the workshop, it is advisable to "plan a follow-up activity" where the results are shared with the entire team, creating an opportunity to capture any ideas or opinions that may not have been present. been represented in the workshop.

f) Promote a Culture of Innovation in your Organization!: It is the commitment to fulfill the mission of the organization and the intention to stay ahead of market trends, which will sustain a Lasting Culture of Collaborative Innovation. By sharing the responsibility to Innovate, and through a Culture of Collaboration, teams will endure the ups and downs of building innovative ideas.

Identifying and organizing activities that create conditions for Innovative Thinking to emerge in your company is the beginning. Hopefully, shared initiatives will help you and your organization continue to grow.

Ways to Build a Culture of Collaborative Innovation.

According to Kate Issacs & Deborah Ancona, there are three ways for an organization to be much more Innovative and resilient, following these three practices. All organizations have the ability to be smarter than the sum of the intelligence and talent of their members. Unfortunately, most are actually dumber. The good news is that there are a handful of practical steps to boost Collective Intelligence:

a) Create Tools That Let Everyone Communicate Strategically About Innovation: Good ideas can come from all corners of a company, but aspiring innovators may need help developing a strong strategic case. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the innovative government agency focused on transformative advances in national security, uses a set of simple questions called the Heilmer Catechism (named for a former director), to think about and assess the proposed research programs:

1) What are you trying to do? Articulate your goals using absolutely no jargon; 2) How is it done today and what are the limits of current practice?; 3) What is new in your approach and why do you think you will be successful? 4) Who cares? If you are successful, what difference will it make? 5) What are the risks? 6) How much will it cost?; 7) How long will it take? 8) What are the mid-term and final "exams" that will allow you to measure success?

Materials science company W.L Gore presents its key innovation criteria in the form of a one-page "Product Concept Worksheet", containing: "a concise statement of the product concept"; "the technology to be used"; "the form of the product" and "the customer needs that the product will address".

Either approach can be easily adjusted for use in most organizations; they provide a common language that allows anyone to propose a new idea and everyone to judge its merit.

b) Review and Refine Ideas Collectively and Continuously: In agile organizations (comprise a complex network of empowered teams that function with high standards of alignment, accountability, expertise, transparency and collaboration. The company must also have a stable ecosystem to ensure that these teams can function effectively.That is, they are those organizations that embrace adaptability and continuous improvement at the level of people, processes and systems, with methods such as kanban and scrum, so that they can respond smoothly, unshaken or resisted by changing circumstances and emerging opportunities), Innovation ideas are not reviewed once or twice a year by a senior committee. Instead, they undergo a "constant process of revision, refinement, and, if necessary, death." The goal is "that only the best ideas survive." In their research, Isaacs & Ancona found that successful Collective Research depends on at least two things. The first is "clear and commonly understood guidelines (also known as simple rules) for judging proposed Innovations." For example, in an effort to rejuvenate its Innovation pipeline, Corning created a set of simple rules, derived from previous successful Innovations:

• Tackle new markets with more than US$500 million in potential Revenue.
• Leverage the company's expertise in materials science.
• Represent a critical component in a complex system.
• Be protected from competition by patents and expertise in proprietary processes.

Second, "various stakeholders are invited early and often to help judge and refine the idea." At Gore , for example, "passionate champions" of new innovations use the company's tools to frame the strategic case for their idea, testing it with clients and colleagues in the process. If the idea gains support, the champion schedules regular peer review sessions with people from manufacturing, R&D, sales, and marketing, along with other areas of expertise who are in a good position to judge and refine the idea. The company's Culture of Open Conversation drives these review sessions. People understand that their collective job is to kill the bad projects as quickly as possible and speed up the ones that show the most promise.

The guidelines make it easier for everyone to judge the value of new innovations and avoid big, bad bets on relatively untested ideas. Senior leaders periodically review the Pipeline of Emerging Project Ideas and pull them together, using their knowledge of organizational capabilities and technology/market trends to create an organizational strategy.

c) Keep Top Leaders Focused on Helping Those Close to Coal Get the Resources and Support They Need: It means "overcoming the barriers that block Innovation". Most organizations have regular procedures for leaders to determine which new projects should receive funding and who will be assigned to these initiatives. But in agile organizations, leadership is reversed. The job of top leaders is to serve the people who are close to the market. They go to great lengths to clear the way for promising new projects and get innovation teams the resources they need (this is from personal experience, it turns out!).

For example, leaders at NASA are making an intensive effort to understand and transform several of the top barriers to innovation. They asked their employees for help; people responded with almost 300 recommendations. Some of these were intended to "encourage more idea generation by giving people more time, money, recognition, and physical space dedicated to Innovation." Others "focused on reducing process requirements for innovations, for example, accelerating low-cost missions and giving special treatment to high-potential technologies." One proposal requires that new flight programs and projects include an element of innovation to encourage risk-informed and appropriate Research and Development, as a means of countering the agency's Risk-Averse Culture. The outcome of this effort remains to be seen, but NASA leaders are certainly making a concerted effort to address the obstacles to Innovation.

Using some of these practices, companies can harness the insights and energy of all their people through a "Collective Prediction Market", where innovation ideas are vetted, improved, and pushed forward by the many, not the few. An Innovation Prediction Market makes many small bets on new ideas in the early stages, only a few of which will pay off after intensive collective research. In doing so, agile companies aggregate the intelligence of their workers to better predict future success and act to make that future real.

Some Conclusions.

As you may have realized, the Innovative Collaborative Culture is more than talking about Innovation, as well as implementing brainstorming. Similarly, it is more than just Collaborate once, or put up posters throughout the organization on topics of Innovation and Collaboration.

We see that there are ways, methods, practices, ... to be more Collaborative, as well as, more Innovative, in a way to breathe it, live it, practice it day by day, both individually as individuals, as well as in teams, when we refer to organizations.

Since from now on, changes are coming in the way of Creating Value, especially Creating Collaborative Value (due to the new customer segments at a global level -such as "Generation Y or millennials" -called digital natives-, "Generation Z" -generation of social networks and digital language-; which is also interacting with older generations such as "Generation X" (who promoted Collaboration), with their new demands, priorities, problems and needs); as well as by the Emerging Technologies that also facilitate this act; Thus, the Collaborative Culture of Innovation takes on great importance, the way in which we create Collaborative Culture, and above all, how We Lead Collaboration , Measure and Manage Collaboration .

The above is not only relevant for organizations, but also for all professionals, freelancers who work from now on in Collaborative and Innovative environments.

(Note: For those students of the course, go back to the course and follow the instructions to assimilate the knowledge delivered).

Source: "Cómo Crear una Cultura Colaborativa: Objetivos de Escuadrón para Lugares de Trabajo Innovadores", Atlassian; "3 Ways to Build a Culture of Collaborative Innovation", Kate Isaacs and Deborah Ancona, Harvard Business Review; "Cómo Crear una Cultura de Innovación Colaborativa", tuDasboard,