Innovating Together: The Importance of Collaboration

Innovation is the act of changing or altering something by introducing new elements. Collaboration, on the other hand, is the act of working with one or more people to accomplish a task. Large-scale innovation projects are the result of many individuals working together.

According to Jonatan Loidi, CEO of Grupo SET LATAM, who participated in the Forbes-organized Summit Game Changer, "Today, no one can develop cutting-edge innovation from end to end because the value chain is so vast. Therefore, only giant organizations could innovate. Without collaboration, there is no innovation."

As Charles Darwin noted, "Throughout the long history of humankind (and even of the animal world, too), those who learned to collaborate most effectively have prevailed." Therefore, in order to innovate, we must be prepared to collaborate.

Bridging the Gap

IIf we understand the nature of innovation and its need for diverse talents with varied experiences, backgrounds, and fields of study, we can see that creating these ecosystems can sometimes pose a series of challenges. Some of the challenges that we may encounter in building these ecosystems are:

Communication barriers: Communication barriers can arise when individuals from business and academic backgrounds have different technical jargon, customs, and practices, which can lead to misunderstandings and difficulties in effectively communicating and collaborating. Therefore, it's important to make concise and essential statements that can be understood from all angles to overcome these communication barriers.

Cultural differences: Different cultural norms and values can impact how individuals approach problem-solving, decision-making, and collaboration, which may create friction or misunderstanding. It's crucial to have a willingness to learn, maintain a humble attitude, and be ready to apologize when friction arises, in order to foster an environment of open communication and collaboration among individuals with diverse experiences and backgrounds.

Geographic distance: While geographic distance can make collaboration challenging, this obstacle has been overcome numerous times by distributed teams in companies. By learning from best practices, we can leverage technology and effective communication methods to bridge the distance and collaborate effectively.

Skill gaps: Individuals from different fields of study may have different skills, knowledge, or expertise, which can make it challenging to find common ground to work together effectively. Sometimes, individuals from different fields may have the same knowledge, skills, or expertise but expressed in different formats. Additionally, it can be difficult for an expert to accept the role of a beginner in another discipline, requiring a willingness to learn and a humble attitude to collaborate effectively. Therefore, it's essential to maintain realistic expectations regarding each team member's contributions and to trust the process, which may require an investment of time and effort as team members get to know each other and understand how they can best contribute to the collective effort.

Resource limitations: When collaborating with individuals from diverse backgrounds and locations, it's important to be understanding of resource limitations. Not all participants may have access to the same tools or technology, and we need to bridge this gap to leverage contributions from less privileged areas.

Time constraints: Time zone differences or conflicting schedules can make it challenging to coordinate meetings or work together effectively, particularly in real-time collaboration.