It’s time to stop “frog thinking” and collaborate. We need to increase complexity in our economy.

It’s 2023, with a government finally in place willing to do things. After ten years of inaction.

And in this year of new opportunity, we have to change the way we operate in an increasingly integrated, digital world. Software, Robotics, AI.

So far, most of us have refused to engage fully with connectivity. And therefore, with the multiple “wicked problems” that are a result of operating in a dis-connected world.

“It is not my business.” “I live here.” “I do this.” What happens elsewhere and in other areas of commerce and life is not my concern.

But like it or not, the digital world will continue to reach out and affect us – cyberthreat, scams, job challenges, relevance, education, awareness, information, fake news, digital identity, social credit systems and so on.

We need to use the “power” of the digital revolution for our benefit, not “be used” for the benefit of other countries, multinationals, criminals, “jungle” economies and markets.

We should be using technology to improve every aspect of our lives, and leveraging the brainpower of Australian individuals, businesses, universities and corporates to not just deal with the outstanding issues left by the previous government, but get on with creating a more complex, economic platform to ensure out future.

Selling “dirt, meat and wheat” to the world isn’t enough.

The digital revolution offers multiple options.?

Not just the ability to improve a home or a business operation, through more effective digital processes and activities.?

But the ability to reach out and engage with others, to improve a whole sector, or region, to collaborate and even integrate digital processes and activities with others. Through the internet, smart phones. Social media. Cloud. AI.

But we are stuck.

In our silos. “Frogs in wells”. With ‘frog thinking”.

Universities, CRCs, government departments, councils, clusters, hubs, precincts, businesses and corporates…

Closeted. Inward looking. Guarded. Focused on next quarter. Bottom line. Immediate customers. Fearful. Overly careful. Protectionist, not opportunistic.

Oblivious to the new opportunity that surrounds.

In supply chains. Shared value. Collaboration. Coopetition. Cross fertilisation. Ecosystems.?

To most organisations, it’s as though these connected concepts and actionable opportunities don’t exist. It's "us versus them", not us working with them.

But the digital revolution rolls on. Remorselessly.

And as the world connects, new opportunities appear and evolve. As ideas from one silo connect with another, new industries appear. Early adopters create and generate leadership positions in the world.?

It is not that we don’t understand the value of collaboration.?

We appreciate the value of teamwork in sport. In orchestras. And in battle.

But in business and digital economy, it is something that others do. Elsewhere.?

In the USA, Japan, China, India, Vietnam. Korea. Germany, Israel.?

Not for us.

We are a big country with a small population and not very good at collaboration.

We need to collaborate to compete with the world, but we don’t.

We have sun, blue sky, sea, coal and iron ore…what could possibly go wrong?

The isolation we enjoy geographically is challenged every day in commerce, climate, cyberspace and geopolitics and by constantly developing digital technology eroding the economic, educational and environmental frameworks that support the nation.

We need to collaborate to respond.

The updated RED Toolbox -?https://www.redtoolbox.org ?- was re-launched before Xmas, sign-up to the platform is free, and gives access to all toolbox content.

It is a collaboration platform. With Australian regions, sectors and groups.

TEAMS “guided tours” of RED Toolbox show the scope of the platform in detail and will continue for anybody who wants one – state government, council, RDA, university, cluster and association or individual.?

Everybody has a unique perspective and interest in their state, region or sector, as well as a collaborative interest in wider networking.

We need to network and connect those interests.

We have added new collaboration groups for Cybersecurity, Australian Semiconductors, Graphene, AI and GPT-3, Brisbane Olympics 2032, Workplace Health & Safety, Fashion & Textiles, Water, Soil Health, Food Export to Japan, Biomedical, Energy Minerals, Bioenergy, Wind Power, Working from Home, Security & Defence, The Future of Work, Tailings – a New Market Opportunity, Homelessness and 34 more universities.

And we will add more collaboration groups as the platform evolves.

We need to take collaboration and industry engagement seriously in Australia.?

We need to better connect government, universities, businesses and high schools into an effective ecosystem.?

Cross-pollination, networking and collaboration is the key to engagement regionally and beyond.?

We tend to stay safe in our silos.

Stick with the people we know.

Our clusters don’t connect and communicate with other clusters.

Our hubs and CRCs don’t collaborate with other hubs and CRCs.

Our states don’t collaborate with other states.

Our councils don’t collaborate with other councils.

Industry associations don’t collaborate with other associations.

Each protects and guards its constituencies and members jealously.

For a number of reasons.?

Funding. Familiarity. Fear.

Connectivity and Google have diminished the historic value of many organisations – libraries, industry associations, chambers of commerce, government departments and even universities.?

And “frog in the well” thinking and action is an understandable response.

Industry associations and unions shrank and retreated under the impact of Google.?

And the natural response was to close the hatches and lock the doors, hoping for a change in the threatening digital environment.

That didn’t happen of course. The digital revolution is remorseless and a continual stream of digital technologies continues to disrupt status quos across the planet.

AI is just the latest visitor to knock on the door with yet more challenges.

But we may need to think about threats and challenges in a different way if we are to thrive and prosper in the midst of digital disruption.

Take retail as an example. There are billions of retailers across the world all in competition for customer attention.?

Offline. Online. Eyeball. Traffic. Attention. Interest. Sale.

Retailers understand traffic.

And it was never wise to build a shop in a back road or cul-de-sac, far away from competition.

Most retailers understand that being in a high-volume environment like a shopping centre can be a good thing.

Even if a shop is surrounded by competitors, it can benefit from being in a shared value environment, where the chance of capturing attention is increased as well as the chance of cross-pollination.?

Many customers are looking for more experiences beyond those on offer in a single store. Putting stores together under one roof gives customers access to more than one type of product or service. It can help increase sales as well.

Today, we don’t think twice about it. But the first store within a store only opened in 1962, allowing competitive brands to sell, under one roof.

Coopetition.?

Collaboration between competitors. For mutual benefit.

In a digital economy, the same principles can and should apply. But because of the interconnected nature of today’s digital economy, the principles have wider potential and application.

In a single business,?cross-pollination is the process of exposing team members to new ways of thinking by sharing knowledge. It has the power to unlock innovative solutions by combining the intellectual capital, skills and experience of different individuals to generate new ways of thinking.

Fostering an open and collaborative environment fuels cross-pollination, which in turn can improve decision-making, increase experimentation, and result in tangible innovation and business outcomes.?

Unfortunately, despite the importance of fostering strong communication and collaboration across departments at all levels, organisations are still too siloed—and executives often have tunnel vision.

In a supply chain, industry sector or region, connecting organisations together in a collaborative environment has turbo-charged potential and possibilities.

But the same restrictions of tunnel vision, siloing and fear of innovation prevents managers and executives leveraging the potential on offer.

Unilever, a leading global consumer packaged goods company, is a prime example of an organisation getting this right.

A strong foundation of cross-pollination allows Unilever to collaborate with external partners, including different vendors, government agencies, universities and tech groups.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein.

In Australia, we need to foster collaboration and cross-pollination between regions, sectors, government, universities, high schools and technology companies…to take the same approach as Unilever and apply it to the whole economy.

The RED Toolbox is structured to do precisely that.?https://www.redtoolbox.org

Regions, sectors, government, universities and technology companies all included in a platform designed to support innovation, sharing of ideas, collaboration, networking and information exchange.

Cross-pollination and collaboration can reduce the cost and time spent in creating ideas, can generate startups, new products, services, exports and jobs.

Even move us up the ladder of economic complexity from 91st?to 1st. To mitigate risk, build resilience and create jobs for the future.

Time to stop thinking like frogs in wells.

Together…in collaboration, we can do anything.