Innovation is collaborative.

Collaboration drives innovation because people bring new ideas, perspectives and experiences that we don't have. They help us see things we wouldn't have thought on our own - they help us achieve something we would not have on our own.

I define collaboration as achieving something with others you never would have alone.

Collaboration is as much a mindset as it is a skillset. The mindset aspect is often neglected.

Francesca Gino, Harvard Business School Professor & Author affirms this thought. In one of her HBR articles, she writes about how leaders think about collaboration too narrowly ... trying to "influence employees through superficial or heavy-handed means, and research has shown that none of them reliably delivers truly robust collaboration. What's needed is a psychological approach." 

I've always thought the same thing. 

I've worked in corporate innovation environments and saw there often was a lack of a collaborative mindset - even within innovation! I saw people working in silos. I saw a lack of communication. I saw a lack of diverse teams. It wasn't intentional, it was just forgotten.

Truly collaborative people hunt for collaboration - they seek it out. I'm this way. I love collaborating with other people. Their thoughts make my thoughts better. Their perspectives help me to see things differently. Their ideas make the work better. 

Collaboration means you seek to work with really diverse people, like the LEGO® figures I laid out in the photo.

Don't fall into the trap of looking for outward diversity only though. Make sure you're looking as much for inward diversity too - diversity in things like: education, backgrounds, experiences, job history, worldviews and more.

Today, I'm looking forward to sharing my workshop on collaboration called Seeking Out New Thought with Spark Centre and Synergy Lab .

We'll be diving deep into a collaborative mindset and what it entails. We're going to look at incredible collaboration stories that show the power of a collaborative mindset. We're going to do a collaboration assessment to see where the staff are and how they can improve their collaboration mindset. And finally, we'll end the time with lots of tools to foster this mindset and make it a reality.

Could you use a collaboration mindset upgrade in your organization? DM me or write "seek out new thought" in the comments.