Crowdsourcing in Action

Posted on February 6, 2010 by John

Yesterday, Febrary 5, The Kingbridge Centre as a member of IACC (International Association of Conference Centres) hosted a crowdsourcing session to determine what our clients are really looking for in a conference centre with the intention of course correcting accordingly.

Although not an Earth changing topic, the session did reveal areas that perhaps require more attention and others that require less in the mind of the consumer. And isn’t that what we are here for: to please the consumer?

It amazes me that something so simple as asking your target audience what they expect from a product or service is so infrequently practiced. A lot of companies spend a lot of time, effort and marketing dollars to tell us what we need or want yet seldom ask. The success stories of organizations that place their efforts in sourcing what their customers want (Amazon, Starbucks, iStockPhoto and more recently Dell and HP) have seen exponential growth and increased customer loyalty.

capture_starbucks

So why doesn’t every organization do it?
Habit? Disbelief? Arrogance? Fear?
You tell me.

Google’s Nexus One – What Happened to Crowdsourcing?

Posted on January 22, 2010 by John

The Google search engine organizes its webpage information based on user visits to sites resulting from keyword searches.
Google crowd sources their map data using applications that allow users to submit data as well as correct it in both Google maps and Google earth.
They also apply to concept of crowdsourcing to many of their user applications such as Google moderator, Google translate and Google traffic.

With Google basing their success on harnessing the wisdom of the collective to produce superior web applications one has to wonder:

Why didn’t Google use crowdsourcing to design their new android phone: Nexus One?

The hype surrounding the release of the Nexus One promised a revolutionary smart phone, a clear step above Apple Inc.’s i-Phone. What was released however was an underwhelming, slightly improved (in some respects and not others) version of the existing android smart phone.

How does it compare to the i-Phone?
“Coming up with ways in which the iPhone 3GS maintains a formidable lead over the N1 is a cakewalk. The iPhone OS’s interface is less cluttered. There are not only five times more iPhone apps (100,000+ vs. 20,000) but the best ones, such as Tweetie, may be five times better than their Android equivalents. Google doesn’t even seem to be trying to catch up with the iPhone’s entertainment features: Android lets you copy music from a PC but not sync it, and has no provisions for buying or renting video. Bottom line: The iPhone is (still) a more highly evolved, refined device.”
Harry McCracken, Technologizer

Perhaps, Google should have stuck with what works:
User designed product!

Tweet While You Meet!

Posted on January 15, 2010 by John

Want to add an element of collective intelligence to your next meeting or conference? Incorporate inputs from the global community on Twitter!

How often in a meeting or conference have you been participating in a conversation, listening to a presentation or in the midst of the decision making process and thought to yourself “I wish I knew someone with experience to ask or consult”? Well, simply tweet you inquiry and you will be surprised how many experts you’ll know in a very short period of time! This approach is also effective as an accuracy barometer for content – information at the speed of DSL! A perfect example of this can be found here, where a conference participant tells of one experience where twitter was a more accurate and engaging source for information than the conference presenters.

In addition to sourcing information and consulting with experts, Twitter is also a great way to gauge the effectiveness of your meeting strategies – as you are executing them. Imagine, you have prepared a learning activity for your group that you believe is very clear and engaging but as you watch the tweets roll in from your participants you can quickly gauge whether a course correction is in order. This far surpasses the traditional meeting evaluation that occurs at the meetings conclusion when the comments will be less candid and conscise because they are no longer in the moment.

Meeting Planners have begun to use Web 2.o applications such as online surveys to engage meeting delegates in the planning and evaluation process, they now need to forge forward and embrace microblogging as a means to continue the process of delegate interaction during the event. This article “Twitter for Event Planners” is a basic orientation to the application and how to use it effectively for meetings and conferences.

Whether you choose to utilize Twitter to harness information and heighten engagement in your conferences or not, the conversation is happening!

Cultivate a Collaborative Enterprise Culture

Posted on December 4, 2009 by John

Over the last month we have explored cultivating collaborative leadership by developing individual CQ (Cultural Intelligence – What’s your CQ & Cultural Intelligence – Raise your CQ). Now we will take a look at developing your organizations CQ in order to cultivate a collaborative enterprise culture.

Mary Stacey, founder and Managing Director of Context Management Consulting Inc. in Toronto held a workshop to explore this topic yesterday December 3, 2009 at MaRS Discovery District.

To offer a summary of the interactive session, Stacey suggests that cultivating a collaborative enterprise culture requires that as a leader you must:

1. Pay attention to the culture of your enterprise at every phase of it’s development
2. Develop your individual leadership capacity
3. Develop CQ through leadership DAC
                                                                      Direction: each individual knows the
                                                                      goals and aims of the collective.
                                                                      Alignment: coordination of knowledge
                                                                      and work in the collective.
                                                                      Commitment: willingness of
                                                                      individuals to expend effort towards the
                                                                      needs of the collective.
stephen curry shoes playoffs
DAC is directly proportional to CQ, that is to say it is a scale where an organization’s DAC can be anywhere on the spectrum between high and low and generally the higher your organizations DAC the higher its CQ. Therefore, since higher CQ is an indicator of collaborative culture where you sit on that spectrum defines the type of enterprise culture you have.

CQ 2.0

Where is your organization on this spectrum?

For more detailed information on cultivating collaborative cultures both “Action Inquiry” by Bill Torbert and “Leadership Agility” by Bill Joiner are excellent resources.

Cultural Intelligence – Raise your CQ

Posted on November 13, 2009 by John

Cultural Intelligence is defined by the individuals ability to adapt cognitively, physically and motivationally to new cultures whether organizational or ethnic. Simply, CQ represents an individuals ability to successfully adapt and flourish in a changing environment.

Last post we took a look at James and established his low CQ. In this example his low CQ resulted in his leaving his job. Although this is one option for dealing with issues of cultural intelligence, lets take a look at some more productive strategies.

As with any other form of personal development the first step is to be aware of your CQ strengths and weaknesses and pay appropriate attention to each. Next, and again not surprising you will have to step outside your comfort zone and practice overcoming your CQ weaknesses. For example, if you have low physical CQ and have issues adjusting physically to new situations then perhaps you should take a stage acting class. If you have low motivational CQ then spend one evening a week somewhere you ordinarily wouldn’t (like a Native American drum circle or a Salsa club – depending on your existing preferences!) and try to make a new friend.

These suggestions may seem simple or perhaps strange but in the case of CQ it isn’t a ‘business’ issue at root, it is a personal issue that needs to be dealt with accordingly. A business school sponsored training program is unlikely to help someone with low motivational CQ experience the benefits of adaptability more effectively than simply trying something they generally wouldn’t. You can find more strategies for enhancing cultural intelligence through The Cultural Intelligence Centre.

However, CQ does become an issue of ‘business’ when you are trying to boost the CQ level of an organization. A topic that Mary Stacey of Context Management Consulting in Toronto will be exploring at her upcoming workshop at MaRS on December 3, 2009. For those of you unable to attend I will share the session content and outcomes here.

Cultural Intelligence – What’s your CQ?

Posted on October 30, 2009 by John

James has worked for the same financial services company for 10 years. The company structure has always been hierarchical and highly professional. Six months ago the company was purchased by another financial services organization with a more horizontal structure and business casual approach. James’s new supervisor arrived at work on the first day wearing khaki’s and insisting that he be called Bob by everyone versus Mr. Bennet. James, clad in his usual pinstripe suit and professional demeanor felt intensely uncomfortable with this new arrangement and uncertain whether he could fit in to this environment. After trying to adjust to casual dress and informal addresses James began to resent the changes as unprofessional and inappropriate and decided to leave the company.

In this simplistic example James can be considered to have low CQ. Cultural Intelligence is defined by the individuals ability to adapt cognitively, physically and motivationally to new cultures whether organizational or ethnic. Simply, CQ represents an individuals ability to successfully adapt and flourish in a changing environment. An ability I think we can all agree is crucial to collaboration – particularly in the today’s dynamic economy.

In their article “Cultural Intelligence” (featured in Harvard Business Review) Early and Mosakowski presented a simple test to diagnose your own Cultural Intelligence:

Rate the following statements – remember “culture” applies to both organizational and ethnic:
1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neutral, 4=agree, 5= strongly agree

_____ Before I interact with people from a new culture, I ask myself what I hope to achieve.
_____ If I encounter something unexpected while working in a new culture, I use this experience to figure out new ways to approach other cultures in the future.
_____ I plan how I am going to relate to people from a different culture before I meet them.
_____ When I come in to a new cultural situation, I can immediately sense whether something is going well or something is going wrong.
Total_____ /4 = ____ Cognitive CQ

_____ It is easy for me to change my body language (for example, eye contact or posture) to suit people from a different culture.
_____ I can alter my expression when a cultural encounter requires it.
_____ I modify my speech style (for example, accent or tone) to suit people from a different culture.
_____ I easily change the way I act when a cross-cultural encounter seems to require it.
Total_____/4= ____ Physical CQ

_____ I have confidence that I can deal well with people from a different culture.
_____ I am certain that I can befriend people whose cultural backgrounds are different from mine.
_____ I can adapt to the lifestyle of a different culture with relative ease.
_____ I am confident that I can deal with a cultural situation that is unfamiliar.
Total_____/4=____ Motivational (emotional) CQ

In this quiz the closer to 5 your average score is the higher your CQ.
(Earley, C & Mosakowski, E. Harvard Business Review October 2004)
air jordan 15
How did you rate on the Cultural Intelligence scale?

Stay tuned, next week we will explore some strategies to increase CQ both individually and across an organization.

Developing Collaborative Leadership

Posted on October 9, 2009 by John

Whether you’re an entrepreneur in the start-up phase or the CEO of a mature business, it’s the right time to pay attention to the culture of your enterprise.

Yesterday (October 8, 2009) Mary Stacey of Context Management Consulting Inc. with the Kingbridge Collaboration Institute delivered the first of a 2 part series dedicated to collaborative leadership at MaRS Discovery District. Drawing from Torbert and Rooke’s award winning article The Seven Transformations of Leadership (Harvard Business Review, 2005), the attendees explored their own leadership methods and the potential for evolution towards a more collaborative style.

According to Torbert and Rooke there are 7 key ‘Action Logics’ or categories that define “how a leader interprets their surroundings and reacts when their power or safety is challenged'”(Torbert & Rooke, 2005). Rather than being autonomous groups however Torbert and Rooke propose that there is a developmental progression from the least ‘effective’ style to the most ‘effective’. So, the style you fall into when you begin your leadership development journey can evolve with time, practice, and changes in your external environment. Great news for those leaders trying to figure out how to transform themselves and their organizations!

One example of leadership progression cited in the Torbert & Rooke article is that of Larry Ellison (now CEO of Oracle). At the start of his career Ellison was at the bottom of the leadership development spectrum as an ‘Opportunist’ where he lead by ridiculing and out-witting his team. Few opportunists can sustain leadership roles for long as their style leads to high turnover and the absence of respect from their employees. No doubt after experiencing some of these repercussions Ellison was able to recognize his own need for development and began his journey towards the well evolved leader he is today.

The workshop explored the identification of ‘Action Logics’ and the characteristics of each as well as the potential for progression along the continuum. The next session ‘Leading in a Collaborative Culture’ scheduled for December 3, 2009 at MaRS will address the question ‘Now that I am here, what do I do now?” With discussions around cultivating cultural intelligence and collaborative inquiry, leaders and future leaders will gain insight on the connection between your leadership and the culture of your organization.

For more information on the series or the ‘Action Logic’ framework please contact moreinfo@contextconsulting.com

Collaborative Culture + Tools + Strategies = Value

Posted on September 3, 2009 by John

Creating value through organizational collaboration is much like baking a cake – forget a key ingredient and it won’t rise.

In today’s economic climate both inter and intra organizational collaborations are increasing, the potential benefits of which are undeniable. The issue of course is finding the right recipe to successfully bake the cake.

In order for collaborations to work there are 3 key ingredients: strategy to follow, tools and technologies with which to execute the strategy and the organizational culture to support it. (Paraphrased from Evan Rosen’s “The Culture of Collaboration“. Follow his blog )

A prime example of a successful (well, there were a few hang ups) foray into organizational collaboration is the creation of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This futuristic aircraft began with Boeings desire to have only the best of the best working on it’s design. Ordinarily, Boeing would house all the designers and engineers at their site in Washington. However, with several international candidates in mind that was no longer a viable option. So, without comprimising their desire to build the best aircraft with the best people Boeing embarked on a collaborative effort massive in scale and expectation. Rather than simply outsourcing their parts they made several parts designers and manufacturers around the globe ‘partners’ in this venture. With sites spanning several countries and time zones nearly every position was shared with others in opposing time zones thus allowing design and manufacture to occur 24 hours a day equalling a savings of a full year of production time!

Boeing introduced the Global Collaborative Environment (GCE), a set of computer and networking capabilities made available via the Web to every member of the 787 team, no matter what their location. Cutting edge 3D CAD programs were distributed to all participating partners to ensure consistency in design, and regular virtual communication was built into the strategy from the start. Most importantly however, a global culture of collaboration was initiated by having the multipe organizations involved in the 787’s development as co-designers and producers rather than mere suppliers to support the integrity of the process – every participant had a share in the sucess of the Dreamliner.

There were of course road blocks, including material shortages leading to delayed production that had better global monitoring protocols been put in place could have been avoided. But, ultimately that is part of the process. For a first attempt Boeing’s global collaboration effort has become a model for other organizational collaborations.

Are You Leading Creative Collaborations?

Posted on August 10, 2009 by John

I just finished reading Organizing Genius by Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman and was impressed by the frankness with which they approached organizing creative collaboration. So often when deconstructing successful collaborations the ‘needs’ tend to overshadow the equally important ‘need nots’. Bennis and Biederman however extract a series of ‘take home lessons’ from several case studies of successful and not so successful group collaborations.

One of the stand out lessons highlighted in the summary of Organizing Genius is that “In Great Groups the right person has the right job.” This lesson highlights the faulted belief of many organizations that people are interchangeable. Bennis and Biederman spend a great deal of time detailing the importance of not assigning people with unique talents to positions that are not suited to these talents. It is a cardinal mistake in organizing collaboration to try to fit people into roles they aren’t appropriate for just to satisfy an organizational need.

Included in this lesson is also the importance of having the right leader for the group. This is not a unique notion as several works on successful collaboration and organizational structure have outlined the qualities needed to be a collaborative leader. The distinction made in Organizing Genius is the exploration of several specific leadership qualities that squelch creative collaboration.

“Many projects never transcend mediocrity because their leaders suffer from the Hollywood syndrome. This is the arrogant and misguided belief that power is more important than talent. It is the too common view that everyone should be so grateful for a role in a picture or any other job that he or she should be willing to do whatever is asked, even if it’s dull or demeaning. When the person and the task are properly matched, the work can proceed with passion.”

One of the fundamental rules of successful collaboration is transparency and Bennis and Berderman practice it to the letter in Organizing Genius.

Gaming for Learning

Posted on July 2, 2009 by John

At Kingbridge we host conversation forums on collaboration topics with global relevance. In 2007 we hosted Game Change a forum focused on immersive and experiential learning through emergent media. We convened a community of interest including leading experts from academia, business and technology to accelerate the convergence of revolutionary technologies with the science of pedagogy. Gaming in particular has proven to be a force of change in the way people learn today. It has already proven effective in many technical and skill building applications such as surgical training, NASA education and even military training.

One of our partners in design and execution of Game Change was Anne DeMarle, Director of the Emergent Media Centre at Champlain College in Vermont. Anne, in collaboration with the United Nations and The Population Media Centre, is now venturing beyond technical applications of gaming, towards gaming for behavioural change with the UNFPA Game to Prevent Violence Against Women project in Cape Town, South Africa (You can follow the project’s research and development through the team’s blog).

This shift in gaming for behavioural and social change will dramatically change the landscape of social learning. Group dynamics training in the workplace and social change orgainzations across the globe will be able to adopt this new avenue for experiential learning. Particularly, with computer based games the reach of the Internet will allow smaller groups to reach a much greater proportion of the global population resulting in a profound shift in awareness.

We will be watching for these advancements and keep you posted!

Kingbridge Conference Centre and Institute

Open Minds and Expand Thinking "The paradox of real collaboration is that it is not about getting the best minds together – it's about creating a New Mind Set."

Category Archives: Group Dynamics