#collaborative innovation

In this episode, we catch up with Ricardo Marvão the Co-Founder of Beta-i. Ricardo Marvão is a key figure in Portugal’s thriving startup ecosystem. Currently, he is pioneering a new paradigm for innovation: collaborative innovation. It builds on his experience working in the public sector, building ecosystems and mentoring entrepreneurship. Over the course of his… This content is for members…

Space provide innovative design ideas that can protect humans on Mars missions

BRENT: An award of up to $30,000 is being offered to space enthusiasts to provide innovative design ideas that can protect crews on space missions involving long duration like the journey to Mars. Participation in this challenge is open to everyone from 29th April to 29th June, 2015, according to NASA. Major problems that space travelers in the future who venture beyond the low orbit of the earth…

Instructional-design Theories and Models: A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory, Volume II

Over the course of his decade-long career in education, Peter Fardig has worked to integrate innovative teaching methods and materials to increase students’ classroom engagement. As president of ThinK-12 Learning, Peter Fardig guides efforts to improve nationwide academic achievement through the development of educational curricula and technologies.

Recently, ThinK-12 Learning has focused its activities on STEM education. While creating enriching programs in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math, it has assisted schools across the United States in effectively developing and using MakerSpace websites. MakerSpace.com is an online community created by Maker Media, a comprehensive global platform of products, services, and events aimed at fostering creativity and innovation. As the publisher of MAKE magazine and host of the annual Maker Faire, Maker Media encourages fellow makers to draw on their curiosity and resourcefulness to launch projects that revolutionize our daily interactions.

Part 4 of 4 in a series

Set Your Course

Turning it over in your mind, the functional advocate role seems to solve some very difficult problems. Failures of understanding across disciplines wastes time, energy, and materials. In these conditions, no matter what the scope or intent, departmentally aligned successes remain isolated. An enterprise endeavor launched under mysterious conditions is suspicious no matter the post hoc justifications. The advocate remains dedicated to spreading what riches can be gained.  Engage your colleagues as partners in new adventures or at worst sail past passive leaders and let the advocate pull them in your wake. 

The Devil's Advocate to Pay

Can't we solve this problem with existing organizational models?

Perhaps, but corporations aligned around business units bring disadvantages that the functional organization does not. Nothing in the nature of a divisional organization solves the underlying interpersonal, interdepartmental, and organization-wide misunderstanding and the mistrust that naturally result between silos of domain knowledge.

Why not open the silos or distribute small versions within the organization?

The divisional structure can make the situation much worse! Now you have functional teams within divisions that ideally work toward common divisional goals. But what if the functional teams start to guard information or just set up bureaucratic methods that discourage interplay? By the time the divisional leaders recognize the distrustful behaviors, the KPIs will already reflect the disfunction. Welcome to the wonder that is corporate scrutiny, matey!

Belay That Order!

Fortune favors the prepared. The advocate network takes months to build and requires patience to execute. If someone chosen for the role doesn't seem to fit the bill, recall them to determine what small course correction is needed. Some level of training might be required to form a basis of understanding on which the advocate can build. This is especially true when interacting with a top performing department. Seek advice from the functional head to discover the most congruent philosophical approach to the discipline. Such insight helps the advocate focus on the important context setting information needed to be judged first rate at the job.

Soon enough, department and corporate leaders, enticed by scuttlebutt of strategic planning, strike their true colors in anticipation of project work. Competition for company resources brings out fear and mistrust when other departments operate in isolation with intermittent information exchanges. Most cross-functional efforts bring higher levels of visibility and puts mental and emotional pressure on the participants. This is not an ideal situation in which to establish trust. The dynamics are more competitive at this point. But outside the room, the advocate network acts as restorative force. They excel at finding common threads of meaning and intent with their guest and host experts and leaders.

Who Fits the Bill?

The following are some characteristics of a person who would toe the line as a functional advocate. Even one of these traits could indicate the potential for growth into the role.

Spent significant time in several unrelated industries: this required developing domain knowledge in a variety of contexts

Perceptive and non-judgmental: you won't hear them moaning much about the personalities of others but you might hear them complaining about a process

Will walk around looking for people to talk to about problems they are trying to solve: makes everyone feel appropriately respected

Tell stories to drive a point to the center of the listener's understanding: genuinely wants others to comprehend the central idea