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.In addition to attending conferences, some innovators createnetworking opportunities within their companies.For example,Richard Branson created an idea networking process when found-ing Virgin Music.He bought an old castle and transformed it intoa conversation hub for diverse people from the entertainment in-dustry, including musicians, artists, producers, filmmakers, andotherwise.Branson understands that creating networking oppor-tunities within Virgin produces conversations between people thatjust might trigger innovative ideas.Form a Personal Networking GroupWe found that many innovators build a small network of peoplewho are their  go to folks when they want to find or test newideas.For example, innovative entrepreneurs Jeff Jones (founder ofCampus Pipeline and NxLight) and Eliot Jacobsen (RocketFuelVentures) described how they liked to get together to jam (to usea music or jazz metaphor) to get new ideas. I have a few peopleI like to get together with when I m in need of a boost to my cre-ative juices, Jones told us. Eliot Jacobsen is one of my friends thatI love to talk to because we just energize each other and build oneach others ideas. Jacobsen agreed, saying,  Jeff Jones is one ofthose people I like to talk to on a regular basis because we just con-nect in a creative way.In similar fashion, we found that many innovators have a smallgroup of creative confidants that they converse with whenever theyneed some fresh ideas or someone to challenge their currentideas.Usually this network is relatively small (e.g., fewer than fivepeople), but some innovators have actively created larger networks.One innovative executive told us that over the years he has culti-vated a kitchen cabinet of twenty to thirty people from different100092 05 113-132 r1 go.qxp 5/13/11 9:59 AM Page 126126DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION STARTS WITH YOUindustries who are his innovation advisers.At least once a year, hepicks up the phone and asks his kitchen cabinet,  What s keepingyou up at night? He says,  Most of them either run companies orare involved in industries in a fairly senior way and they have veryspecific things to talk about.From these diverse conversationsI try to piece together trends or directions.There are momentswhen the pieces just come together and new ideas form with amaz-ing clarity.As important as networking is, many senior executives faceunique challenges when trying to talk candidly with others aboutnew ideas.After all, intellectual property is at stake, and senior ex-ecutives often have difficulty challenging the status quo in theirorganizations because they often created it. As a CEO, there arefew places where you can really publicly talk about fundamentalconcerns, one innovative CEO told us. As a result, I ve created anunofficial group.It s fairly senior, fairly seasoned people who arecomfortable throwing out ideas and then forgetting about them ifthese hunches or speculations aren t right.One thing about beinga CEO is that you ve got to be very careful about what you say inpublic and whom you involve in these conversations.That s whynetworking for ideas, for me at least, is unofficial. For this reason,it s important to form a trusted network of confidants, since theissues under discussion are of critical and sensitive strategic value.Building a trusted and diverse idea network is often best accom-plished throughout your career, because forming relationshipswith a diverse set of people takes time and experience.However, ifdone well, a small personal network of creative confidants can paysignificant dividends.Effective idea networking helps innovators create new processes,products, services, and even business models that deliver positiveresults.When multiple conversations abound in these networks,a new idea frequently emerges from the insights and refinementsgained.Michael Dell put it this way:  I often have a hard time100092 05 113-132 r1 go.qxp 5/13/11 9:59 AM Page 127127Networkingexplaining how we innovate at Dell because we do it quite collabo-ratively, building on each other.Someone will say, Hey, what aboutthis, how about that? And by the time you re done, it s impossible tosay,  That s so-and-so s idea, because you ve got twenty-seven fin-gerprints all over the thing. In the end, idea ownership matters farless than development through the idea networking process.Networking Sidebar: How Well Do YouTake Rejection?OK, so you ve already heard about the importance of net-working.But if you are like most people, you probably still don thave any sort of a plan to do it on a regular basis.Meetingnew people is easier said than done.So what stops you? To bebrutally honest, it may be a lack of confidence that preventsyou from reaching out to people you don t know.You might getrejected.In fact you will get rejected, sometimes when makingthe pitch for a meeting or conversation, and sometimes aftermaking the pitch.So what can you do to minimize the proba-bility of rejection when making the pitch? Tell the person youwant to engage that  I m interested in your ideas.I m interestedin your perspective. This taps into his or her desire to help orbe viewed as an expert.Most people derive satisfaction frombeing asked for their opinion and ideas.It s important to makesure they know you are only interested in their ideas, not theirresources.Once you get the opportunity to exchange ideas withsomeone, and if you want to keep the door open to future con-versations, you have one goal: be interesting.What makessomeone interesting? Two things seem to help.First, breadthof experience matters in a big way.If you ve traveled widely(continued)100092 05 113-132 r1 go.qxp 5/13/11 9:59 AM Page 128128DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION STARTS WITH YOU(China, Australia, Italy), experienced widely (Broadway shows,scuba diving), read widely (novels, history, different sub-jects), or networked widely ( Yes, I know so and so; we metwhen. ), then you increase your chances of being interest-ing to someone.Second, make sure you perfect your elevatorspeech on the topic you want ideas about.If you can tellinteresting stories about the problem or challenge you are try-ing to solve, that will spark an interest.Being able to tell short,interesting stories on a variety of topics increases your inter-esting quotient.Of course, it doesn t hurt to be funny or witty,but that really takes some practice.Networking is most likely to spark innovative ideas when you ini-tiate conversations with folks in different social networks.This meanstalking to people from different business functions, companies, in-dustries, countries, ethnic groups, socioeconomic groups, age groups(eighteen-year-olds and eighty-year-olds), political groups, and reli-gions.Diversity of network breeds diversity of ideas.Attending ideaconferences such as TED can be a way to jump-start the diversity ofyour network.Moreover, when facing a particular problem, ask your-self,  Who else has faced a problem like this before? and try to talkto those folks.Tips for Developing Idea Networking SkillsWe recommend the following activities to help you practice andstrengthen your idea networking skills.Tip #1: Expand the diversity of your networkList the top-ten people you would typically talk with if youwere trying to get or refine a new idea.Go ahead.Make the list rightnow.How many of those people have a background or perspective100092 05 113-132 r1 go [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]