With co-development, mobilize the collective intelligence of your teams

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Co-development is about relying on collective intelligence to solve a problem. This method inspired by innovation is now widespread for management and more general “problem solving”. Relying on the group to find solutions, the method promotes both individual learning while creating reflexes to work better as a team. A method totally in line with the post-covid trend at a time of responsible innovation and missions related to the Reason for Being as revealed in the Innovation Blossom 2021 study .

 

1) In co-development, there is co “with”

One of the main benefits of co-development is to create a community of peers connected through a shared experience. Concretely, a workshop brings together ten participants to discuss various issues (problem, project concern, etc.) that a participant, “the client”, would like to share and explore with the rest of the group, “the consultants”.

The group decides jointly on the subject and the client and all the other participants will act as consultants. To do this, they will help the customer to better understand his problem through a question-and-answer session and by offering solutions. These sessions should be part of a series of meetings for everyone to experience the roles. It is therefore the strength of the collective that is unfolding.

 

2) In co-development, there is “development”

The framework and the conduct of the workshops are essential to remain in the efficiency studied and described by Adrien Payette and Claude Champagne. To maintain the framework, which differentiates these workshops from a discussion around the coffee machine, an external facilitator is needed, who will ensure that the different stages, timing and role of each are respected.

Co-development is akin to a training approach but is unlike traditional training. In this sense, it is innovative. There is not on the one hand a trainer carrying and depositing knowledge, a knowing who brings “the theory and the cases to be treated” and on the other hand learners.

Co-development is a learning approach that relies on interactions between participants because the consultants and the client are all considered contributors even if they are not subject matter experts.

 

3) The soft skills essential to co-develop

The group must respect a few rules which depend on behaviors to be respected, soft skills to be expressed and which will develop during the series of successive groups.

To begin with, humility is necessary in order to dare to recognize a problem and that this problem is likely to be presented by the potential customer. For the consultants, it will be a question of not trying to solve the problem but to agree to provide a solution among others, which will be chosen or not.

Then empathy must be mobilized so that the consultants can put themselves in the customer’s shoes. Kindness will allow all participants to express themselves and all questions or suggestions for solutions to be welcomed and encouraged. Finally, assertiveness is required so that everything can be expressed without aggression. Solidarity is is at the end the souvereiugn soft skills so usefull in this period of change.

A number of positive behaviors are therefore put to the test which already in themselves create value and therefore performance.

Innovation, an essential skill for the Leader in the world of “living with”

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Innovation, an essential skill for the Leader in the world of “living with”
2021 Innovation Blossom survey “Innovation and leader of tomorrow”

Feedback from 100 players in the world of innovation .

From one confinement to another, the idea that the world before will come back fades. “Living with” the virus, its variants and general uncertainty is gaining ground in people’s minds. To understand this development, Innovation Blossom carried out in early 2021 a study “Innovation and leader of tomorrow”  by interviewing more than a hundred players in the world of innovation. Even though 99% of respondents agree that innovation has become essential, what kind of innovation is it? What are the soft skills of tomorrow’s leaders? What are their secrets to get into their flow? Mobilize the collective flow of their teams?

 

1) Innovation to meet 3 major challenges

If there is one area that the virus has brought about, it is innovation. 99% of respondents agree that it has become essential to address the challenges facing businesses. These challenges identified in 2021 are mainly: digitization (55%), teleworking (50%) and the environment (45%). Regarding the nature of the innovation, opinions are divided since those who believe that they will have to do incremental innovation, improvement, are hardly more numerous (53%) than those who are preparing for disruptive or disruptive innovation (47%).

2) Innovation but “responsible” innovation

To the question “do you think that the crisis has accelerated responsible innovation”, 63% respond positively by giving concrete arguments that converge around taking responsibility. ecological awareness, teleworking even if it remains to be better organized, and people. 40% have already started a “Reason for being” initiative in their company, illustrating my last column “Covid, virus for responsible innovation” .

3) The essential soft skills to drive innovation

Specific skills correspond to each step of the innovation process. In developing the strategy, analysis prevails. For ideation it’s creativity followed by originality and decentering. For the development of solutions, it is risk taking that takes precedence over perseverance. And when it comes to taking action, agility dominates followed by decision-making, courage and collaboration. Thus the world of innovation, reigns of hard skills and technique, invites soft skills to support it. Which is new.

4) How to deal with uncertainty

The uncertainty that the Covid has plunged the world into is inherent in innovation. Innovators are well versed in the need to work in an uncertain environment and in dependence on others. Their experience has led them to believe that skills for dealing with uncertainty are primarily the ability to anticipate, followed by imagination and stress management. Believing in your luck is also one of these positive skills. Suffice to say that emotional intelligence is now considered essential.  5) enter your flow To innovate you need to access a particular state of positive inspiration called flow. For more than 65%, a particular ritual allows them to easily enter their flow. These varied tips – between meditation, mantra, or personal method – will be the subject of a future article. On the other hand, 85% of them admit that they have no ritual to promote the flow of their teams. The development of collective intelligence is therefore the next challenge revealed by the survey echoing the responsible trend of innovation.

> See the study

In the age of responsible innovation, the accountability partner coach.

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In a previous post, I presented the rise of responsible innovation and more generally of the sense of responsibility since the arrival of the virus. Social distancing, barrier gestures, it is called upon to the responsibility of each one as a citizen. Likewise for innovation today it is about responsible innovation, protecting the planet, investing in sustainable ideas. This state of mind, which is strongly emerging in the new generation, forces everyone to realize that they are an actor in the system. Being and showing oneself responsible, that is to say aware of one’s actions, behaviors and decisions, is today a necessity for each of us and a fortiori an obligation for the leader. How to do it ?

 

  • Be responsible yourself in the name of exemplarity

It is difficult to advocate “responsible innovation” while behaving without respect for others, without being aware of the scope of one’s actions. “Be the change you want in the world,” said Gandhi, who was the first to conform his life to the vision he carried. Exemplarity, that quality which leads the leader to adopt the behavior he expects from his subordinates and which should inspire them in return, has become essential.

  • Coaching to set your intention and act in conscience

To ensure your goals and the right attitude to achieve your goals, support can be very useful. First step clarify your intention. What should my intention of responsibility relate to? What are my values? what are the expectations of others? what are the points of agreement? of difference. Once the intention is clarified you have to stick to it and for that a framework is necessary.

  • Coaching to give yourself a framework for action

In agreement with the chosen coach, certified and respecting ethics and deontology, a framework will be defined. The rhythm of the sessions, their place and their duration will constitute this regular meeting, this time given to oneself to work on one’s goal. Respecting this framework is imperative because departing from it leaves the door open to procrastination or the manifestation of emotional limitations.

 

  • Coaching to benefit from feedback and develop emotional intelligence

The coach by his active listening will also allow feedback ... always benevolent. Playing its role of mirror, it will support the awareness of actions to be encouraged or modified, of soft skills to be developed or used positively. In order to go in depth on self-knowledge and the perception of others, the coach can offer certified tools for measuring emotional intelligence. By testing his EQ (Emotional Quotient), he will identify the emotional skills that he recognizes himself and with a 360 ° he will benefit from the vision of those interviewed in his entourage. A complete assessment for a 360 vision of the perception of his sense of responsibility and his way of expressing it

  • Individual coaching but also collective

This support, which encourages the implementation of “responsible” actions, is proving to be very successful individually and is applied daily to managers and project leaders. But coaching can also be applied to teams, in particular to management teams who must exemplify the company’s sense of responsibility.

 

Innovation, at the service of the “Raison d’être”.

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In my previous article I presented how the Covid 19 pandemic had accelerated the responsible innovation movement. Behind this search for meaning by all citizens looms the need for meaning in business. According to an Ifop study, 95% of French people say they expect companies to commit themselves to social issues. Establishing a raison d’être is therefore not only virtuous in accordance with the Pacte Law but above all a guarantee of motivation for employees and commitment of stakeholders. As an expert in innovation, I see this search for meaning as an opportunity for each company to redefine its innovation strategy and develop a culture of innovation through openness and collaboration.

 

1)   What role in the “New World”?

The uncertainty and constant change that characterize today’s world have heightened the need for meaning. Beyond the Pacte Law, companies have every interest in establishing and displaying their “raison d’être”. Today, this is a pledge to recruit and retain not only employees but also customers who share the same values. It is also a way to stand out from competitors who have not made this effort of empathy with their stakeholders. Like Danone and Michelin, which started the trend, all companies are concerned since the “raison d’être” has become a condition of performance.

 

2) Innovate: why and for what?

Innovating is no longer an option. Not only has it been observed that those who came out of the crisis were innovation leaders. So the Big Techs of Silicon Valley have seen an increase in their turnover (60% Facebook) and their market capitalization (record of 2000 billion dollars for Apple). Innovation is above all an ability to adapt. Today, innovation must be about progress, technology at the service of people and the planet. The company must strive to converge the axes of the company’s CSR strategy in its innovation strategy

 

3) Reason for “being” and “knowing-how-to-innovate”

For companies that already have a culture of innovation, it is easier to establish its raison d’être because the methods are those of innovation management, as I defined them in my book: respect the 4 steps innovation, align strategic CSR and Innovation axes, and create a mix of actions that will unleash initiative and confidence. To provide solutions to social and environmental concerns, it is important to develop soft skills such as empathy and questioning that will promote collaboration and internal and external partnerships. It is also common to see that innovative companies commonly create partnerships with each other. Let us quote the recent example of co-innovation between Decathlon and Bic which transformed the Easybreath diving mask into a filter mask for healthcare personnel in 18 weeks

 

4) Start with a diagnosis of innovation maturity Before launching the co-construction of your Raison d’Etre with your stakeholders, I advise you to establish a diagnosis of your innovation maturity. The proximity between innovation and reason makes it possible to optimize the innovation and CSR approach, when they have already started, or even to give them new impetus to make them a real intangible value for your company and show your ambition.

 

Corona, virus for responsible innovation

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If there is one area that the Covid 19 will have spurred, it is innovation. This health crisis, which has become a systemic crisis, has had the merit of creating a more powerful awareness than decades of alert.  Today is the time for reconstruction and the key is innovation.  This is the paradox of this virus. It distributed death and fear but it also raised awareness of the need for accommodation for survival and of meaning for humans. He inoculated the innovation of responsible innovation.   Expert and passionate about innovation, I see in this period the opportunity to move to the disruption of a breathless system. Carrying for years the message of innovation through soft skills and new management methods such as teleworking, I savor the already visible impacts of this crisis which illustrate my vision and reinforce my convictions.

1)  Abrupt acceleration of entry into the “New World”

The emergency created a world we didn’t have time to think about. While tens of millions of jobs are destroyed worldwide, the value of the Facebook title jumps by almost 60% along with the other GAFAMs – Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft – which have benefited from the upheaval of the daily newspaper.   Mark Zuckenberg, the boss of Facebook, with his “you just have to organize” at the European Commission opens on the need for the Ancients to take the turn of the New World.   In our country, we have been able to witness unexpected adaptations because they were “forced”. Partial unemployment and telework are two social innovations that open up new ways of working and more flexibility on which the corona has been right for years of stagnation.

2) Incremental innovation and disruption

Entering this new world reveals the need for innovation in all its forms.  To cope with the shortage, hundreds of companies have shown their capacity for incremental innovation and responsiveness.  LVMH and Yves Rocher have been able to transform their cosmetic production lines into hydroalcoholic gel in record time. Décathlon has teamed up with Bic to transform its famous Easybreath diving mask into a respiratory protector in 18 days!  As for the disruption, it took hold by the “forced” adoption of new uses. The platforms of “e” commerce, “e” education, “e” work … have also revealed unsuspected market sizes.

3)  Full-scale “pilot” tests

Videoconferencing is an emblematic example. Deprived of contact, even the most refractory to digital have taken up “What’sapps” and weddings by Skype.   Zoom, a start-up created in 2011, has become a worldwide success thanks to the corona by finally finding its market with 300 million daily users.   Thus the telework software market estimated at 400 million people, that is to say executives, is today at 2 billion employees because it is now necessary to connect field workers too.

4)  For a conscious and meaningful innovation

This crisis, by making us aware of our vulnerability as a human being, has made us realize that the healthcare system cannot be purely commercial and must be modernized.  The new “Heroes of the Nation” must be able to innovate.  And can we continue to leave the active ingredients of vaccines totally delocalized in Asia, between China and India. There is a real lesson to be learned for Western R&D.

5)  Slowdown for sustainable consumption

This crisis created an astonishing paradox by giving a boost to the urgency of the situation and at the same time the confinement brought life at a rhythm out of time.   In the fashion in which the ephemeral creates business, the Kering group opens the transition between the era of “Fast Fashion” and that of “sustainable fashion”. The house of Gucci has announced that it will break the calendars of Fashion Weeks to parade only twice a year and its next collection is made from recycled, organic, natural and sustainable materials.

6)  New normal, new leaders

The containment has been conducive to creativity as shown by the billions of exchanges. This creative potential is resolutely to be exploited to reinvent the new world and the role of leaders is to know how to mobilize it.  We can already see this with many leaders who have taken “responsible” initiatives for employees. To quote only Sébastien Bazin who created for the Accor group a relief fund for the 220,000 unemployed employees in the world since the hotel industry was affected to 90% of its activity. Or Michel-Edouard Leclerc who mobilized personally on the ground throughout the crisis to ensure continuity of supply.   Confinement, imposing both telework and physical distance, revealed the need for respect for others, empathy and kindness in order to function and even survive. The corona makes Darwin’s theory of the species’s evolution more relevant than ever “it is not the strongest but the most adaptable who will survive”.   Intelligence of oneself and that of others are intimately mixed and bring together the soft skills that leaders must acquire to innovate and make others innovate: creativity, collaboration, intuition, risk management, agility for decisions and project modes.   By realizing that it is a set of individual actions that build the collective and innovation, it is accelerating the transformation of management and the emergence of a new type of leadership. This is the opportunity of the responsible innovation virus for the next world.

It’s time for Blossom!

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Containment Chronicle Confine … I’ll tell you who you are! thanks to MBTI

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Containment is experienced differently depending on the person. Obviously the material conditions greatly influence whether you live it between the walls of an apartment or in the open air of the countryside. But there is also a very personal way of living it according to one’s personality preferences. The MBTI with its famous questionnaire successfully disseminated to 40 million copies worldwide, identifies a typology of preferences according to Jung’s personality theory. Applied in time of confinement, it allows you to step back, better understand yourself, understand others, defuse certain caricature situations with kindness and humor!

 

Confinement: social distance and forced interiorization

The very principle of confinement tests the relationship with the world and with others, which comes to impact people with the preferences of Extraversion and Introversion differently. For the former, being confined is a constraint that will cut them off from their preferred source of energy, contact with others. For others it is on the contrary an incredible chance to be able to entrench itself in its interior world, not to be obliged to interact, to enjoy calm and silence, to indulge in a solitude which has become in the name of health protection socially “Normal”. The Internet, the antidote to the poison of isolation, is experienced differently too. People preferably Extraversion will surf from a call to a Zoom aperitif, wandering, talking freely or laughing on their Smartphone while people preferably Introversion will maintain their relationships with a few chosen people by making a call discreetly, calmly the secluded place where they created their containment

nest. Overflowing presence or too marked withdrawal, this is an opportunity for everyone to manage their own social distance cursor!

 

Telework: between freedom and time constraints

Work has this social function of structuring time. For those who are teleworking or forced unemployed, they must draw on their internal resources to organize their time at home, which will be done differently depending on the people who have a preference for Judgment or Perception. The first will quickly decide how to organize their days, give themselves timetables, alternate work and leisure periods, make menus for the week and the corresponding shopping lists. The others will rather take advantage of the windfall of having a more empty agenda to indulge in the freedom of the absence of constraints, do the shopping according to the desires and off the lists, live according to the desires of the moment. Again, this is an opportunity for everyone to manage their relationship to control and to let go while respecting the preferences of the other!

 

The Crisis: a threat or an opportunity for change

This health crisis which becomes the crisis of the Century is experienced in its analysis in the present and in the perspective of its consequences in very different ways. People preferably Sensation will decipher with force figures and facts the current situation and its short term evolution. While people preferably Intuition will refer to past examples and consider future prospects. This posture will be reinforced by the Introversion-Sensation association which will tend to identify very short-term changes, therefore rather associated with losses and difficulties, while Extraversion Intuition people will see the opportunity for innovation and the benefits medium to long term progress.

 

This crisis and confinement are like an encouragement to work on oneself as Jung recommends “If you do not go towards your shadow, your shadow will come to you!” “

Coaching for social engagement.
We start with a committed EXCOM!

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Social commitment is essential today for all companies. Whether environmental or social, collective awareness is accelerating with the succession of crises we face: climatic with storms, social on pensions, health with coronavirus … All companies are looking to integrate these values ​​into their “Being Mission Chartt”. However, if the new generations are waiting for innovations on the subject, the leaders are not always comfortable with what represents this societal commitment.

Coaching, which is in essence a process of responsibility and creativity, will help identify and express values ​​and especially their embodiment through behavior. This exemplarity must begin with EXCOM. For this, the coaching program must be broken down into three levels: individual, team and organization.

 Coaching to foster responsibility and creativity

The definition of Michel Giffard  Director HEC Executive Coaching, and co-author with Celine Geara Thomas of « Global coaching for the whole being »  is sufficient in itself to express in what way coaching is ideal to support a transformation towards societal engagement. It involves “supporting a person, a team or an organization, so that it mobilizes the resources at its disposal to find for itself its own answers to the questions it is asking itself or the issues it encounters. ” Coaching not only mobilizes responsibility and creativity but it is a medium-term investment which corresponds to the cycles of CSR actions.

Individual coaching for committed leaders

To be credible, Social Commitment must be embodied in the behavior of visible leaders, which are the members of EXCOM. Individually, each member must adapts his behavioral frame of reference to the values ​​identified collectively.

Coaching through a process of deep analysis will allow the leader to become aware of his own values ​​and any differences with those of the company. Work will be carried out on itself, with the coach who will send his image back to him like a mirror. This work will allow him to identify and put into action his own congruence as well as the conditions to create the trust of each member of EXCOM  with his teams.

Collective coaching for committed management teams

At the team level, collective coaching will allow them to fully take ownership of the values, to apply them to themselves in order to apply them to the whole company. These values, according to the companies, if they do not fall “top down” from the head office, can be co-constructed by the teams in a “bottom up” dynamic. Coaching can play its role in facilitating expression and creativity. By freeing up speech, we engage in “deconstruction” to better “rebuild” together afterwards.

Systemic coaching for a responsible organization

The multiple actors involved in societal transformation must be connected and considered as stakeholders in the dynamics of change. Organizational coaching can contribute to this “empowerment” through leaders who are themselves committed and a network with all the teams. Through coaching, responsible leaders will be able to follow the advice of Steve Jobs “Follow your intuition and your heart. They alone know what is good for you and for the world ”.

Culture Innovation CODIR’s necessary exemplarity

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The Codir, or Management Committee, is the place where strategic decisions are made or validated. Indeed becoming a member of Codir is statutory and accessing this status means that all the eyes of the employees are on you.

At a time of digital transparency, the exemplarity of Codir is more than ever necessary. A Codir member can no longer say “Do what I say and not what I do”. For innovation, which involves disruption and transformation, this adage is worth more !

 1) be a Codir’s member: rights and duties for innovation

Innovating involves a set of behaviors such as collaboration, openness, acceptance of new ideas …

These behaviors may seem out of step with those of the competition advocated by traditional companies or even some start-ups led by entrepreneurs without managerial culture. However, employees cannot be expected to behave in a way that the Codir does not apply to itself.

In the many Codirs that I accompany, “collaboration” is undoubtedly the most difficult challenge.  Each Codir member often comes to represent their silo and defend the interests of their territory.

However, innovation results from the confrontation of ideas and the contribution of all the functions of the company for its implementation, from technique to HR to recruit the right project manager. And it is not uncommon to see directors encouraging their collaborators to cooperate with each other while they are in manifest war with their colleagues at Codir.

Their request for collaboration then turns into a paradoxical injunction! Putting innovation on the Codir agenda is an excellent remedy for transversality.

2) know how to use diversity: open your point of view to innovate

The Codir is indeed a set of development opportunities. Taking place at regular intervals, participating in it gives the possibility of launching and presenting the progress of the project at each decision stage.

Composed of managing counterparts, it allows the involvement of the services represented around the table to be called upon. It is also the time to indicate the level of contribution of each to create the positive dynamic of association with the project.

But it is also, under the seal of the confidentiality of this body, to identify non-contributions and engage collective responsibility for the risks of delays or level of excellence.

3) New skills for innovation 

For many, being a member of Codir means representing their service and, in the best of cases, getting the information down the next day during the service meeting. It is traditionally a “top down” function.

However, innovation presupposes rather “bottom up” methods involving the solicitation of employees in the process of creation then of decision. The Codir then becomes a place of “feedback” of ideas and solutions to be adopted.  Being a member of Codir pour l’Innovation therefore means sharing and collective intelligence.

So many soft skills related to empathy and benevolence that help build trust, solidarity and co-responsibility.   Let’s avoid applying the horrors described in the business thriller “The Codir Killed Me” to kill innovation. A good management lesson to develop an innovation culture.