How to manage for collective creativity | Linda Hill | TEDxCambridge
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0:15 - 0:17I have a confession to make.
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0:17 - 0:18I'm a business professor
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0:18 - 0:21whose ambition has been
to help people learn to lead. -
0:21 - 0:23But recently, I've discovered
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0:23 - 0:25that what many of us
think of as great leadership -
0:25 - 0:29does not work, when it comes
to leading innovation. -
0:29 - 0:30I'm an ethnographer.
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0:30 - 0:32I use the methods of anthropology
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0:32 - 0:34to understand the questions
which I'm interested. -
0:34 - 0:36So along with three co-conspirators,
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0:36 - 0:40I spent nearly a decade observing
up close and personal, -
0:40 - 0:43exceptional leaders of innovation.
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0:43 - 0:45We studied 16 men and women,
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0:45 - 0:47located in seven countries
across the globe -
0:47 - 0:50working in 12 different industries.
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0:50 - 0:53In total, we spent hundreds of hours
on the ground, on-site, -
0:53 - 0:56watching these leaders in action.
-
0:56 - 1:00We ended up with pages
and pages of field notes -
1:00 - 1:03that we analyzed, and looked
for patterns in what our leaders did. -
1:04 - 1:05The bottom line?
-
1:05 - 1:08If we want to build organizations
that can innovate time and again, -
1:08 - 1:12we must unlearn our conventional
notions of leadership. -
1:12 - 1:15Leading innovation is not
about creating a vision, -
1:15 - 1:18and inspiring others to execute it.
-
1:18 - 1:20But what do we mean by innovation?
-
1:20 - 1:23An innovation is anything
that is both new and useful. -
1:23 - 1:25It can be a product or service.
-
1:25 - 1:28It can be a process
or a way of organizing. -
1:28 - 1:30It can be incremental,
or it can be breakthrough. -
1:30 - 1:33We have a pretty inclusive definition.
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1:33 - 1:35How many of you recognize this man?
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1:35 - 1:38Put your hands up.
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1:38 - 1:41Keep your hands up,
if you know who this is. -
1:45 - 1:48How about these familiar faces?
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1:48 - 1:50(Laughter)
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1:50 - 1:51From your show of hands,
-
1:51 - 1:54it looks like many of you
have seen the Pixar movie. -
1:54 - 1:56But very few of you recognized Ed Catmull,
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1:56 - 1:59the founder and CEO of Pixar
-
1:59 - 2:02- one of the companies
I had the privilege of studying. -
2:02 - 2:04My first visit to Pixar was in 2005,
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2:04 - 2:06when they were working on 'Ratatouille',
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2:06 - 2:10that provocative movie
about a rat becoming a master chef. -
2:10 - 2:13Computer generated movies
are really mainstream today, -
2:13 - 2:16but it took Ed and his colleagues
nearly 20 years -
2:16 - 2:20to create the first full length CG movie.
-
2:20 - 2:23In the 20 years hence,
they've produced 14 movies. -
2:23 - 2:26I was recently at Pixar,
and I'm here to tell you -
2:26 - 2:29that number 15 is sure to be a winner.
-
2:29 - 2:31When many of us think
about innovation though, -
2:31 - 2:35we think about an Einstein
having an 'Aha!' moment. -
2:35 - 2:37But we all know that's a myth.
-
2:37 - 2:40Innovation is not about solo genius,
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2:40 - 2:43it's about collective genius.
-
2:43 - 2:47Let's think for a minute about
what it takes to make a Pixar movie: -
2:47 - 2:53no solo genius, no flash of inspiration
produces one of those movies. -
2:53 - 2:57On the contrary, it takes about
250 people four to five years, -
2:57 - 2:59to make one of those movies.
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2:59 - 3:01To help us understand the process,
-
3:01 - 3:05an individual in the studio
drew a version of this picture. -
3:05 - 3:08He did so reluctantly,
because it suggested -
3:08 - 3:11that their process
was a neat series of steps -
3:11 - 3:13done by discrete groups.
-
3:13 - 3:15Even with all those arrows,
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3:15 - 3:20he thought it failed to tell you
just how iterative, interrelated -
3:20 - 3:22and, frankly, messy their process was.
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3:23 - 3:27Throughout the making of a movie
at Pixar, the story evolves. -
3:28 - 3:30So think about it.
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3:30 - 3:32Some shots go through quickly.
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3:32 - 3:35They don't all go through in order.
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3:35 - 3:37It depends on how vexing
the challenges are, -
3:37 - 3:42that they come up with, when
they're working on a particular scene. -
3:42 - 3:44So if you think about that scene in 'Up'
-
3:44 - 3:47where the boy hands the piece
of chocolate to the bird, -
3:47 - 3:52that 10 seconds took one animator
almost six months to perfect. -
3:53 - 3:55The other thing about a Pixar movie
-
3:55 - 3:57is that no part of the movie
is considered finished -
3:57 - 3:59until the entire movie wraps.
-
3:59 - 4:04Partway through one production,
an animator drew a character -
4:04 - 4:08with an arched eyebrow
that suggested a mischievous side. -
4:08 - 4:11When the director saw that drawing,
he thought it was great. -
4:11 - 4:12It was beautiful, but he said,
-
4:12 - 4:15"You've got to lose it,
it doesn't fit the character." -
4:15 - 4:17Two weeks later,
the director came back and said, -
4:17 - 4:20"Let's put in those few seconds of film."
-
4:20 - 4:23Because that animator
was allowed to share -
4:23 - 4:26what we refer to as his slice of genius,
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4:26 - 4:29he was able to help that director
re-conceive the character -
4:29 - 4:34in a subtle but important way
that improved the story. -
4:34 - 4:38What we know is at the heart
of innovation is a paradox. -
4:38 - 4:42You have to unleash the talents
and passions of many people -
4:42 - 4:47and you have to harness them
into a work that is actually useful. -
4:47 - 4:49Innovation is a journey.
-
4:49 - 4:52It's a type of collaborative
problem solving, -
4:52 - 4:55usually among people
who have different expertise -
4:55 - 4:57and different points of view.
-
4:57 - 5:00Innovations rarely get created full blown.
-
5:00 - 5:04As many of you know, they are usually
the result of trial and error. -
5:04 - 5:08Lots of false starts,
missteps, and mistakes. -
5:08 - 5:11Innovative work can be very exhilarating,
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5:12 - 5:15but it also can be really downright scary.
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5:17 - 5:22So when we look at why it is
that Pixar is able to do what it does, -
5:22 - 5:26we have to ask ourselves,
what's going on here? -
5:27 - 5:30For sure, history
and certainly Hollywood -
5:30 - 5:33is full of star-studded teams
that have failed. -
5:33 - 5:36Most of those failures are attributed
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5:36 - 5:40to too many stars or too many
cooks, if you will, in the kitchen. -
5:40 - 5:43Why is it that Pixar,
with all of its cooks, -
5:44 - 5:47is able to be so successful
time and time again? -
5:48 - 5:51When we studied
an Islamic Bank in Dubai, -
5:51 - 5:56or a luxury brand in Korea,
or a social enterprise in Africa, -
5:56 - 5:58we found that innovative organizations
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5:58 - 6:01are communities
that have three capabilities -
6:01 - 6:06- creative abrasion, creative agility,
and creative resolution. -
6:07 - 6:10Creative abrasion is about being able
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6:10 - 6:13to create a marketplace of ideas
through debate and discourse. -
6:13 - 6:16In innovative organizations,
they amplify differences, -
6:16 - 6:18they don't minimize them.
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6:18 - 6:20Creative abrasion
is not about brainstorming -
6:20 - 6:22where people suspend their judgment.
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6:22 - 6:26No, they know how to have very heated
but constructive arguments -
6:26 - 6:29to create a portfolio of alternatives.
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6:30 - 6:32Individuals in innovative organizations
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6:32 - 6:35learn how to inquire,
they learn how to actively listen -
6:35 - 6:37but - guess what?
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6:37 - 6:39They also learn how to advocate
for their point of view. -
6:39 - 6:43They understand
that innovation rarely happens -
6:43 - 6:46unless you have both
diversity and conflict. -
6:47 - 6:49Creative agility is about being able
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6:49 - 6:52to test and refine that portfolio of ideas
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6:52 - 6:55through quick pursuit,
reflection, and adjustment. -
6:55 - 6:57It's about discovery driven learning
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6:57 - 7:00where you act as opposed to plan
your way to the future. -
7:00 - 7:02It's about design thinking
-
7:02 - 7:04where you have
that interesting combination -
7:04 - 7:07of the scientific method
and the artistic process. -
7:07 - 7:10It's about running
a series of experiments, -
7:10 - 7:12and not a series of pilots.
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7:12 - 7:14Experiments are usually about learning.
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7:14 - 7:15When you get a negative outcome,
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7:15 - 7:18you are still learning something
that you need to know. -
7:18 - 7:21Pilots are often about being right.
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7:21 - 7:25When they don't work,
someone or something is to blame. -
7:25 - 7:28The final capability
is creative resolution. -
7:28 - 7:31This is about doing
decision making in a way -
7:31 - 7:34that you can combine
even opposable ideas -
7:34 - 7:36to reconfigure them in new combinations
-
7:36 - 7:39to produce a solution
that is new and useful. -
7:39 - 7:44When you look at innovative organizations,
they never go along to get along. -
7:44 - 7:45They don't compromise.
-
7:45 - 7:49They don't let one group
or one individual dominate, -
7:49 - 7:53even if it's the boss,
even if it's the expert. -
7:53 - 7:55Instead, they have developed
-
7:55 - 7:58a rather patient and more inclusive
decision-making process -
7:58 - 8:02that allows for both end solutions
to arise -
8:02 - 8:04and not simply either/or solutions.
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8:06 - 8:09These three capabilities are why we see
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8:09 - 8:12that Pixar is able to do what it does.
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8:13 - 8:15Let me give you another example.
-
8:15 - 8:18And that example
is the infrastructure group of Google. -
8:19 - 8:21The infrastructure group
of Google is the group -
8:21 - 8:25that has to keep the website
up and running 24x7. -
8:25 - 8:28When Google was about to introduce
Gmail and YouTube, -
8:28 - 8:32they knew that their
data storage system wasn't adequate. -
8:32 - 8:36The head of the engineering group
and the infrastructure group at that time -
8:36 - 8:38was a man named Bill Coughran.
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8:38 - 8:42Bill and his leadership team,
who he referred to as his brain trust, -
8:42 - 8:46had to figure out what to do
about this situation. -
8:46 - 8:48They thought about it for a while.
-
8:48 - 8:51Instead of creating a group
to tackle this task, -
8:51 - 8:56they decided to allow groups
to emerge spontaneously -
8:56 - 8:58around different alternatives.
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8:58 - 9:00Two groups coalesced.
-
9:00 - 9:03One became known as Big Table,
-
9:03 - 9:07the other became known
as Build it From Scratch. -
9:07 - 9:10Big Table proposed
that they build on the current system. -
9:10 - 9:14Build it From Scratch proposed
that it was time for a whole new system. -
9:14 - 9:18Separately, these two teams
were allowed to work full time -
9:18 - 9:20on their particular approach.
-
9:20 - 9:23In Engineering Reviews,
Bill described his role -
9:23 - 9:28as injecting honesty into the process
by driving debate. -
9:28 - 9:32Early on, the teams were encouraged
to build prototypes so that they could -
9:32 - 9:35"Bump them up against reality
and discover for themselves -
9:35 - 9:38the strengths and weaknesses
of their particular approach." -
9:38 - 9:42When Build it From Scratch shared
their prototype with the group -
9:42 - 9:44whose beepers would have to go off
in the middle of the night -
9:44 - 9:47if something went wrong with the website,
-
9:47 - 9:51they heard loud and clear about
the limits of their particular design. -
9:51 - 9:54As the need for a solution
became more urgent -
9:54 - 9:57and as the data
or the evidence began to come in, -
9:57 - 10:01it became pretty clear
that the Big Table solution -
10:01 - 10:03was the right one for the moment.
-
10:03 - 10:05So they selected that one.
-
10:05 - 10:08But to make sure
that they did not lose the learning -
10:08 - 10:10of the Build it From Scratch team,
-
10:10 - 10:12Bill asked two members of that team
-
10:12 - 10:13to join a new team that was emerging
-
10:13 - 10:16to work on the next generation system.
-
10:16 - 10:20This whole process took nearly two years,
-
10:20 - 10:24but I was told that they were
all working at breakneck speed. -
10:24 - 10:26Early in that process,
-
10:26 - 10:28one of the engineers
had gone to Bill and said, -
10:28 - 10:31"We're all too busy
for this inefficient system -
10:31 - 10:33of running parallel experiments."
-
10:33 - 10:36But as the process unfolded,
he began to understand -
10:36 - 10:40the wisdom of allowing talented
people to play out their passions. -
10:40 - 10:44He admitted, "If you had forced us
to all be on one team, -
10:44 - 10:47we might have focused on proving
who was right, and winning, -
10:47 - 10:50and not on learning and discovering
-
10:50 - 10:53what was the best answer for Google."
-
10:53 - 10:57Why is it that Pixar and Google
are able to innovate time and again? -
10:57 - 11:00It's because they have mastered
the capabilities required for that. -
11:00 - 11:03They know how to do
collaborative problem solving, -
11:03 - 11:05they know how to do
discovery driven learning, -
11:05 - 11:07and they know how to do
integrated decision making. -
11:07 - 11:11Some of you may be sitting there
and saying to yourselves right now, -
11:11 - 11:14"We don't know how to do
those things in my organization." -
11:14 - 11:16So why do they know how to
do those things at Pixar, -
11:16 - 11:20and why do they know how to
do those things at Google? -
11:20 - 11:22When many of the people
that worked for Bill told us, -
11:22 - 11:28on their opinion, Bill was one
of the finest leaders in Silicon Valley. -
11:28 - 11:32We completely agreed,
the man is a genius. -
11:33 - 11:36Leadership is the secret sauce.
-
11:36 - 11:38But it's a different kind of leadership,
-
11:38 - 11:40not the kind many of us think about
-
11:40 - 11:43when we think about great leadership.
-
11:43 - 11:46One of the leaders I met with
early on, said to me, -
11:46 - 11:49"Linda, I don't read books on leadership.
-
11:49 - 11:52All they do is make me feel bad.
-
11:52 - 11:55In the first chapter they say
I'm supposed to create a vision. -
11:55 - 11:59But if I'm trying to do something
that's truly new, I have no answers. -
11:59 - 12:01I don't know what direction we're going in
-
12:01 - 12:05and I'm not even sure I know
how to figure out how to get there." -
12:05 - 12:07For sure, there are times
when visionary leadership -
12:07 - 12:09is exactly what is needed.
-
12:09 - 12:13But if we want to build organizations
that can innovate time and again, -
12:13 - 12:17we must recast our understanding
of what leadership is about. -
12:17 - 12:21Leading innovation
is about creating the space -
12:21 - 12:24where people are willing and able
to do the hard work -
12:24 - 12:26of innovative problem solving.
-
12:28 - 12:30At this point, some of you
may be wondering, -
12:30 - 12:33what does that leadership
really look like? -
12:33 - 12:37At Pixar, they understand
that innovation takes a village. -
12:37 - 12:41The leaders focus on building
a sense of community -
12:41 - 12:43and building those three capabilities.
-
12:43 - 12:45How do they define leadership?
-
12:45 - 12:48They say leadership
is about creating a world -
12:48 - 12:50to which people want to belong.
-
12:50 - 12:52What kind of world do people
want to belong in at Pixar? -
12:52 - 12:54A world where you're living
at the frontier. -
12:54 - 12:57What do they focus their time on?
-
12:57 - 12:58Not on creating a vision.
-
12:58 - 13:00Instead they spend
their time thinking about, -
13:00 - 13:05how do we design a studio that has
a sensibility of a public square -
13:05 - 13:07so that people will interact?
-
13:07 - 13:11Let's put in a policy that anyone,
no matter what their level or role, -
13:11 - 13:13is allowed to give notes to the director
-
13:13 - 13:16about how they feel
about a particular film. -
13:16 - 13:18You know what,
what can we do to make sure -
13:18 - 13:19that all the disruptors,
-
13:19 - 13:21all the minority voices
in this organization -
13:21 - 13:23speak up and are heard?
-
13:23 - 13:27And, finally, let's bestow credit
in a very generous way. -
13:27 - 13:30I don't know if you've ever looked
at the credits of a Pixar movie, -
13:30 - 13:33but the babies born during
a production are listed there. -
13:33 - 13:35(Laughter)
-
13:35 - 13:38How did Bill think about
what his role was? -
13:38 - 13:41Bill said, "I lead
a volunteer organization. -
13:41 - 13:45Talented people
don't want to follow me anywhere. -
13:45 - 13:49They want to co-create
with me the future. -
13:49 - 13:51My job is to nurture the bottom up
-
13:51 - 13:55and not let it degenerate into chaos."
-
13:55 - 13:56How did he see his role?
-
13:56 - 13:59I'm a role model,
I'm a human glue, -
13:59 - 14:01I'm a connector,
I'm an aggregator of viewpoints. -
14:01 - 14:04I'm never a dictator of viewpoints.
-
14:04 - 14:06Advice about how you exercise the role,
-
14:06 - 14:09hire people who argue with you.
-
14:09 - 14:13Sometimes it's best to be
deliberately fuzzy and vague. -
14:14 - 14:16Some of you may be wondering now,
-
14:16 - 14:18what are these people thinking?
-
14:18 - 14:19They are thinking,
-
14:19 - 14:22I'm not the visionary,
I'm the social architect. -
14:22 - 14:25I'm creating the space
where people are willing and able -
14:25 - 14:29to share and combine
their talents and passions. -
14:29 - 14:32If some of you are worrying now
that you don't work at a Pixar, -
14:32 - 14:34or you don't work at a Google,
-
14:34 - 14:36I want to tell you there's still hope.
-
14:36 - 14:38We've studied many organizations
-
14:38 - 14:41that were not organization
you'd think of as ones -
14:41 - 14:43where a lot of innovation happens.
-
14:43 - 14:46We studied a general counsel
in a pharmaceutical company -
14:46 - 14:49who had to figure out how
to get the outside lawyers, -
14:49 - 14:5219 competitors,
to collaborate and innovate. -
14:52 - 14:56We studied the head of marketing
at a German automaker -
14:56 - 14:57where, fundamentally, they believed
-
14:57 - 15:00that it was the design
engineers, not the marketeers -
15:00 - 15:02who were allowed to be innovative.
-
15:02 - 15:06We also studied Vineet Nayar
at HCL technologies, -
15:06 - 15:08an Indian outsourcing company.
-
15:08 - 15:10When we met Vineet,
-
15:10 - 15:13his company was about,
in his words, to become irrelevant. -
15:13 - 15:15We watched as he turned that company
-
15:15 - 15:19into a global dynamo of IT innovation.
-
15:20 - 15:23At HCL technologies,
like at many companies, -
15:23 - 15:27the leaders had learned to see
their role as setting direction -
15:27 - 15:29and making sure
that no one deviated from it. -
15:30 - 15:34What he did is tell them
it was time for them -
15:34 - 15:38to think about rethinking
what they were supposed to do. -
15:38 - 15:41Because what was happening
is that everybody was looking up -
15:41 - 15:44and you weren't seeing
the bottom-up innovation -
15:44 - 15:46we saw at Pixar or Google.
-
15:46 - 15:48So they began to work on that.
-
15:48 - 15:52They stopped giving answers,
they stopped trying to provide solutions. -
15:52 - 15:55Instead, what they did
is they began to see -
15:55 - 15:59the people at the bottom
of the pyramid, the young sparks, -
15:59 - 16:01the people who were closest
to the customers, -
16:01 - 16:04as the source of innovation.
-
16:04 - 16:07They began to transfer
the organization's growth -
16:07 - 16:08to that level.
-
16:10 - 16:14In Vineet's language,
this was about inverting the pyramid -
16:14 - 16:17so that you could unleash
the power of the many -
16:17 - 16:20by loosening the strength
hold of the few -
16:20 - 16:23and increase the quality
and the speed of innovation -
16:23 - 16:26that was happening every day.
-
16:27 - 16:31For sure, Vineet
and all the other leaders that we studied -
16:31 - 16:33were in fact visionaries.
-
16:34 - 16:38For sure, they understood
that that was not their role. -
16:38 - 16:43I don't think it is accidental
that many of you did not recognize Ed. -
16:43 - 16:48Because Ed, like Vineet,
understands that our role as leaders -
16:48 - 16:52is to set the stage, not perform on it.
-
16:52 - 16:55If we want to invent a better future,
-
16:55 - 16:58and I suspect that's why
many of us are here, -
16:58 - 17:02then we need to reimagine our task.
-
17:02 - 17:05Our task is to create the space
-
17:05 - 17:07where everybody's slices of genius
-
17:09 - 17:12can be unleashed and harnessed,
-
17:12 - 17:15and turned into works
of collective genius. -
17:16 - 17:17Thank you.
-
17:17 - 17:19(Applause)
- Title:
- How to manage for collective creativity | Linda Hill | TEDxCambridge
- Description:
-
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.
What's the secret to unlocking the creativity hidden inside your daily work, and giving every great idea a chance? Harvard professor Linda Hill, co-author of "Collective Genius," has studied some of the world's most creative companies to come up with a set of tools and tactics to keep great ideas flowing — from everyone in the company, not just the designated "creatives." - Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 17:30
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TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for How to manage for collective creativity | Linda Hill | TEDxCambridge | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for How to manage for collective creativity | Linda Hill | TEDxCambridge | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for How to manage for collective creativity | Linda Hill | TEDxCambridge | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for How to manage for collective creativity | Linda Hill | TEDxCambridge | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for How to manage for collective creativity | Linda Hill | TEDxCambridge |