Killer Innovations: reblog

To me, a piece of art works best when it is not just a story served up for consumption. But actually, the audience takes some part in telling the story with the actors. Because when I see a great film or something, it is not just the film that strikes me, it is what it evokes inside me. What memories it brings, what images, what connections I make between my own experience and what I am seeing. So for me, when I think of the audience as they walk out, my hope would be that they are not talking about the play, but that they are talking about their own stories. To me, that would be the highest hope. That the audience thinks of the play as though it was their story too.

That's a quote from Julia Cho. She's a playwright and the author of a new play called Durango. You can catch it at New York's Public Theater up until December 10.

Artists have an amazing way of telling us how to we can live and work together. Personally, I really like this idea that the creative process begins somewhere, and then grows and evolves.

I have noticed something similar, working as a consultant with one of the “Big-4”. I have learnt that is doesn't help to show up with re-baked answers. People are generally not interested in being told what to do. Instead, they want to have a dialog about the challenges they face, and together, develop the right solution. Our job is to guide them through the process of coming up with the right answers for them. That kind of discourse takes time. The consultant helps drive the process (which often means just setting up the meetings), provides a neutral point of view, offers access to a broader information set and a different point of view. But, the consultant does not dictate the answer.

There are interesting parallels between these two insights, and this Enterprise 2.0 idea of emergent intelligence within an organization.

When a Chief Knowledge Officer tries to create a system for “capturing an organizations knowledge” they have instantly failed because it is the dialog that is most important; not the knowledge. Large organizations need help facilitating the process of creation. Knowledge can fall out as a positive externality, but it shouldn't be the end goal unto itself.

To focus only on knowledge would be like a consultant dictating the answers, or a playwright who was not interested in having the audience connect the emotions and insights of a play with their own stories.

Rather than ultimate control, one should seek and facilitate ultimate communication.