October
2003
Innovation Tips
Éfor
thriving on collaborative innovation.
=========================================
The
Essential Attributes of Great Groups
Through his research into
Ògreat groups,Ó Warren Bennis, chairman of the Leadership Institute of the
University of California, has identified important attributes that characterize
groups that thrive on collaborative innovation.
Bennis studied highly
creative and productive groups like the artists who so beautifully illustrated the
astounding full-length animated film, Snow White. Among these highly
collegial and spectacularly productive groups, Bennis uncovered a few
attributes that can serve as valuable catalysts for any organization seeking to
develop its own Òcollaborative genius.Ó Three in particular are worth
emulating:
A Shared Dream
Great groups seem to believe
they are on a veritable mission from God. They have a very clear sense of purpose
and heightened aspirations. Their dream of what they could create together
becomes like a fervent quest for the Holy Grail.
Collegiality
Great groups have a high
esprit de corps, an innervating sense of collegiality. They put the common good
first. They surrender self-centered pursuits to the pursuit of attaining some
audacious collective goal.
Benefit to Others
Great groups deliver some
product or service that is self-evidently valuable to others. They apply their
stamina, their intelligence, and their creative energy to work not for their
own benefit, but for the benefit of others.
Great groups are dedicated to
purposes greater than simply sustaining their own well-being. They are
committed to a grand dream of some valuable contribution to the world, and out
of that commitment, they come to feel that their lives have significance.
The renowned psychiatrist
Bruno Bettelheim once said, ÒCommunal life can only flourish if it exists for
an aim outside itself. Community is viable if it is the outgrowth of a deep
involvement in a purpose which is other than, or above, that of being a
community.Ó Great groups thrive
because they are passionately committed to an aim they consider to be a worthy
one.
When any organization frames
its mission as something valuable delivered to others, then it, too, sets in
motion the attainment of those attributes reserved for the great groups that
become so worthy of acclaim.
_______________________________________
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