
What does all this have to do with innovation you ask? Well, it has to do with understanding what you need to do to break free from the normal ways of thinking. Most innovative companies are very cognizant of the need to have teams. The innovative giant IDEO calls them “Hot Teams.” Not just departmental teams but cross functional and cross cultural teams, because teams can help bump each other off the beaten path (habits of thinking) and onto new discoveries. Habits of thinking and beliefs are one of the reasons that old companies that were established around the turn of the last century have difficulty keeping up with newer companies. They are fighting the beliefs that were trained into them from a culture that in many ways is obsolete for the new century. Many old corporations try to bring in new CEOs and fresh perspective to help bump them off their old habits and into new more productive ones.
Getting together an innovation TEAM will be the best investment in innovation you can make. Especially if you are a one man/women show!