This International Working Out Loud week we are celebrating the practice of working out loud with the global #WOL community. The theme of this week is “Sharing the Benefits of Working Out Loud”.

Today we are focused on “The Benefits of Innovation”.

Innovation

Innovation is where Working Out Loud brings the organisation and the community together to create a new future. Many organisations talk about innovation but few have it as an every day collaborative activity for all employees. Working Out Loud can help create that.

Innovation brings together all the benefits that we have explored across the previous four days. People need to be connected and passionately interested in each others problems, opportunities and capabilities. Information needs to be freely flowing and discoverable by those who need it most to generate insights or context. Problem solving needs to be a consistent group activity such that people have deep collaborative relationships founded in trust and a willingness to work through challenges together as a team.

Lastly, people need to ask ‘What if?’ They need to bring out and share their insights, ideas and solutions so that the team can work on them collectively.

Innovation is not a solo task. It is a collaborative one that takes an idea to market through all the learning and problem solving required to do that well. Organisations and individuals who work out loud will find that a far easier challenge. Most importantly, they will be supported by community and its diverse capabilities as they take on the challenges, failures and success of any innovation journey.

A challenge for today

Find a customer or a colleague discuss ‘what if’ to address their biggest problem or opportunity. Then share that opportunity with others in your community. See what you can create together. Explore the diverse potential contributions to the work of others and the learning that follows.

A Reminder of This week’s program

• Monday 18 November: The Benefits of Connection
• Tuesday 19 November: The Benefits of Sharing
• Wednesday 20 November: The Benefits of Solving – Learning
• Thursday 21 November: The Benefits of Solving – Problem Solving
• Friday 22 November: The Benefits of Innovation