Since that day, the demand of combining community and collaborative innovation has taken off. Across the landscape, leaders and innovation managers are investing in, and building the capabilities to build and support communities which revolve around innovation in the enterprise.

But what is a community, what can it do for innovation and how do you build one? On face of it, ‘community’ is just a word like any other. And it’s one that has been used, almost endlessly, to describe basically anything from Facebook and mailing lists, to groups of people who happen to frequent the same supermarket. But if you take a closer look at it, a community can work wonders for your collaborative innovation endeavors.

2018: The Year of Communities

Community is a term that has popped up more and more in recent years. According to The Verge, 2017 was the year the internet got seriously tired of the giant platforms (yes, Facebook and Twitter, we’re looking at you), and rekindled its love of the small community. The smaller communities are more fun, interesting and downright just a better human experience to be a part of than the giant platforms. Marketers, political campaigners and possibly intelligence agencies have figured out how to manipulate Facebook and Twitter all too well.

We believe that 2018 will be the year enterprises take corporate innovation to the next level, by building and making room for innovation communities. It’s going to change the space for work, creativity and innovation for the companies who invest in it, and get it right.

community (n.)

“late 14c., from Old French comunité “community, commonness, everybody”

“community, society, fellowship, friendly; courtesy, condescension, affability,” from communis “common, public, general, shared by all or many”

Building a community around innovation means uniting for a common cause, essentially building a fellowship around Innovation. It’s not coincidental that the word ‘unity’ is a part of community.

Don’t think: “My network”, think “our community”

Collaboration + Connection = Community

In the bygone decade, organisations have begun to master the art of collaboration. There are loads of simple, powerful tools out there to help get it right; Trello for tasks, Slack for agile communication, Google Docs for documentation, Nosco for ideas, GitHub for development and a tonne of other tools that make collaboration a natural part of getting work done together.

With community, you build on that collaboration. Shawn Murphy, in the excellent “The Optimistic Workplace” has a clear equation to help us further:

Collaboration + Connection = Community.

Community builders, and members of the community should always be building connection. Connection is what the community thrives on, and it’s why innovation communities add a creative edge to existing collaborative innovation initiatives. A functioning community can provide the perfect climate for innovation and creativity.

Communities and innovation

Creating a community is about making people feel safe. A well-designed community achieves this because it has a set of clear boundaries. Charles Vogl, the author of “The Art of Community” points this out. Those boundaries are a set of shared values between the members of the community.

A community should not be open to everyone, it should be for a group of people who are united in a belief, a larger goal, a fellowship. Membership of a community should say something about who you are, but also who you are not.

Knowing this raises the possibility to make that important connection. Having a set of safe walls around your community, even if only figuratively, lets the members be vulnerable, honest and brings their whole self to the table. And that is the secret sauce of collective creativity.

Pixar is an astounding example of this. The company is highlighted in “Collective Genius” (HBR 2017) as a company that has a deep sense of community, and that this leads to a fruitful environment for creativity. The word the authors use is Creative Abrasion, meaning that the members feel so guided by the common purpose, and so safe as a community, that they can be extremely tough on each others ideas. So much so, that this abrasion is actually seen as a positive thing, setting the creative bar extremely high, as seen in Pixar’s products and almost perfect hit rate.

Astro Teller, the leader of Google X-Labs also highlights “psychological safety” and an emotional climate where people are excited to take big risk.[…].and fall flat on their face” as some of the most important tenets of creating a working environment where Google’s next Moonshots are to be launched from. Typically, when we refer to corporate culture, we think of politeness, correctness and very often also politics. Building communities of innovation affords us a safe space, where creativity, radical thought and creative tension gets room to play out. Something that is not only a catalyst for innovation, it’s also a joy to be part of.

How to build a community

When you build an innovation community within the enterprise — make sure you note the following;

• Align business interests with the communities interest. To ensure this, make a rule where you have got a sponsor to sign off on expenses. If the community aligns enough with the business, there will be a mandate for it.
• Have, get or hire a community manager.
• Start small — in fact embrace small and think long term.
• Give something first — offer free beer and pizza at the first meeting.
• Measure engagement, not followers.
• Get a platform that connects the community and the innovation team or labs.
• Have physical meetings — these are more important than what happens online.
• Build boundaries. Slowly, over time.
• Download The Community Canvas and go through the steps.

Resources and further reading

co-matter, by Severin Matusek and Kristoffer Tjalve, are a consulting agency, specialised in building communities. Read their article about the 10 golden rules of building communities that matters.

Charles Vogl has a much better explainer on the importance of boundaries in communities than I could ever hope to formulate.

Fabian Pfortmüller and his team behind the Community Canvas, are an amazing resource for continuous inspiration thought-leadership as to what goes into building a thriving community.