I tried to live-blog the UVA Network Round Table meeting earlier this week but the fact is that the information is so dense that it would have made for bad blogging. I did get one good post out live but after that it was downhill and I'm sorry about that. So here is the roundup:
Tom Davenport of Babson College and Joannie Reed of Herman Miller made back to back presentation on innovation and the role that space has to play in it. Tom renounced the the 30 yard rule (we never go more than 30 yards for anything) by showing data suggesting that we will go to the ends of the earth to get the mission critical data we need - space is not a barrier. HOWEVER he did show some slides suggesting that small talk circles are indeed within a 30 yard area and that is where innovation really takes place. Joannie responded by showing spoke of the new space and furniture developments HM is creating to accommodate that frame of though - very cool stuff!
John Katzenbach made a fantastic presentation as well focusing in on the importance of the informal networks. He showed a number of slides of how businesses that foster and support informal networks consistently adapt faster to business shifts and instill more pride in individual work. A key point he drove home was pride in work should always trump pride in employer He pointed to 5 management principals fostering informal networks:
Recognition and celebration
Individual initiative
Mission
, Value Collective pride
Process and metrics
Entrepreneurial spirit
Then there was the Innovation Presentation by Andrew Hargadon who I have had the pleasure to work with a few times. He always presents the same basic idea that innovation come from connecting existing technology in new ways. His presentation is always educational and interesting. From the Ipod, TIVo, to the light bulb, to Ford the examples when stacked up next to each other tell and amazing tale often overlooked.
Ross Dawson from Advanced Human Technologies talked about his work with an international advertising firm and their overseas clients. His study looked more at place and space in terms of communication integration across company bounds. His findings were what we would expect with disparate offices but he took action and pro actively added density to his network resulting in better inter-office cooperation and eventual client service.
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