Caution: Beware of Purposeful Random Collisions

William Gibson, author of Pattern Recognition, is right in saying "The future is already here, it's just unevenly distributed". I am pretty sure that I caught a glimpse of it as a participant of BIF-2. I was determined to be a participant in addition to a catalyst. I did not want to be cheated of the moment. Everyone kept asking me “is it going well?” as if a catalyst has a better perspective on the reaction then the reactants themselves. For at least two days, still a pleasant blur, the future seemed more apparent. It wasn’t the stories or the emotive storytellers although they clearly rendered the conditions. It was the purposeful random collisions among BIF-2 participants that produced the magic.

It worked. We just need to bottle it. There was no need for chemiluminescent tags: it was palpable. Innovators from every imaginable nook and cranny across boundaries and disciplines were combining and recombining in frenetic conversation with a purpose.

How do we transform education rallying around the student to ignite passionate life long learners? How do we move from a sick care to a well care system with the patient in charge? How many hurricane Katrinas or Station Night Club fires do we need before we put collaborative first responders and open communication systems in place? How do we experiment with new business models where customers co-create their own experience?

It wasn’t the usual suspects ruminating over silo talking points. It was unusual suspects recombining ideas in creative ways to solve big hairy problems. How refreshing! And it wasn’t just talk. Everyday since the summit I have received calls and emails describing how innovator “x” has connected with innovator “y” and thanking BIF for the platform. Even more promising is that the reactions continue and it isn’t about us.

Peter Gloor has it right in describing the difference between star and galaxy network topologies. A star network is all about ego and is self limiting. Everything must go through a central node for the network to survive, limiting growth and innovation. A galaxy network enables actionable connections among all nodes. BIF works everyday to strengthen an emerging galaxy in support of its mission to enable collaborative innovation. Come on in the water is fine. www.businessinnovationfactory.com