BIF-3 Wrap-Up: People & Stories Take Center Stage

Posted by Chris Flanagan on October 24, 2007

We certainly caught a glimpse of author William Gibson’s famous line "The future is already here, it's just unevenly distributed" at BIF-3 this year. For two days, the future seemed more apparent. It wasn’t just the stories or the emotive storytellers—it was the purposeful random collisions among BIF-3 participants that produced the magic.

There were so many ideas and connections that emerged at our third annual Collaborative Innovation Summit. Co-hosted by Wall Street Journal technology columnist Walt Mossberg, Mavericks at Work author Bill Taylor and our own chief catalyst Saul Kaplan, we welcomed 24 storytellers and some 350 participants to Providence for a two-day conversation about creating innovation and driving change.

With a nod to BIF-3 storyteller Ellen Levy who challenged us all collaborate around the right questions, here are a few of the meaningful and provocative questions raised by some of our storytellers:

• From Jason Fried, founder and CEO of 37signals: Can a company keep its products simple while at the same time avoid the curse of mediocrity?
• From Col. Dean Esserman, Providence Police Chief: Why don't citizens have the telephone phone number of their neighborhood cop, just like they do their doctor or their pastor?
• From Robin Chase, founder and CEO of GoLoco: How can people reduce their carbon footprint – and actually like doing so?
• From Irving Wladawsky-Berger, Vice President of Technical Strategy and Innovation at IBM: Can a company reinvent itself unless it goes through a near death experience?
• From Jay Cohen, Undersecretary of Homeland Security: Can you innovate on any grand scale without a certain degree of deception? Is transparency always a good thing?
• From eco-architect Chris Benedict: When the facts don't make an imprint - i.e. "I can construct a building that uses 85% less energy than standard designs" - what kind of triggers must be engineered for consumer adoption?
• From Eric Bonabeau, CEO of Icosystem: If the prepared mind favors chance, can you design and engineer random collisions?

If I had to sum up the value of the BIF-3 experience it's this: we were a room full of unusual suspects who came together to recombine ideas in creative ways in order to figure out a way to solve the big, gnarly problems that plague us all. It was refreshing, it was stimulating and I know, it wasn't just talk. Everyday since the summit, we've received phone calls and emails not only thanking us for the BIF platform but also wanting to know how to get involved in what we're doing.

Alas, our dinner party has come to a close but our relationship is just getting started. (We've got your number!) Progress on the issues that really count will only happen if communities—from a local, regional, national and global perspective—collaborate to make them happen. The Business Innovation Factory is a community of innovators dedicated to the ideals of transformative innovation. Yet this is only half the equation. It's our ability to experiment with new business models that will ultimately drive meaningful change. The real world laboratory that is Rhode Island is off and running. Let's explore and test those new business models together.

Our chief catalyst Saul Kaplan summed it up best : "I believe in the value of stewardship. The simple but powerful idea that any community or institution we are fortunate enough to be a part of is stronger when we leave it then when we found it. BIF is a connected community with a shared purpose of delivering value in sectors that need it the most. We may have a lot of work to do but we’ve got our eyes on the prize. There simply is a better way.”

Please, let's stay in touch and more importantly, let's take advantage of the enormous opportunity our newly expanded community affords.

RELATED:

• Video Transcripts Now Available!
  With the help of BIF member Tango Pix, the video transcripts of all the storytellers are now available at our Innovation Story Studio.
• Join the Conversation: BIF-3 Blogjam Captures Summit Experience
  This year we hosted a talented group of innovators who helped produce a a diverse exchange of perspectives on the Summit experience. Check out their posts and join their conversation.
• Join the BIF Bookclub
  We asked several of our BIF-3 storytellers which books were influential to them in helping build their companies, inspire new ideas or frame their way of thinking. The result: Our fall reading list.
• Are We Really Talking About BIF-4?
  There is indeed method to our madness and no surprise, the random collisions taking place during our summits are actually quite purposeful. If you have a story to share or know of someone who should take center stage at next year’s BIF-4 summit, contact Chris Flanagan at cflanagan@businessinnovationfactory.com.