Planting Seeds of Synergy

I just participated in a reasonably unique event this past weekend, and thought it would be a very good one to share. In a word, it was and is all about chemistry.

Mitch Ditkoff, founder and fearless leader of Idea Champions, a New York-based corporate training company (who I occasionally do some writing and training for), decided to bring together all the different people who work for them, to see what untapped interactions might result.

He announced it as, “a gathering of great souls, mavericks, innovators, free electrons and other assorted gypsies who will be working with Idea Champions in 2007.” (That’s pure Mitch-ese; but it’s always offered with a wink.) “The purpose of this gathering is for us to get to know each other a little better. I know all of you, but all of you don't necessarily know each other. There are a lot of synergies, positive sparks, and collaborations just waiting to happen…”

And, boy, did they ever. The old saw, “the atmosphere was electric” found its full expression in that room. I thought I’d pass this wonderful idea along, for anyone who collaborates with physically disconnected knowledge-worker units. For all the unquestionable benefits of electronic communication, I've come to the conclusion that there's a level where it's still very much a face-to-face world.

(That great "out of the box" illustration above was done for I.C. by Kent Lew.)

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Mitch and his team are also notable for developing Free The Genie, “a deck of 55 creative thinking cards that help aspiring innovators get unstuck, out of the box, and achieve extraordinary results.”

(Blogospherists: no less a luminary than Seth Godin said about Free The Genie, "This is really, really good stuff.")

Related, here:
The "(How-Not-To-Approach-An) Innovation Committee" skit