Four Phases of Team Collaboration Success From Thomas Edison's Lab
* Book: Midnight Lunch: The Four Phases of Team Collaboration Success From Thomas Edison's Lab. By Sarah Miller Caldicott.
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"Edison's great-grandniece details how the great inventor bonded with his team to breed innovation. It was a four-step process."
Principles
The four-step process outlined:
Step 1: Capacity
- "Build diverse teams of two to eight people.
- What worked for Edison: To create the lightbulb, Edison's team had to include chemists, mathematicians, and glassblowers.
- Modern counterpart: Facebook's small, collaborative coding teams.
Step 2: Context
- After a mistake, step back and learn from it.
- What worked for Edison: At age 22, he had his first flop--the electronic vote recorder, which legislators failed to adopt. From there, he changed his focus to the consumer.
- Modern counterpart: At Microsoft, Bill Gates took intensive reading vacations each year.
Step 3: Coherence
- When team members disagree, step in and make a decision.
- What worked for Edison: Groundbreaking work in electricity isn't easy to come by. Fights and frustration followed; overarching vision kept creation on track.
- Modern counterpart: Whirlpool has "collaboration teams" to spark dialogue between departments.
Step 4: Complexity
- When the market shifts, change your direction--or face the consequences.
- What worked for Edison: It was the era of electricity. Inventors ignored that at their peril.
- Modern counterpart: The implosion of Kodak, which failed to adapt to market changes."