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Disney, Apple, Google, and other companies mandating that employees work in the office for most or all of their time claim that any time spent working remotely stifles innovation. According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, "Innovation isn’t always a planned activity. It’s bumping into each other over the course of the day and advancing an idea that you just had. And you really need to be together to do that."
Yet is this true? McKinsey research points to a different conclusion. It found that, during the more than two years of the pandemic, there’s been a record number of new patents across 150 global patent filing authorities. Moreover, in 2021, global venture capital more than doubled from 2020, rising 111%.
McKinsey suggests that it’s because more innovative companies developed new ways of connecting remote workers together to build and sustain the cross-functional, inter-term ties necessary for innovation, thus widening the pools of minds that could generate new ideas.
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Deloitte research similarly highlights how adapting the process of innovation to remote settings offers the key to boost innovation for hybrid and remote teams.
Apple CEO Tim Cook arrives at the White House to attend a state dinner honoring French President Emmanuel Macron, in Washington, DC, on December 1, 2022. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
My experience helping 21 organizations transition to hybrid and remote work demonstrates that innovation is eminently doable. But it requires adopting best practices that address the lack of natural spontaneous interactions that breed innovation.
An excellent technique for innovation in hybrid and remote teams to replace innovation-breeding random hallway conversation involves relying on collaboration software like Slack or Microsoft Teams. What you need to do is set up a specific channel in that software to facilitate the creativity, spontaneity, and collaboration behind serendipitous innovation, and the incentivize employees to use that channel.
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For example, in a late-stage SaaS (Software as a Service) start-up that used Microsoft Teams, each small team of six to eight people set up a team-specific channel for members to share innovative ideas relevant for the team’s work. Likewise, larger business units established channels for ideas applicable to the whole business unit. Then, when anyone had an idea, they were encouraged to share that idea in the pertinent channel.
We encouraged everyone to pay attention to notifications in that channel. Seeing a new post, if they found the idea relevant, they would respond with additional thoughts building on the initial idea. Responses would snowball, and sufficiently good ideas would then lead to next steps, often a brainstorming session.
This approach combines a native virtual format with people’s natural motivations to contribute, collaborate, and claim credit. The initial idea poster and the subsequent contributors aren’t motivated simply by the goal of advancing the team or business unit, even though that’s of course part of their goal set. The initial poster is motivated by the possibility of sharing an idea that might be recognized as sufficiently innovative, practical, and useful to implement, with some revisions. The contributors, in turn, are motivated by the natural desire to give advice, especially advice that’s visible to and useful for others in their team, business unit, or even the whole organization.
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Six months after the intervention, the SaaS company reported a notable boost in innovation across the board, with the channels devoted to innovation breeding a number of novel projects. If a late-stage start-up with 400 employees could adopt these techniques, so too can Apple and Google. Unfortunately, companies like Apple and Google have adopted a traditionalist perspective on how to innovate, which ironically hinders innovation.
The future belongs to companies that can best make use of human resources around the globe, while minimizing the time wasted in rush hour commutes. Doing so requires adopting best practices for hybrid and remote work, instead of being stuck in the past.
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