Innovation team collaboration: a 3-legged stool and a bunch of glue and additional metaphors.
The stool analogy runs out of steam after a few pages and the author’s turn to another metaphor: the heart. What is the heart of collaboration and teamwork?
Trust.
I’ve read this in another book: Trust is a decision-making accelerator. When you trust someone, you can divide and conquer. You don’t need to check their work. You don’t need to worry about them letting you down.
Trust works to improve those around you as well. When your team can trust you to deliver excellence, chances are they will strive for excellence themselves.
Trust is a lever. It’s the oil in the gears.
Things that can build trust: respect for others, absolute integrity, and generosity of spirit.
Things that erode trust: micromanagement, lack of communication, stealing, hording, rivers.
(Correction, rivers only erode rock, not trust. The jokes are getting pretty bad here but we’re more than halfway through this book so don’t worry, it will all be over soon.)