Seth Godin writes that breakthroughs lie in the area between “unexpected, yet totally plausible.”
This is a smart insight, and it got me thinking about the conditions necessary to achieve breakthroughs on a team.
In my experience, the teams that achieve frequent breakthroughs are the ones that have:
- Focus – They focus on solving a single, big problem
- Freedom – They have the freedom to explore and test different solutions without penalties when things don’t work
- Diversity – They have diverse backgrounds and experience, a variety of creative influences, etc.
- Fun – Never underestimate the impact of humor and enjoyment on creativity. Silicon Valley’s Middle-Out scenario is more realistic than you might thing.