Smarter Together: The Power & Possibility of Groups in Organizations & Communities
Jack Ricchiuto
We have grown accustomed to believing that leadership is the core unit of performance in organizations and communities. In a connected and knowledge driven world, we are beginning to understand that the group is the core unit of success and growth.
Groups are the way things gets done and new things become possible. Problems persist when people are fragmented and disconnected. When people come together in groups, new conversations and possibilities emerge and are realized to the degree that the group is smarter together.
When groups are smarter together, they are unstoppable. They are focused, engaged, inspired, and aligned.
The good news is that we now know how to teach teams to become smarter together - without needing to change their size, mission, resources, constraints, or weaknesses. It starts with teaching them how to act with four core kinds of intelligence - creative, collaborative, connective, and commitment intelligence.
Creative intelligence is knowing how to make a difference. It's the courage to imagine, and translate dreams into experiments. Groups acting with creative intelligence innovate, improvise, improve, and learn.
Collaborative intelligence is knowing how to make things happen together. It's the courage to do together what we can't do alone. It's taking on tasks, projects, and dreams together that would intimidate us alone.
Connective intelligence is knowing how to engage each other's gifts. It's the courage to engage each other's skills, knowledge, experience, expertise, passions, assets, and resources. It's knowing everyone's gifts and connecting ourselves and each others to these gifts.
Commitment intelligence is knowing how to build trustworthiness. It's the courage to make and keep promises in ways that accelerate creativity, collaboration, and connectedness. When groups learn to act with these four kinds of intelligence, they are less constrained by the barriers of defensiveness, blame, fragmentation, and excuses.
Best of all, a strong team doesn't need strong leadership. Leaders are freed up to engage in projects beyond what the team has the time and talent to do. They don't do the thinking for the group because the group is smarter together than anyone could be for them.
When organizations and communities build more groups that are smarter together, their growth and thrivancy become more possible. It's been this way since the beginning of time. Organizations and communities are as strong as their groups are smarter together.
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