the collaboration paradox: none of us is as dumb as all of us

The Collaboration Paradox “None of us is as dumb as all of us”

MaRS January 7, 2009

John Abele

If you aren’t prepared to change,

be prepared to be irrelevant.

How do you harness the collective intelligence of great minds in the

presence of: • Different cultures and silos? • Strong egos? • Messenger killers? • Pontificators? • Hidden agendas • Group think? • Off topic time wasters? • Diverse levels of understanding? • A range of bias?

Meetings can take many forms

•  Physical •  Virtual •  Synchronous •  Asynchronous

• Symposium • Colloquium • Conference • Congress • Forum • Convention • Unconference

A well recognized problem

World’s first conference facility, The Babel Center …. a failure

New York Times May 9, 2006

Where Brilliant Dreams are Born

Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be Chaos.

Before a brilliant person begins something great, they must look foolish to the crowd.

Some Tools for Empowering “Wisecrowds”, the New World Order

Do you use any?

•  Wikis •  Podcasts •  Blogs •  Social networks •  Prediction markets •  Search engines

A predictive markets website for physicians

Pharma companies harness the wisdom of crowds

http://wiki.eyeforpharma.com

Boston Scientific’s fast advancing disruptive technology presented a problem

Advances in technology in the next 5 years will exceed

those in the previous 50.

The Dilemmas of Medical Technology Development

/Assessment

Rate

Time

Technology Development

Technology Assessment

New Device Technologies Critical Issues

1. How are new technologies and the procedures they spawn to be assessed?

2. How can physicians best be trained to employ new technologies and how to they stay current?

3.  How can we keep up with accelerating technological advances?

4. Who’s going to pay for it … the technology and the assessment?

Problems of Assessment •  Bias

–  Hidden agenda –  Turf –  Money

•  Rhetorical/Presentation skills

•  Politically Correct –  Science –  Regulation

Medical teaching, late 1800s, Billroth, Vienna

A Counter-Intuitive Innovation

Live Demonstration course, Gruntzig, 1978, Zurich Real time sports style video, expert panel, audience guides procedures

Problem: Not many people could see or hear

Solution: •  Special television cameras & microphones •  Multiple views - patient - doctor - operating site - physiological data - inside of the patient

Problem: Doctor had a limited & biased point of view

Solution: •  Panel of contrarian experts

•  Simultaneous studies of the latest research and trial data

Problem: Students aren’t familiar with the technology

Solution: •  Experts explain the new technology •  Graphics & interactive demonstrations

Problem: Hard to tell if students really understand

Solution: •  Audience response system - Like “Who wants to be a millionaire?” - Anonymous responses - Works in parallel - Teachers adjust - Students learn relative to peers - Dig deeper

Now a multimedia, multitasking, totally interactive extravaganza…in many fields, around the world

Individual Physician success is Measured by the “masses”

versus Measured by the establishment

These educational programs are Not controlled by the

“establishment” (Universities, Professional Societies, Government)

“War is too important to be left to the Generals”

Harnessing collective intelligence through networks is exploding NY Times, Oct 31,

06

www.kingbridgecentre.com

The Kingbridge Mission

“Organizations are most productive when there is great communication. Great communication can occur when people are stimulated, provoked and challenged in an atmosphere of trust, respect and accountability.

www.despair.com

“The despotism of custom is everywhere the hindrance to human achievement.”

John Stuart Mill

•  Environment •  Atmosphere •  Networking •  Program •  Research

Atmosphere

•  Personalized, “Welcome to my home” •  Stimulating and provocative art and inventions •  Environment customized to client •  “Conferencing is my passion” •  Learning laboratory with experiments •  Surprise. Humor. Challenge. •  Stories

•  Goal based organization •  Parallel conversations •  Audience response systems •  Adaptive learning •  Profiling attendees •  Court jester •  Squirt guns •  Experiential learning •  Super interactivity •  Audio visual studio •  Hybrid physical/virtual meetings

M E N U

•  Experimentation with clients •  World class techniques •  Learning laboratory •  Information clearing house •  Asking better questions •  Power of great moderating

Kingbridge Institute