In these challenging times of staying home and virtual conferences, I think often now about something that has suddenly become much harder. Merriam Webster defines serendipity as “the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.” The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as “the faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.” Both are good definitions and are often at the heart of innovation. If the particular innovation is a blockbuster, it is magic that arises as the result of a fortunate accident.

Innovation serendipity is real. The degree to which it is accidental versus can be managed is sometimes called into question, and that is certainly worth on-going debate and examination.

We at Sopheon have always endeavored that our innovation management software Accolade is a means for people in large organizations who would normally not meet each other to come together and to be connected.

We have some great examples our customers have shared with us where our product has helped connect people starting new innovation in a particular area with others who have already fully or partially walked the same path. Some of these customers have even used the word “serendipitous” when talking to us about their experiences using our product. We have often thought about how we could make serendipity routine.

Social Distancing May Be Stifling Innovation

What I find myself thinking about now is how much more challenged serendipitous innovation has become. Imagine two researchers attending a conference. They meet at a coffee break or at the bar afterwards. They start talking and realize they are each working on one side of the same coin and trying to see the other side. Together they might have something breakthrough. That is a spark. It very likely leads to plenty of hard work to get to that breakthrough.

Nobody said innovation was easy. But today those two people can't meet.

What is being lost? What is the impact of that loss on our society? Is it the two researchers at the conference who would go on to work together to develop a significant advancement in medicine, perhaps a cure for a major disease, who will now not meet?

What about an individual sitting among many peers in a large room whose inspiration comes not particularly from something the speaker says but rather from the reaction of others in the room? Maybe it is that reaction that causes the individual to suddenly realize something or to pursue a line of thought or research that had previously been abandoned.

As another example, think about our offices where we work. There are all sorts of chances there for serendipitous innovation. It can occur in the break room, or just passing by someone's desk or office or seeing something written on a white board.

I read a great book about Bell Labs. The entire building was designed for serendipitous innovation. Physicists were located at one end of the building and the mathematicians upon whom they relied sat at the other end. People were forced to walk the building. And in doing so they passed a lot of open offices. This seating arrangement and the Bell Labs open door policy were specifically designed to enhance serendipity. Closed offices and remote workers pose a significant threat to internal innovation serendipity.

That's were things stand today. The good news is that COVID-19 vaccines look to be just around the corner. Let's hope we can get back to some of the "old normal" and start being able to be in situations where serendipity can occur. Office serendipity will remain an interesting challenge for those companies that are going to stay with remote workers.

Creating Innovation Serendipity Today

So, what do we do in the meantime? We have to find ways to enable innovation serendipity. Structured corporate virtual events can help, but they need to be more than just meetings and presentations.

During our recent global Accolade User Forum we created breakout rooms between sessions where customers could drop in and meet each other. In many cases there was no specific agenda; it was just an open place to talk about anything. We learned quite a bit from this. Those customers who were comfortable in the virtual room had good interaction with each other and were more at ease. Those customers who were more shy or uncomfortable turning on their cameras did not benefit as much. We participated as moderators in these rooms and actively pulled people into discussions. In the end, it was a good exchange of thoughts and ideas among the participants. Let's hope as people become more comfortable with virtual rooms that the use of them goes up. We need to keep looking for ways for people who are attending virtual events to meet each other.

Internal Innovation Serendipity

What about internal serendipity? What can we do to enhance its likelihood in the virtual office?

Some are trying to put together virtual break rooms that are always open. Drop in, maybe someone is there and say “hello.” The success of this is very dependent on the corporate culture. Many of the corporate infrastructure tools support this as a chat in a channel. In this case it leads to a group discussion rather than a meeting, and it is hard to get to the one-on-one type of chance encounters that live situations enable. They cannot replicate the experience of getting a cup of coffee, meeting a colleague that you know or don't know, saying hello and asking how the weekend was, and then maybe finding something by luck that spurs innovation.

Some companies are experimenting with different types of virtual break rooms which are not a chat channel but are more interactive, including using cameras. To really be effective there needs to be a reason to go to such rooms. Some companies offer a game in the room. If you need a break from work, drop in and play a game with a colleague or two who might be in there. There needs to be one player games as well so you have something to do if you are the only one (until someone drops in and says “hi, what are you doing?”). I personally hope we see more of this kind of engagement.

The Way We Work

Finally, a big opportunity to connect people lies within the applications they are using to do their job. This is a big opportunity for software companies. How can we enable things in our software that bring people together who might not otherwise meet? How can we replicate the hallways of Bell Labs? How can we make it relevant? Can AI help?

Big questions, great opportunities. It's a fun time to be in the software business.