Thomas Edison once said, "To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." This statement always struck me as bizarre. How on earth could 'junk' be something valuable to the inventor - or the innovator, for that matter? And how could this statement possibly relate to creating an innovative workspace today, especially in lean times?
 I learned the answer this month while walking through the 3M Innovation Center in St. Paul, Minnesota with Dr. Robert Finocchiaro, Technical Director of 3M's Corporate R&D Services, as well as talking with retired 3M Corporate Scientist, Art Fry - inventor of Post-it Notes. I also received insights from Laura Helminski, the faculty chair at Rio Salado College in Tempe, Arizona - an institution which ranked as a finalist in the 2009 Edison Best New Product Awards for "Living and Working Environments."
It turns out that weird stuff and modular materials placed in odd configurations throughout the workplace are proven thought-starters and momentum-builders for innovation and innovative thinking. I saw two patterns emerge from my conversations which align with Edison's own practices:
1) Allow workspace configurations to be flexible enough that employees can interact
with them without a lot of fuss or pre-planning
2) Provide access to equipment, materials, and educational outlets that are relevant
to sparking creative thought on a daily basis.
Edison recognized the importance of interacting with his work environment in ways that expanded his creativity. He expressly designed the Menlo Park laboratory to house a chemistry bench, a wood-working shop, high quality hand tools, and a machine shop. This combination of materials and equipment had never been assembled in the same place before. To someone else, having all of this 'stuff' under one roof might seem incredibly wasteful. But to Edison, this unique combination of 'junk' allowed him to translate the ideas he had every day into working prototypes. He created a workplace whose overall framework allowed him to test and experiment, to combine and recombine, to see patterns in his outcomes - and from these insights, drive world-changing innovations.
Three Key Factors to the Creative Workspace
Building on the patterns I noted above, here are 3 factors present in Edison's workspaces that were critical to his success - factors which also drive innovation power in today's 21st century workplace. On the whole, these do not require significant investment so consider ways you can begin incorporating these into workspaces in your organization, starting today:
- Modular workspaces that encourage rapid communication within teams and across functional boundaries.
- Unrestricted access to diverse experts within the workplace, at any level.
- Ready access to educational materials (live training, virtual seminars, books).
Let's start with the first item. Modular workspaces were important to Edison. He frequently took chemical testing equipment, his notebook, and batches of chemical compounds to Room 12 of the West Orange laboratory, and began experimenting. When he hit upon something, he'd simply open the door and invite in his colleagues. This kind of "mobile access" to small workrooms within the lab was critical for Edison to maintain the flow of his thinking, yet collaborate at precisely the right moment. Rio Salado College has found an innovative way to harness this same process.
Developing Collaborative Workspaces Encourages Cross-Boundary Communication
In the world of higher education, collaborative communication between Faculty and Staff is often frosty at best and impossible at worst, significantly dampening opportunities for innovative thinking. In a bold move following a decision to rehab an aging building on the Rio Salado College campus, the school's leadership team took a page from Edison's best practices and used workspace design to improve the innovation output of its Faculty and Staff by 70%.
 They accomplished this by incorporating modular workspace concepts they'd seen at Steelcase during a visit to the famed office furniture company's west Michigan facilities. The result was a room with a maximum capacity for 200 people, offering modular furniture in four different configurations for smaller scale gatherings (see 3 nearby photos). To bring intimacy to this large space, the team created what they call "neighborhoods" and "front porches" by clustering different types of furniture together. Some of the modular groupings also allow connection to technology. Faculty and Staff now report they connect far more frequently to exchange ideas, because this innovative workspace is: 1) close and easy; 2) consistently productive; and 3) fun.
By moving away from the notion of having every meeting take place in formal conference rooms, Rio Salado has embraced innovation as a daily practice across its entire organization.
Allow Unrestricted Access to Expertise Within Your Organization
Edison strongly encouraged debate among the scientists, technicians, and business managers in his lab and manufacturing operations. He even encouraged employees to debate him! By offering open access to all the great minds in his companies, Edison created workspaces that felt open and collaborative.
I was struck by a comment made by Dr. Finocchiaro during our tour of the 3M Innovation Center. He said, "At 3M, we want employees to have access to all the resources within our company. So, as part of our performance appraisal process, we measure how much information each scientist has shared with others - and how broadly." (Wow. Does your company measure information sharing as an innovation tool?)
The company backs this up by offering physical space and budget dollars twice annually for all of 3M's scientists to get together in a formal setting and share ideas within their scientific community. It's called the Tech Forum. One of these two gatherings focuses on ideas that are well along and nearly complete, and the other emphasizes ideas that are still in-process. By opening up dialogue in this way, 3M has created a dynamic social network within its own walls. As well, these formal gatherings propel less formal connections within the Tech Forum throughout the year. Open access to experts across the entire company drives innovation across every workspace at 3M.
Provide Ready Access to Educational Materials and Training
In my conversation with Art Fry, he cited a study revealing that between 3000 and 5000 ideas are required to generate one successful business. Without an innovative workspace, how is your company going to generate that much brainpower?
 While inventing Post-it Notes, Art spoke of the importance of accessing white papers and articles written by specialists within 3M. He would set up meetings with the authors of these papers, and often invited them to join his development team. Art said, "When I graduated from college as a chemistry major, I didn't know anything about adhesives or plastics. But I could learn the fundamentals of these technologies by talking to experts within 3M." Having the freedom to access in-house educational materials - and take training courses - was fundamental to the way Art developed his workspace for the Post-it Notes development team.
At his West Orange lab, Edison provided onsite educational opportunities to his employees in two ways. First, housed in Edison's 3-story office was his formidable Library, a 10,000 volume colossus offering everything from technical journals to the Classics. Employees could access these materials during work hours, and check them out on the honor system. Second, Edison periodically offered lectures at lunchtime. He would speak about new ideas he was pursuing, and the results of recent experiments. Workspaces which provided ongoing self-education contributed to the dynamism of Edison's total organization.
In lean times, don't forget about simple gatherings like "Lunch and Learn" sessions to maintain innovation momentum in your organization. Ensure that employees still have access to training! Stay lean by utilizing virtual training platforms wherever possible. If you keep education alive in your company, your employees will draw these materials into their workspace, and into their thinking.
Don't let your innovation momentum die in tough times! Bring concepts like modular furnishings, greater in-house access to experts, and ongoing virtual educational concepts to energize your workspace, and shift your innovation thinking into gear!
In The Next Issue: Are You an Adapter or an Innovator?
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