Grace was intrigued by the Genesis Project proposal. She wanted to move forward by first conducting a number of trials. She wanted the trials to be challenging so that she could get a good sense of whether the transformation in the organization would be successful. When Grace met again with Jim and Shirley, she had in mind 3 trials as a starting point.
“Let me start with an idea I have for three trials for initiating the Genesis Project”, Grace began.
“The first trial will be one of moving from discovery to practice. What I want to do is to develop a collaboration between our most brilliant R&D engineer, Slocomb Haskins, and one of our most outspoken factory employees, Marlowe Adkins.”
“Slocomb is an Ivy League grad. He brings an incredible technical background to the organization, but he never seems to find the sweet spot of connecting his knowledge into anything workable.”
“Marlowe is a pain the rear end. She is always complaining about how impractical the designs coming from R&D are. And she’s generally right. She doesn’t accept her victories gracefully. We call her ‘I Told You So Marlowe.’”
“I’m planning on having Slocomb and Marlowe work together. I know that collaboration is likely to be explosive, but I just think it’s the right way to blend their two creative talents together. What do you think?”
Shirley interjected: “What are going to be the rules of engagement?”
“I’ve thought about that and decided that if the collaboration is ever going to work, then they need to work out together how they will work together. Let’s see what they create.”
“Great idea”, responded Shirley. “How will you measure the success of the trial?”
“I don’t plan to. What I’ve observed in my years of leading businesses is that measurements direct behavior and often that’s not a good result. I want to see what they want their collaboration to be. If I started by giving them measurements criteria to guide them, I ‘m afraid that I would be implanting a virus in the creative body I’m trying to create.”
Jim had been sitting quietly by and not saying anything, but he had to speak up now. “Remember Grace when I told you about the war between the default network and the executive central network in the brain? I completely agree with you on not imposing measurements. That would give the executive central network an unfair advantage in the so-called war. What you are proposing is an enhancement of the salience network which is essential for true creativity.”
While Jim hadn’t said much, his insight solidified the value of the first trial.
They agreed to meet again soon to review the second trial.
* * *
“No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible, intangible force which may be likened to a third mind.” – Napolean Hill