Innovation and a network effect

Harvard Business Review recently published research that indicated successful innovators had five attributes, one being a clear proclivity to network and exchange information with a broad array of people. However, innovation is also successful when there is a critical mass or network effect in an industry or market. This also applies to individual firms, where creating a critical mass of innovators who interact and exchange ideas, internally and externally, accelerates ideas. Designating only one specific team to innovate while the rest of the business plods onwards with no interaction or competition often leads to limited innovation. Creating multiple innovation teams within an organization that exchange information with each other and with other firms and markets will create more and better innovation.