It’s not science fiction: how leaders can enhance their connection to the Force
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“Be with me!”
The United States is in a crucial election year. The stakes are high and opinions, as ever, are sharply divided. But polarization is neither a political nor a uniquely American phenomenon. Tempers can flare on issues far less consequential and turn friends into temporary foes. Simply ask: Who is the G.O.A.T. in basketball? Does pineapple belong on a pizza? Are you a dog or cat person? IOS or Android?
No topic has provoked more online discourse and division than Disney’s $4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012. The expansion of the Star Wars franchise has both delighted and frustrated its die-hard fanbase, who had only recently resolved the original vs. prequel controversy. Regardless of your views on the latest sequel trilogy, its finale, The Rise of Skywalker, delivered one of the saga’s most iconic scenes.
In a last-ditch effort to defeat the resurrected Emperor Palpatine on Exegol, a barely conscious Rey (Daisy Ridley) repeatedly mutters the phrase, “Be with me!”, to summon the strength of all Jedis past. One by one, the spirits of legendary Jedi Masters respond to Rey’s call for help, granting her the power to vanquish the Dark Lord of the Sith once and for all.
Collective intelligence beyond the silver screen
You don’t need to belong to an ancient order of mystics to tap into the wisdom and strength of the collective rather than relying solely on your own.
For over two decades, Henry Chesbrough, the “father of open innovation,” has argued that organizations should abandon the silo mentality of traditional R&D models in favour of a more collaborative approach.
Imagine an organization meticulously preserving stakeholder voices to strengthen the bonds between past, present and future.
According to Chesbrough’s paradigm, commercializing knowledge is a two-way street. Firms should seek external ideas and take them to market. Conversely, promising internal ideas that aren’t a natural fit should be given opportunities for monetization outside the firm. Open innovation widens the space for value creation and grants organizations access to a broader pool of ideas and talent, which makes them more competitive, innovative and cost-effective.
The core idea behind open innovation and its cousin, open strategy, is that the many will invariably outperform the few. Secrecy and command-and-control management stifle creativity and progress – a sentiment now shared across sectors, from advocates of open-source AI to supporters of trust-based philanthropy. Interestingly, organizations with ‘open’ in their names are often not the torchbearers we might expect.
For all their commendable benefits, participatory decision-making and innovation often lack lasting impact and depth. Once a project comes to a successful or unsuccessful conclusion, knowledge streams dry up and key lessons are lost. And because of the time pressures involved, people who should’ve been consulted, are absent from the process.
Leverage the power of your own people
Let’s return to the genius of George Lucas to uncover the best ways to seek and preserve knowledge.
Only a few Jedi had the rare ability to communicate with the dead. Like many organizations focused on safeguarding their past, the Jedi Order used practical methods for sharing knowledge with current and future members.
The Jedi Temple Library on Coruscant was the galaxy’s largest repository of knowledge, responsible for storing records collected over thousands of years. It also housed detailed profiles of every living, deceased and departed member of the Order.
At this point, professional knowledge brokers and managers recognize that they’re dealing with a work of science fiction. The notion that a private organization could have the resources and foresight to create a repository of such profound significance is as improbable as a mythical Force or lightsaber-wielding warrior-monks travelling through hyperspace. It’s even harder to imagine an organization meticulously preserving stakeholder voices to strengthen the bonds between past, present and future.
But exceptions do exist. There are legacy-conscious organizations that have resisted the lure of short-term thinking. They recognize that the greatest strength and inspiration in times of crisis come not from distant experts or audiences but from the people who’ve been there all along – the organization’s own workforce.
To harness employee insights and turn them into a strategic asset that fuels enterprise growth and resilience, a simple phone call, email, Zoom meeting, or brainstorming session is insufficient.
A leader seeking counsel might prefer to stay under the radar, especially newly appointed leaders who want to get to know the organization without attracting unwanted attention. It’s also far from clear whom to contact in the event of an emergency. In large organizations with thousands or tens of thousands of employees, even the most connected leaders may struggle to quickly identify the right people to call.
For the sake of argument, let’s imagine a shortlist of viable candidates is quickly assembled. Even then, the results can be inconsistent: the intended thought partner might be caught off guard or fail to meet expectations, while the leader might struggle to ask the right questions or make the gathered information actionable.
Even worse, those with helpful knowledge may no longer be with the organization. They might have retired, passed away, or moved on to work for a competitor.
You can prevent these issues by establishing a knowledge database and populating it with interviews from your own people. However, it’s essential to periodically update this database to reflect workforce changes and account for transformative events such as leadership transitions, M&As, or political upheavals.
A well-maintained database can unify the organization, improve decision-making, and preserve the values and lessons that have shaped its journey. It also sends a strong signal to everyone involved that the organization plans to be there for the long haul. Lastly, it ensures that employees at all levels feel valued and that their contributions, however big or small, are recognized. So, before resorting to a gift card or a token plaque for a departing team member, consider arranging an expert interview instead.
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Tim Mueller is the founder and Managing Director of Chester & Fourth Inc., a boutique advisory firm based in Canada. He helps mission-driven organizations and leaders with their strategy and innovation needs by tapping into their most underutilized resource: their own people and institutional knowledge. He is currently co-authoring a history of West Coast philanthropy funded by a prominent Silicon Valley private foundation. Earlier, he directed multi-disciplinary research projects for the Ford Foundation and BMO Bank of Montreal.
