The Innovation Team Test Drive

The BOC Group decided to run several experiments with innovation teams that were established based on previously untested parameters. The teams would be:

  • Smaller teams with five to eight team members led by a team leader

  • Virtual teams selected for their complementary professional and personal skill sets

  • Cross-pollination of core competencies

  • Selected for diversity, connectivity, and internal and external networks

  • Tasked with specific goals and objectives

  • Challenged to operate differently

For one six-member team, the core competencies could be listed as shown in Exhibit 7.7. These are specific competencies in addition to the base competencies that BOC employees would generally have. These first-level competencies are being complemented by the second-level competencies available through the combined network of contacts, in this case defined as “excellent relationships” (whom you can reach out to on a Saturday and get the intended response or help).

Exhibit 7.7. The Team Competencies

  • Competencies

    - Heat and mass transfer

    - Modeling and vacuum

    - Food science

    - R&D

    - Project management

    - Licensing

    - Technology assessment

    - Waste treatment

    - Crystalization

    - CO2, O3, H2

    - Gas and liquid mixing

    - Cryogenics

    - Combustion

    - Freezing and cooling

    - Marketing

    - Business development

    - Commercialization

    - Emissions control

In many cases, the contacts can become virtual members of the innovation team, depending on the challenge and personal commitment. The team was found to have the internal ...

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