Assembling the Perfect Co-Creation Task Force

Every architect knows that the success of a structure depends not only on the skills of individual craftspeople but also on the synergy between them. Transpose this idea into the corporate arena, and we find ourselves in the realm of co-creation, where the insight of individual minds is orchestrated into a powerful collaboration. The cornerstone of this process lies in carefully assembling the right team.

Building the Executive Steering Committee

We recommend the selection of an Executive Steering Committee as the starting point. This involves three key positions: “The Executive Sponsor”, “The Initiative Executive” and a head of Strategy and Innovation (often called the CSO or Chief Strategy Officer). While this triad has a specific role as the ultimate decision-making body, leading the project team (called “taskforce” and further defined below) and designing the strategic model, each also has its unique and distinct part to play. We would augment this group with two to three strategic advisors from our Silver Rock team who join the Executive Steering Committee in leadership roles. This is critical, as third-party members have the latitude to ask the hard questions that may not surface, as well as push back in other areas.

By neutralizing the playing field, we play an objective, yet active role in designing and guiding the roadmap, directing the task force sessions, and leveraging co-creation principles to ultimately design the transformative business model. Think of Silver Rock as the general manager of a football team, responsible for “horizontal thinking” across functions, capabilities, and the market. This supplements the “vertical thinking” and ideas of the Task Force. To continue the sports analogy, liken vertical thinking to offensive and defensive coordinators who are experts in their respective disciplines. The advantage of this approach is key executives are helping to shape and generate new ideas by participating “in the task force” instead of being the voice “leading the task force”.

Constructing the Taskforce: Strategically Assembling Your Team

After the Steering committee is formed the next step is using a process to strategically pick the extended team of people that will be part of the “task force”. The task force should represent a cross-section of your organization, encompassing different functions, roles, and levels of seniority. From those adept at tackling daily practical challenges to colleagues who thrive on the abstraction of strategy and ideation, your team should blend a variety of skills.

Generally, you want to involve:

1. Stand-out leaders from across the business at a VP and Director level
2. Emerging leaders that have been identified as “Rising Stars”
3. Contrarians and others that may not come to mind immediately. Converted, they become your loudest ambassadors

Stakeholder Analysis: Ensuring the Right Mix

While those in groups 1 and 2 may be easier to select, rounding out the task force isn’t as easy as it seems. Having a systematic process called “Stakeholder Analysis“ to carefully pick the team can pay dividends going forward in multiple aspects including maximizing participation, creativity, and innovation. Silver Rock develops an optimal roster of 12-16 taskforce members as well as supplemental “extended voices” to add insight and ultimately help champion the overall effort. By understanding the motivations and skills of each member, team leaders are best equipped to align specific people to functions and levels of involvement. This exemplifies another tenant of co-creation ensuring that diversity of thought is guided by a proven practice.

Ensuring diversity is crucial for a few key reasons:

• Balance of Perspectives: Just as a symphony wouldn’t sound complete with only one type of instrument, a task force benefits from a blend of operational and conceptual thinkers. This balance ensures a comprehensive understanding of both strategic vision and ground-level operations. It cultivates a space where big-picture thinking is rooted in the practical realities of your business.
• Inclusive Innovation: A co-creation task force composed of diverse roles and functions is more likely to foster innovative thinking. Varied perspectives often lead to novel ideas and approaches that wouldn’t emerge in a more homogeneous group. The task force should be a melting pot of creativity, where ideas are born and refined through collective engagement.
• Empowered Ownership: By involving team members from different organizational levels, you democratize the strategic process, instilling a sense of shared responsibility and ownership. This participative approach empowers the task force to fully commit to the co-creation process, fostering a sense of purpose that can propel strategic initiatives forward.

Guiding Collective Intelligence Into Strategy

Bringing a group of diverse individuals together is only the start. The true art of co-creation lies in expertly leading this collective intelligence into a coherent and powerful strategy. Therefore, it’s vital to equip your task force with the right tools and frameworks that facilitate the co-creation process – and ensure that each participant understands their role. In the next part of our series, we will dive deeper into the co-creation process itself – transforming ideas into a robust, shared strategy.

Continue reading the next article in this four-part series, Navigating the Co-Creation Process: From Ideas to Strategy, or download the full Co-Creation Advantage PDF below.