The Making of an AspenBridge Team: Cultivating Empowered Innovation
Originally published December 11, 2023
We previously shared concepts around building AspenBridge Teams, but need to better define this complex yet exponential vision. An AspenBridge Team is a collaborative, innovative, self-organized unit where all members can contribute ideas, diversity, and skills to benefit the collective.
I’ve built AspenBridge Teams before to develop software. But only recently realized just how difficult balancing the delicate dynamics are for most organizations to sustain long-term, and only recently gave this concept a name.
Realizing truly collaborative, empowered teams like an AspenBridge Team takes more than changing processes or structures. It requires a foundation of trust, willingness to take risks, and leadership committing to decentralized accountability where expertise lies.
This environment of open contribution does not emerge from rigid hierarchies but from flexible networks built upon mutual trust and understanding. People need to feel psychologically safe before they can criticize ideas constructively or propose radical changes. And they need confidence their perspectives will be valued equitably before collaborating beyond silos.
Leading this transition is thus about far more than mechanics — it’s about meeting fundamental human needs. Only with care for both rational and emotional barriers can potential fully unfold. But the rewards in engagement, innovation, and sustainability are immense when AspenBridge Teams coalesce.
The Case For Change
In my experience leading agile teams, I’ve discovered the significance of tailoring leadership to suit the task at hand. There’s a place for directive leadership when swift actions are necessary, especially for smaller tasks where clarity and quick decisions matter most.
However, in tackling more intricate tasks, the democratic leadership approach truly shines. It’s about instilling a sense of ownership among team members, where every contribution matters, no matter how small. Even if a single leader makes the final call, when everyone feels heard and valued, the quality of work amplifies. It’s not just the leader’s vision; it’s the collective brilliance of the team at work.
This belief is central to our AspenBridge Team philosophy-a team built on democratic principles. Teams that strictly adhere to ‘do as I say’ directives often lack the pride and commitment seen within an AspenBridge Team. Innovation flourishes when every team member contributes, and a team led by one is never as innovative as a team led with the contributions of all.
Collaborative Tapestry: Weaving Order Amidst Collective Ingenuity
Whether or not you agree delegating leadership power is the right move, change is hard. If your team’s culture has always been hierarchy, shifting can feel too disruptive. Even flawed cultures build on years of learning — why discard that?
Yet, the greater danger is clinging to norms that no longer serve growth. Strict hierarchies risk constraining innovation, flexibility, and relevance over time by capping capabilities.
The chaos of unlimited autonomy can seem to undermine progress, however “Trust breeds trust,” as parenting expert Claire Fontaine realized. “So if you want your children to trust you, show them that you trust them.” Likewise, by empowering your team with autonomy, you don’t relinquish control but rather gain deeper loyalty and commitment in return. If you’ve curated a team of talented players, you must also trust their sum potential. Leaders must foster trust while weaving some structure. Making space for autonomy within a framework of accountability allows stellar potential to shine.
Steps Toward a Collaborative Culture
Leaders play a pivotal role in fostering trust and healthy transparency, but it’s not as simple as telling a team, “let’s do this starting tomorrow!” it’s a gradual process. Continuing that theme of trust from the previous section, instilling trust in your team is a low effort change that can make a big difference in beginning to shape your new AspenBridge Team:
1. Recognize new ideas, even small ones like changing the agenda for a meeting, or including a subject matter expert. Recognize the contributor by name, praise them for the idea, and help them make it happen.
2. Include individual contributors when presenting work to management. Help the contributor showcase their individual contribution(s). Explain to management that this is part of your team’s transformation, and that you’re looking for encouraging but also constructive feedback.
3. Define team goals in terms of the problems you intend to solve rather than the solutions you will develop. This opens the door for innovative solutions even late in the game.
4. Focus the team on the most important problems to solve. Encourage “swarming” — focusing more than one person on the same part of the problem helps multiple solutions become visible, and allows the team to parallelize the work. This ends up being more innovative and more efficient than giving each person a different thing to work on.
5. Wait to announce decisions until the team has had a chance to provide their feedback. You might end up making the same decision, but when the team feels heard, they’re more likely to commit to the path forward, even if you disagree.
Consistently applied, these small steps make the team members feel more valued, which will gradually change the culture of the team. Confidence comes from collaboration. Higher aspirations come from recognition.
Maintaining Flexibility
Guiding an organization toward empowered autonomy requires patience. And commitment to continual improvement as needs evolve.
Consider biweekly retrospective meetings where all team members collectively discuss what’s working well and what can be optimized moving forward. Facilitate this collaborative self-assessment without judgement.
Equally important is celebrating small wins while envisioning larger possibilities. Recognize mile markers met as validation while expanding the horizon of what “better” means.
Leaders play an essential role in maintaining momentum within this flexibility framework by encouraging regular self-reflection while continually realigning structures and signals to balance autonomy with appropriate oversight as the collective capabilities mature.
The Path Forward
Shifting entrenched hierarchies takes time. But achieving the vision of the “AspenBridge Team” (a self-organized team of innovative collaborators) pays dividends in engagement, innovation and resilience.
Begin by honestly evaluating current org structures against real-world expertise locations. Seek those closest to rising challenges. Then open channels for insights to surface and inform.
Progress flows from distributing ownership to capable hands passionate about accountability. And fostering spaces for shared purpose to accelerate access to people and knowledge.
But above all, leaders must learn how to get out of the way. The AspenBridge Team’s natural collaborative potential will benefit the whole. Leaders need to learn to remove constraints, and apply guardrails rather than exerting control.
What once seemed out of reach comes steadily into focus-an organization awakened to its collective brilliance. This is our vision we call the “AspenBridge Team.”
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
