The power of collision
How collaboration might be the answer for the world’s wickedest problems
“So, just 25 meters from here that way, is the collision point. There’s where the particles, coming from this side and that side, meet.
So, it is my guess, ladies and gentlemen, that this is closest point — in your lifetime — that you will ever be to the beginning of our universe!”Markus Nordberg, CERN
This is, perhaps, one of the strongest things we can ever hear. The power of each word leads us to the most far, unknown, yet intriguing place that we can think of… the Universe!
One of the most incredible projects in CERN, the scientific collaboration for nuclear research, is the LHC — Large Hadron Collider — it “simply” accelerates particles in opposite directions and makes them collide head-on, after 27km of acceleration. It generates other particles that scientists believe existed just a fraction after the big bang, 14 billion years ago. Studying this process allows them to increase their knowledge about the first moments of this giant and strange thing that we live in.
Collision is a way to discover and explore the unknown. Not only it lets us discover the ancient past of existence, but it allows us to unveil the future. Curiously, this is the way breakthrough innovation is made and ideas are brought to life.
Multidisciplinary and cross-functional teams are the particles in this experiment, they are charged with a full stack of competencies, skills and experiences. The richness that emerges from such a dynamic environment allows companies, universities, social institutions, entrepreneurs and creators to embrace the challenges they face every day. Getting people with diverse backgrounds, different ages, gender, jobs, that live in different countries and contexts, brings the possibility to collide opinions, knowledge and assumptions.
Bring psychologists, engineers, designers, anthropologists all together, add a pilot, a regular flyer and a ground controller if you’re talking about the future of aviation; add a kid, a teacher and a mother, if it’s about the next generation’s education or simply call the first person you see in the morning to join your brainstorming session or debate. Everybody can contribute to build stronger and more robust ideas that can lead to truly important innovations. Because, at the end of the day it’s all about People, their needs, their wishes and motivations.
Startups can deeply benefit from diving into this empathic road to feed their innovation process and launch their products and services addressing real problems. Besides the Hipster, the Hacker and the Hustler, startups can have an extended team that can brilliantly contribute to understand the challenge and deliver the outcome.
Collision merges the different points of view and capabilities to generate meaningful solutions.
