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“There was a chemist, Kekule, who worked for decades trying to figure out the structure of the benzene ring. One night he went to sleep and he had a dream of a snake swallowing its tale, and he woke up and said, That’s it! That’s the structure of the benzene ring!

So his student said, Not bad, you go to sleep, wake up, and you’ve got the structure of the benzene ring.

And Kekule said, Visions come to prepared spirits.”
David Milch, speaking at the Paley Center for Media, 10/4/2004

In the world of enterprise social networking, and the tech world in general, we sometimes play Buzzword Bingo. Everyone has at least one buzzword that makes them cringe, either because the way the word sounds, how often it is used or because the word is not appropriate for the situation. At the moment, the word that is being used to describe the positive consequences that often arise in a “pull society” (see Learning to Pull by Richard Hughes for more info.) is serendipity, or a “happy accident”. I’m not a fan of this word, because I think it undermines what is really happening.

For the record, I know that several factors of the above scenario are disputed (it was actually a day-dream, Kekule was kidding, etc.) but I think the way Milch tells the story does a great job of illustrating what happens in a “pull society”.

We have been extensively using our own ESN, Clearvale, for some time here at BroadVision, and I have seen many projects, queries and general thoughts written as blog posts. While responses come from expected places, such as within the community the blog was posted, or from a team member from the author’s same department, many discussions occur company wide, with ideas and answers coming from every department. When this happens, it’s not serendipity but the result of preparedness. The more people that are “pulling”, the greater the pool that is being drawn from, the more intelligent and creative the answers. Likewise, people begin to respond to other responses; with the whole process allowing for far greater opportunities then might be produced in a series of emails or chatting by the coffee pot.

The above image illustrates our new SET program, which will help companies go beyond the step of simply creating a Clearvale network. Participants of the 90 day SET program will learn how to transition into a social enterprise, one that is in a constant state of preparedness, getting the most of its talent and resources. For more info about the Clearvale SET program, please visit: http://www.clearvale.com/mkt/en/set.php.

“Let’s begin to tap the astronomical, incomprehensible amount of talent in the brains of the 6 billion people on this planet, compared with which Newton is a match in the dark at 100 miles.” James Burke – Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History, Episode 18 “A Fly on James Burke’s Wall”

How many moves does it take to get from the philosopher Goethe’s obsession with a friend of Beethoven to the invention of margarine? According to James Burke’s Knowledge Web, only 8 (visit http://www.k-web.org/public_html/Mystery-tours/Goethe_to_Margarine.html for the full story).

James Burke is a science historian and author, and anyone who has seen his “Connections” series is probably familiar with this line of thinking: progress is not the outcome of individuals or groups working in isolation, but the product of multiple individuals and groups, interacting and connecting, seeking to fulfill their own interests, and rarely having any concept of the ultimate innovation that comes about as a result.

Many innovations are the result of coincidences. But it’s not the coincidences themselves that lead to the innovation, but rather the creativity and ingenuity that were set free on a path paved by coincidence. Coincidence has led to two strangers coming into contact with one another, or someone recommending a book to a friend, or someone remembering a colleague’s previous failure. That last one is a reference to the Post-It note, which was born from Spencer Silver’s failed attempt at creating a strong adhesive. His colleague, Arthur Fry finding the need for a weak adhesive remembered Silver’s failure, which led to the Post-It note (full story here: wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-it_note)

But that never had to happen. Fry didn’t have to remember Silver’s failure. It’s not like there was some cloud-based, easy to navigate repository for this kind of thing. The point is, it’s not really the coincidence that is important to innovation, so we might be able to take that out of the equation.

In fact, if we take the opposite approach, I think we can speed up and multiply opportunities for innovation within the enterprise. This is most easily evident via the activity stream, and some theoretical examples can include:

• I learn of a coworker’s project that does not involve me, though I might have some previous experience, and can easily offer some ideas
• Sales informs the company of a new prospect, which turns out to be the former employer of someone from engineering, who can now offer some insight into the company
• Marketing posts about working on a video, and someone from finance has experience with video editing and volunteers to help

Of course, the above examples would only represent one “move”. Think about the potential for multiple connections, all working in harmony.

It’s all happening in London in 2012. Not only is London hosting the Olympic Games (July) and the Paralympic Games (August), but the Queen celebrates her Diamond jubilee (June) as well! And kicking it all off is Digital London, one of the year’s most significant events to be hosted at ExCel, the international exhibition and convention centre, in Docklands on March 13^th – 14th.

This 2-day conference and supporting exhibition aims to establish London as the Digital capital of Europe, putting London’s tech City ‘on the map’ as well as helping to develop the local and national economy. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has actively championed the event and he will open the conference with a keynote presentation on 13^th March.

“Digital London is a fantastic showcase for the city,” said Johnson. “London’s position as a centre for technology, innovation and creativity underpins its growing position as the digital capital of Europe.”

BroadVision is one of the 5 founding sponsors and has been working closely with their partner and Digital London event organisers, Maven Cast, to deliver a new approach to event engagement through BroadVision’s enterprise social network solution, Clearvale. Clearvale has been configured and branded as Maven Connect to connect delegates, speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors associated with Digital London in a single collaborative platform. Maven Cast are the pioneers of hybrid events and Digital London is no exception; the event is designed to mix the immediacy and intimacy of a live conference and exhibition with the versatility and broad reach of digital.

The event brings together industry innovators, entrepreneurs, solution providers, business leaders, and executives to discuss digital innovations & enabling technologies, and to explore opportunities in the digital economy.  The conference has 4 key themes: digital solutions, content and services; innovation, creativity and technology; digital cities and smart infrastructure; investment, skills and resources. It has been developed with everyone from solution buyers in business, public and consumer sectors to CTOs at technology companies and service providers in mind. Sessions will showcase the latest innovations and advances, and consider how the latest digital devices, solutions and services are being harnessed to sustain and vitalise private enterprise and the public sector.

Adam Malik, founder and CEO, Maven Cast, said:  “We will be inviting visionaries, policy makers and technology leaders from around the world to share their experiences on delivering digital services for both public and private sectors and creating an environment for innovation. At Digital London, event delegates will benefit from increased value by having a single platform of engagement prior to, during, and after the event so relationships can build and continue post event.”

Maven Connect has been designed to foster engagement not only for Digital London but also for other future events. It will provide a forum for discussion and guidance to compliment event topics, and deliver a legacy after each event to unite all parties: continuing conversations, collaboration activities and helping to shape future agendas, providing added value for everybody involved in Digital London and beyond.