Mentoring, Networking and Innovation.

Mentoring, networking and innovation:
A prescription for the 21st century, is a co-
authored guest post by Alan Berkson and Fred McClimans.

History is filled with examples of linkages between
networking, mentoring and innovation, but over the
centuries the “knowledge acquisition ecosystem” has
changed considerably. There was a time when this
process was slow and rooted in tacit knowledge, but as
the needs and wants of society progressed and evolved,
the process became more refined—moving faster—and
rooted in the exchange of explicit knowledge.
Regrettably, as society and technology continue to
explode at a pace that stretches Moore’s law, it translates
to the current knowledge acquisition ecosystem beingMentoring, networking and innovation:
A prescription for the 21st century, is a co-
authored guest post by Alan Berkson and Fred McClimans.

History is filled with examples of linkages between
networking, mentoring and innovation, but over the
centuries the “knowledge acquisition ecosystem” has
changed considerably. There was a time when this
process was slow and rooted in tacit knowledge, but as
the needs and wants of society progressed and evolved,
the process became more refined—moving faster—and
rooted in the exchange of explicit knowledge.
Regrettably, as society and technology continue to
explode at a pace that stretches Moore’s law, it translates
to the current knowledge acquisition ecosystem being
broken; in fact, we may be at risk of losing a generational
exchange of knowledge and innovation.
Following is a fast-paced tour through related history,
plus a prescription for 21st century mentoring, networking
and innovation.

In days of yore
Centuries ago, the path to gainful employment often
required apprenticeships. If you wanted to learn a trade
you had no other option: you needed to find somebody
who was already doing it.
Through practice and much coaching—especially if it
involved tacit knowledge—you could eventually master a particular craft or art. This was a
one-to-one relationship that benefited both the master and the student. Students learned a
trade that would serve them for life, and masters acquired young, cheap talent to keep their
businesses alive. If you wanted to learn a trade, you had to find a person who was willing to
teach you how to do it. And, if you were lucky, the master provided you with paid employment
at the end of your apprenticeship.
In this type of direct one-on-one learning process, a master could only have a limited number
of apprentices at any one time. This not only limited the ability of the master to educate the
masses in their skill, but it also limited the ability of the young student to ask questions or
bring new ideas to a wide audience.
While the collaborative sharing of knowledge occurred, the resulting by-product—innovation
—was a slow process measured in decades, not years or months.

The age of mass
Enter the Industrial Revolution, characterized by the advent of mass production techniques.
To feed the growth of industries that required a large quantity of similarly skilled production
workers, education structures were modified to “mass produce” explicit knowledge workers
who understood “Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic.” As a result of the Industrial Revolution
and its changing educational requirements, the primary need for most types of
apprenticeship programs was undermined or devalued.
During this period, the master/student apprenticeship process evolved into—particularly at
the management level—a mentorship process. The master/student relationship remained
intact, but it became less about passing along tacit knowledge and fundamental skills and
more about the refinement and guiding of the student’s career path.
Throughout this revolutionary period, the one constant in the apprenticeship and mentorship
processes was that both the master and the student benefited from the relationship. It was a
two-way street that helped advance both experience and new ideas.
In essence, it helped foster innovation.

The next “next”
In the 21st century, we’ve shifted into a post-industrial, information-based economy that once
again has resulted in a requirement for both educational change and a shift in the type of
workforce required. Unfortunately, some things have changed (not necessarily for the better)
along the way; namely:
the master/student mentorship process quickly is becoming a casualty of the global
availability of information; and
there is a shift in the way society learns and how we reinforce our decisions.
The “hyper-connected” generation
Technology, pervasive communication and the global availability of “any information
everywhere” have had a negative impact on the state of mentorships.
Twenty years ago we had a culture where peers still relied upon personal face-to-face (or
voice-to-voice) real-time communications. As we “graduated up” from high-school to
university or college, we were introduced to a new level of peers and potential teachers/
mentors. As we left our institutions of higher education and moved into the work-force, each
new job opportunity brought with it a “new” level of contacts.
This change in contacts and peers wasn’t necessarily by choice. It was a by-product of the
way we communicated and the limitations that geography placed upon our network of “on-
demand” peers.

Today’s generation (some may call it Gen Y or Millennials—we’ll use the phrase “hyper-
connected” here) faces an interesting conundrum:
As they move from high-school into the work-force, the hyper-
connected still encounter the same “new contact” opportunities as
their predecessors. The complication is they also bring with them a
collection of trusted peers, with whom they remain connected through
pervasive communications.
As a “trusted” group, and taking into account peer pressure, it is no surprise they rely
heavily on this group of peers when it comes to making lifestyle or career decisions. Rather
than seek out the advice of those with experience in their new-found field of employment, the
hyper-connected often are likely to seek the counsel of their long-term friends.
This may fill the need the hyper-connected have to gain confirmation or acceptance of their
plans, but it diverts their attention from the value that an outside advisor or mentor can bring
to the equation.
The Need to Mentor
Why do we mentor others? Like parenting, it’s motivated by both selfish and selfless
aspirations.

We want to:
1. Bestow on others our own knowledge.
2. Give them the opportunity both to work with us and for us.
3. Pass along our collective experience to those who we trust to continue our legacy.
At the same time, we recognize they may become our peers or even our competition—
something that both forces us to raise our game to the next level and challenges us to find
innovative solutions to win the game.
Where does this innovation come from? The innovation comes from the exchange of ideas
with those we mentor.
Why networking is key to leveraging mentoring
It’s often been said that it is not what you know but who you know. Today, more than ever,
people recognize the value of diversity of opinion. We also recognize that a person need not
have just one mentor and that mentorship needs—and mentors—may change over time;
ultimately, helping to form a group of trusted advisors.

How do you accommodate this?
Mentoring is part of a larger ecosystem of networking. It requires you to reach out of your
comfort zone to find those who are “where you want to be.” Unfortunately, too many people
are afraid to—or don’t feel the need to—truly network and reach out to establish these long-
term beneficial relations.
Simply reaching out online to ask an experienced person a question, or asking for a limited
piece of advice, isn’t true networking. It often results in answers that lack context.
What many of today’s younger generation fail to realize is that networking isn’t about:
following people
commenting on a blog; or
asking a question from a person with whom you haven’t built a relationship of trust.
While the old axiom “you may find that the most successful people make the most effective
mentors” still applies, it has taken on a new meaning in the digital era. It isn’t about how
many people you follow or how many people follow you, but how many personal relationships
you cultivate through your online community.

Tomorrow’s workforce
As we migrate from a world driven by process to one focused on innovation and problem-
solving, we see the benefits of both data-driven components and experiential/tacit knowledge
—something that is ideally suited to the:

Internship > Mentorship > Employment Model

As we create new professions (community managers didn’t exist a decade ago), we find that
traditional education falls short in preparing candidates with the requisite skills and mindset
to be successful.
Today’s questions are now:
1. “How do we bridge that gap?”
2. “How do we cross that functional/educational divide?”
The answers are that we—collectively—need to reach out proactively to schools and to
students in the early stages of their careers. We need the hyper-connected to:
think analytically; and
evaluate events and circumstances and make the most effective and positive decisions
they can.
And we need to:
push them towards internship programs that foster and grow this critical skill set; and
ultimately, lead them to mentorship programs that offer opportunities and provide for the
mutual exchange of knowledge and ideas that lead to innovation.

Things that make you go “Hmmm…”
We invite you to ponder this mental checklist:
1. Are you reaching out to your local college or university community (or your summer
student base) and offering internships that make a difference?
2. Are you willing to both educate and learn from your interns?
3. Do you realize the value (both for your organization and children) of helping the next
generation of leaders benefit from your experience (careful—this requires a time
commitment…)?
4. And are you willing to openly give to those that you mentor, allowing them the opportunity
to learn from you, work for you and perhaps even compete against you?

If the answer to any of the above is yes, you are one step ahead of your competition.