Teaming routines in complex innovation projects

Edmondson, A and Zuzul, T (2016) Teaming routines in complex innovation projects. In: Organizational Routines: How They Are Created, Maintained, and Changed. Oxford University Press, Oxford, Part 1, section B:8. ISBN 9780198759485

Abstract

Innovation projects thrive when they bring together individuals with diverse expertise. But, to succeed, such projects must support effective teaming: coordination and collaboration between experts working together in shifting, fluid ways across physical, status, or knowledge boundaries. In this chapter, the authors develop the idea of teaming routines: routines that enable coordination and collaboration between experts across multiple boundaries. The chapter draws on longitudinal data from Lake Nona, a novel mega-project in the built environment, to explore how leaders enabled the development of teaming routines that supported innovation. By theorizing the processes through which leaders can build teaming routines into complex, large-scale innovation projects, the authors add to the existing literature, which has largely focused on routines in the context of a single organization or an alliance between two organizations.