Working as a Connector at Fronteer means you are responsible for finding the best (external) experts. These experts participate in the co-creation sessions we organise for our clients. During these sessions, we generate ideas, challenge each other and develop first thoughts on how to solve the challenge. When connecting for a session, the first thing on our priority list is making sure that the group of experts is as diverse as possible.
When you put eight people in a session who walk, talk, and think the same way, the chances of developing a solution that is only approachable for people who are like-minded to the ones you invited are really high. In the last decade of organising co-creation sessions, we have experienced that diversity in age, sex, (educational) background, upbringing, and field of interest is key. How do we do this? The Connectors are always on the lookout for interesting people in our own network, we investigate trends that aren’t in our direct environment and we make sure that everyone’s voice is being heard.
Making sure the group of external experts is as diverse as possible will not only make the session more interesting, it will also bring the final outcomes of the session to another level. In one of our recent co-creation sessions, the group of experts was very diverse in terms of age. The more experienced participants brought knowledge to the table, while the youngsters created space for current trends, a critical look at our society, and brought a particular openness to the session. The combination of these types of people resulted in a session where everybody felt that their expertise and personality really added value to the solution! The outtakes of the session will probably serve and satisfy a diverse audience. All because the input that was brought to the table came from a diverse group of people.
To conclude everything written above, diversity in our co-creation sessions is not only good for group dynamics, project outcomes, and representation. It is a necessity in our work to always make sure different perspectives, people, and opinions are being heard.