Get comfortable being uncomfortable and drive yourself and your organization forward by structuring serendipitous collaboration. This was a keynote by Nick Inglis at ARMA Canada Information Conference 2021.

1. STRUCTURING
SERENDIPITOUS
COLLABORATION
NICK INGLIS, CIP, IGP, INFO
Nick Inglis | nick@infogov.net | ninglis@iprotech.com
INFOGOV.NET
ARMA Canada
Information Conference 2021

2. NICK INGLIS
TWITTER: @NICKINGLIS
NINGLIS@IPROTECH.COM
NICK@INFOGOV.NET
INFOGOV.NET
DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION GOVERNANCE, IPRO
HOST, THE STRATEGY OF INFORMATION (INFOGOV.NET)

3. Structuring
Serendipitous
Collaboration
Agenda
• What is structure?
• What is serendipity?
• What is collaboration?
• Where has there been a focus on serendipity?
⚬ Science
⚬ Advertising
⚬ Technology
• The value of serendipity
• Creating serendipity in remote work environments
• What does intentionality look like?
• Stories of serendipity
• Get uncomfortable
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Book suggestion for further learning

4. construct or arrange according to a plan; give a pattern or organization
to.
structure
[ /ˈstrək(t)SHər/ ]
verb
Oxford

5. STRUCTURING
• Structuring is often seen as a
work of analysis, not of art.
• Information professionals LIVE in
the world of structure
• Comfortable concept in the
information space
• We structure our systems, our
information architectures, our
file plans, our site structures, our
folders, our taxonomies, our
metadata.
• We <3 structure

6. the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial
way.
serendipity
[ /ˌserənˈdipədē/ ]
noun
Oxford

7. • Luck, chance, happy accident
• Difficult to engineer
• Solve more problems
• Create novel solutions through
non-traditional connections
• Create new ideas
• Discover more opportunities
SERENDIPITY

8. the action of working with someone to produce or create
something.
collaboration
[ /kəˌlabəˈrāSH(ə)n/ ]
noun
Oxford

9. • Connecting for a goal
• Information professionals enable
the potential for collaboration
(along with partners in IT)
• We've grown more comfortable
with collaborative platforms in time
- Yammer, Slack, Teams, etc.
• Collaboration doesn't require a
technology platform to happen
(except during a pandemic)
• Collaboration enables solutions
COLLABORATION

10. Where has there been a
focus on serendipity?
Advertising
In the world of advertising, focus groups
have been a feature since the early
1950s. The reason focus groups are so
helpful is serendipity!
02
Science
In the world of science, serendipity is
cherished in many areas - results of
studies are evaluated by other scientists
of various backgrounds and there are
multiple feedback loops created to
capture alternative thinking.
01 Technology
It depends on where we look within the
realm of technology, but certainly, in
product development, the role of
serendipity is honored. Between focus
groups and user acceptance testing,
technology products have benefitted
greatly from serendipity.
03

11. Where has there been a
focus on serendipity?
Advertising
In the world of advertising, focus groups
have been a feature since the early
1950s. The reason focus groups are so
helpful is serendipity!
02
Science
In the world of science, serendipity is
cherished in many areas - results of
studies are evaluated by other scientists
of various backgrounds and there are
multiple feedback loops created to
capture alternative thinking.
01 Technology
It depends on where we look within the
realm of technology, but certainly, in
product development, the role of
serendipity is honored. Between focus
groups and user acceptance testing,
technology products have benefitted
greatly from serendipity.
03
...and what can we learn
from them?

12. Serendipity in
SCIENCE
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895): “In the
fields of observation, chance favours
only the prepared mind.”

13. Serendipity in
SCIENCE
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895): “In the
fields of observation, chance favours
only the prepared mind.”
Viagra is one of the top-selling
medications of all time, generating
over USD$500M every year.

14. Serendipity in
ADVERTISING
A major fast-food chain
discovered the best way
to boost breakfast sales
among teens was...?

15. Serendipity in
ADVERTISING
A major fast-food chain
discovered the best way
to boost breakfast sales
among teens was...
... to offer moms better
coffee, as many teens
rely on mom for a ride in
the morning.

16. Serendipity in
TECHNOLOGY
How a failed early
podcasting platform
spawned one of the big
social media platforms...

17. Serendipity in
TECHNOLOGY
How a failed early
podcasting platform
spawned one of the big
social media platforms...
Odeo found its’ pivot in
technology it had already built
and repurposed it to create the
foundation of Twitter.

18. There is incredible
value in serendipity.
Innovation is serendipity, so
you don't know what people
will make.
Tim Berners-Lee
Inventor of the Internet

19. There is incredible
value in serendipity.
Serendipity always rewards
the prepared.
Katori Hall
Playwright

20. There is incredible
value in serendipity.
There'll always be
serendipity involved in
discovery.
Jeff Bezos
Founder of Amazon.com

21. There is incredible
value in serendipity.
The concept of serendipity
often crops up in research.
Serendipity is the faculty or
phenomenon of finding
valuable or agreeable things
that were not being sought. I
believe that all researchers can
be serendipitous.
Akira Suzuki
Nobel Prize Recipient in Chemistry

22. There is incredible
value in serendipity.
If you use it intelligently, Twitter
can be a form of engineered
serendipity.
Jason Silva
Futurist & Television Host

23. How do we create
serendipity in
remote work
environments?

24. How do we create
serendipity in
remote work
environments?
Intentionality

25. What does
intentionality
look like?

26. What does
intentionality
look like?

27. What does
intentionality
look like?

28. What does
intentionality
look like?

29. What does
intentionality
look like?

30. What does
intentionality
look like?

31. Who has
benefited from
unexpected
connections?

32. Who has
benefited from
unexpected
connections?
everyone

33. "If I had never dropped out, I would have
never dropped in on this calligraphy class, snd
personal computers might not have the
wonderful typography they do today."
Steve Jobs audited a
calligraphy course.

34. Howard Schultz visited a
cafe in Milan.
"In each shop I visited I began to see the same
people and interactions, and it dawned on me
that what these coffee bars had created, aside
from the romance and theater of coffee, was a
morning ritual and a sense of community."

35. Wilson Greatbatch used the
wrong transistor.
Greatbatch was creating a heart recording
device when he accidentally used the wrong
transistor and recognized that the electrical
impulse generated was similar to that of the
heart. The pacemaker was invented.

36. Charles Darwin, a
geologist, talked to an
ornithologist.
Charles Darwin returned from the Galapagos
Islands and discovered his theory after talking to
an ornithologist and reviewing his extensive
notes. It was the conversation that opened up
Darwin's mind to his discovery.

37. Pay attention!
Learning isn't just when you're at a conference.
is a learning opportunity.
INFOGOV.NE
T

38. Get comfortable being
uncomfortable

39. How to get uncomfortable

40. How to get uncomfortable
Tell people what you do.

41. How to get uncomfortable
Tell people what you do.
Tell people what you're
stuck on.

42. How to get uncomfortable
Tell people what you do.
Tell people what you're
stuck on.
Have more cross-
polinating conversations.

43. DIVERSITY,
EQUITY, &
INCLUSION
Our individual differences
are our collective strengths.
INFOGOV.NE
T

44. ← Keep learning
"When you step into an
intersection of fields,
disciplines, or cultures, you
can combine existing
concepts into a large number
of extraordinary new ideas" -
The Medici Effect

45. STRUCTURING
SERENDIPITOUS
COLLABORATION
NICK INGLIS, CIP, IGP, INFO
Nick Inglis | nick@infogov.net | ninglis@iprotech.com
INFOGOV.NET
ARMA Canada
Information Conference 2021