Building resilience and capability: Shaping the future of Morgan Sindall Construction

Hothousing explained “The terminology ‘hothouse’ has been coined by us for a reason,” explains Dr Imran Zawwar. “We have limited time – only two days – and so there is a lot of amplification of differences. We don’t try to minimise these differences – in fact we try to amplify them. Discussions then become heated, because one person is trying to pursue their idea and their approach and someone else is defending theirs. It comes to a tipping point and, after that, a natural inclination. “Our job as facilitators is to shepherd and guide this process where they try to combine these opposable ideas and this opposable thinking in a manner that results in a unified direction.” Based on Google’s Design Sprint, which has its roots in tech start-ups, Cranfield’s Innovation Hothouse follows a structured, step-by-step process to identify key organisational business problems and test ideas through a series of innovation exercises and activities. As part of the innovation sprint, Morgan Sindall Construction colleagues were given the opportunity to develop a rigorous business case for tackling each of five identified key strategic priorities for the organisation. “With hothousing, everything happens in the moment – in aviation terms it’s like building an aeroplane while you are flying,” Imran adds. “But it’s a wonderful process when it’s happening – exhilarating and rewarding. “At the start it looks very challenging, and you see people trying to avoid contributing because they feel nervous or they are introverted. But gradually one person after another joins in and in a few hours the whole room is vibrant with energy and that psychological safety net has been established where everyone feels able to contribute. That is the space where things really happen – it’s very powerful. “Human beings are social animals, and if you can bind them together to a common purpose and they can become meaningful in that process by seeing how they bring value to it then they enjoy the process, because they are part of creating it.”

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