Knowledge Resource Centre

Hot Spots: Why Some Companies Buzz with Energy and Innovation - and Others Don't

Lynda Gratton

Hot spots, Lynda Gratton explains, are situations either in space or time where “people are working together in exceptionally creative ways”. The outward appearance and feeling of hot spot activity is a creative ‘buzz’, business success, clarity of thinking, enjoyment and excitement through a collective achievement in the work environment. In this book, Gratton shows the conditions needed to produce hot spots and the processes to convert them into competitive advantage.

Popular examples of hot spots might include Nokia, Google and Starbucks, where exciting and innovative approaches could be described as hot spot activity. This activity, as Gratton explains, can arise anywhere at any time, and could occur during a formal meeting, a brief chat at the coffee machine, or a Eureka moment on the factory floor. The important thing is the burst of creative energy and the subsequent breaking down of normal boundaries to produce exceptional results.

In Hot Spots, Lynda Gratton has carried out an in-depth examination of the root causes of these epicentres of success, and has systematically divulged the secrets for recreating hot spot conditions in other corporate environments. She looks at the conditions for and against the nourishment of ‘hot spots’ and points out that “innovative capacity arises from the intelligence, insights and wisdom of people working together”.

The book focuses first on defining ‘hot spots’ and then moves on to show the reader exactly how to sow the seeds for similar activity in their own organisations. In researching the book, Gratton investigated 57 teams in 17 companies including Nokia, Goldman Sachs, Reuters and BP. The processes and structural organisation she observed in these companies have been condensed into four vital conditions for ‘hot spot’ nourishment.

The four conditions are:

1. A cooperative mindset
2. An ability to span boundaries
3. The collective igniting of purpose
4. The achieving of productive capacity

To enable and maintain these conditions, Gratton further identifies five key strategies offering ways to implement and achieve hot spot capacity. The five strategies are: an appreciation of talent, making commitments, resolving conflicts, synchronising time and establishing a rhythm.

Gratton emphasises, however, that best practices cannot be forced on a company. Competitive advantage through hot spots can only be achieved by developing “signature processes” - unique ways of getting people working together. These processes must be developed from within each company, at each hot spot, rather than implementing strict directives or practices from outside the company. This is essentially the challenge that Gratton illuminates: how to influence the emergence of hot spots without directly controlling or forcing them.

With Hot Spots, Lynda Gratton has achieved a real breakthrough book. She introduces a new and exciting concept, demonstrates its fascinating and vital importance to modern business culture, and provides the necessary tools to implement the strategies - all under one roof. This should provide a useful resource for HR managers, executives and other business leaders looking to manage creatively.