Yesterday I asked if innovation can be born in groups or individuals. The answer depends on the definition of innovation. Creativity is not the same as innovation, ideas are born in both individuals and groups but the execution (innovation) is very much a team game.

In the above video, designer Thomas Thwaites recounts how he set out to build a toaster by himself. That meant doing everything from mining ore for steel and then melting it, to making the plastic case. In conclusion he says that it takes an entire civilization to build a toaster. No doubt it makes a great case that it takes a team to innovate.

We must not overlook the lone inventor either, though they are a rarity. And most know how to create but not how to commercialize and that’s where a group of people come in.