I blogged about Andrew Hargadon earlier. In my talk at the Ark SNA conference today, I was able to cite Hargadon’s three principles for creating an innovative environment:

• Build networks
• Develop collaborative work practices
• Find and reward the technology brokers

Came back from giving the talk to find the latest HBS Working Knowledge newsletter with a lead article on innovation by Lee Fleming of Harvard Business School. Fleming has also studied innovation networks, specifically looking at Silicon Valley and Cambridge, and the diffusion of ideas that comes from people changing companies frequently. I was sad to read his assessment that the collapse of Digital Equipment set back the Boston/Cambridge area by many years in the technology innovation race. (It was a great place to work and certainly a magnet/hub of activity that linked MIT and others.) The MIT influence has certainly kept Kendall Square going strong. Fleming also mentions the palpable excitement there these days.

I am working with a client in Kendall Square, and I love going there (except for the 3hour round-trip commute). I mentioned to a friend who also works in Kendall Square at the Center for Coordination Science that I have a lot of karma with that place. During college, I worked a semester at MIT’s registrar’s office. My first job with IBM a year later was at 545 Tech Square. And, I met my husband there.