"THE MOST IMPORTANT CHALLENGES TODAY ARE INTERDEPENDENT - THEY CAN ONLY BE SOLVED BY GROUPS WORKING COLLABORATIVELY TOGETHER."
"INNOVATION THRIVES IN NETWORKS THAT SPAN SOCIETAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL BOUNDARIES."
"EVERYTHING IS – OR SOON WILL BE – CONNECTED."

How do we innovate in a world where boundaries collide, borders form and everything connects?

In my work and in everyday conversations, I hear more and more people talking about their experiences – good and bad – navigating our world in which everything is – or soon will be – connected.

As a researcher, consultant and executive, I have made it my mission to explore the boundaries that fuel – or limit –  our human capacity for solving pressing problems, spurring innovation, and transforming our organizations and communities.

For 20 years, I have drawn on the science of networks and the power of boundary spanning to help organizations tackle their toughest challenges. I’ve witnessed firsthand how once-limiting boundaries transformed into innovative new frontiers:

  • A newly created boundary spanning network in Silicon Valley is guided through an innovation challenge and creates a breakthrough new product that is successfully prototyped at client sites within 6 months.
  • A nonprofit in India transforms from a relief to a rights-based organization, able to affect the lives of nearly 500,000 children through advocacy and initiatives in more than 5,000 villages throughout the vast country.
  • Two government agencies – with dramatically different cultures and operations – become a “team of teams” successfully realizing a massive, high-stakes joint operation in Iraq.

I’ve created this website to share some of what I know, projects I am working on, and resources that I hope are useful as you learn to live, work and lead in the new, networked world.

  • CHRIS ERNST
    CHRIS ERNSTRESEARCHER, CONSULTANT, EXECUTIVE

How do we adapt in a world where the old structures are giving way to networks that emerge, strengthen, combine and recombine?

How do we thrive in a world of connection and interdependence?

Contact Us

We're not around right now. But you can send us an email and we'll get back to you, asap.

Not readable? Change text. captcha txt

Start typing and press Enter to search