Openness, curiosity and respect: Underlying conditions for developing innovative knowledge and ideas between disciplines

Based on an ethnographic study of three multidisciplinary groups working with innovation – two groups in a large oil and gas company and one group in a Norwegian research institute – this paper investigates the building of innovative knowledge and the underlying relational conditions involved. The research question is: How is knowledge built at the boundaries between different disciplines? Drawing on Edwards' work on relational expertise and Bakhtin's dialogical principles the article presents analyses of thick descriptions from observations, field conversations and formal interviews. Main findings indicate that when group members from different disciplines construct a common knowledge platform during the development of innovative ideas they require the ability to recognize and build on each other's competences. This process is aided by having openness, curiosity and respect for each other's views, suggesting that it is not sufficient to assemble people with special expertise from different disciplines; they need additional relational skills for collaboration and accomplishing knowledge building.