A client of mine in Jerusalem has just been accepted to an accelerator. Earlier this week, I was discussing with her what kind of business mentor or coach she would like to receive from the set up.

Her response was straight to the point. To summarise: obviously somebody who knows a great deal about her area of commerce and has similar experiences to share. Right? And she expected my immediate approval.

I disagreed. Knowing better than to give an example of my experiences, I referred to David Clutterbuck’s book “Everyone needs a mentor“. In what could be an example of what he describes as ‘reverse mentoring’, Clutterbuck described a situation where golf and tennis coaches swopped professions.

The result was incredible. Although not proficient in the respective sports, the coaches were able to identify new weaknesses that the ‘regular’ trainers had not spotted or handled. The players were delighted.

I have to admit that the face of my client remained skeptical. However, with some ironic timing, I came across a new blog from the Harvard Business Review on how Cisco has successfully encouraged innovation in recent years.  Stephen Monterde, Director of Corporate Development at Cisco Systems, explained that: –

At Cisco, we are learning to answer these questions – responding to technological challenges – through three initiatives designed to broaden our knowledge base by bringing multiple perspectives together: embracing diversity within our walls; reaching out across industries; and building partnerships with former (and current) competitors.

To summarise a fascinatingarticle, what this multinational achieves is the creation of a ‘sandpit’ of human resources, ensuring that new ideas are exposed to the views of all departments. It is this diversity, that deliberately crosses boundaries, that drives Cisco’s constantly evolving commercial successes.

And if Cisco employees can listen to others ‘outside the comfort zone’, I think there is a lesson here for all of us.