03 As it was Copyright © 2022 Accenture. All rights reserved. 39 + photo-realistic, vibrant, macro shot, hyper-realistic, diverse, textured, hyper-realistic, colorful, change 100, aspect ratio 3:2, algorithm version 4 When Covid-19 locked everyone in their homes, it kicked spontaneity to the side- lines, which is still having a knock-on effect on innovation. An MIT study found that when workers are dispersed, the relationships that foster innovation are often those that suffer most. 53 Innovation is also fueled by unconscious observation, as exposure to the world beyond the home office brings color to people’s lived experience. If nobody ventures out to investigate new fields of interest or looks deeper into emerging trends, creativity will suffer. People who stay at home all the time miss out on the stimulation of watching how the world is moving forward, of identifying problems to solve, and of simply being part of an evolving culture. As Neal Stanton, Co-CEO of enterprise video service Ramp, comments in Forbes: “One of the biggest challenges facing leaders is ensuring the ongoing viability and profitability of a company, two factors that are tied to not only individual performance but also team performance as well. It’s the latter where collaboration, creativity, innovation and productivity are irretrievably linked and dependent on one another.” 54 Tangibles such as those elements Mr. Stanton mentions are given meaning and made more enjoyable by intangibles, many of which were lost in the scramble to work remotely.