Many corporate CEOs are unhappy with the level of innovation they’re getting for the billions they pour into R&D. One root cause of the low return, a large body of research suggests, lies in the managerial tendency to treat novel ideas as aberrations to be resisted. At each stage of the innovation process—from inception to integration to implementation—executives will either water down “deviant” ideas to make them fit within existing businesses or crush them altogether.

However, we believe that executives and innovators can combat this problem if they carefully harness their networks. This is something we saw in empirical studies on organizational networks we did with Paola Criscuolo of Imperial College London, David Krackhardt of Carnegie Mellon University, Ammon Salter of the University of Warwick, and Marco Tortoriello of Bocconi University. Altogether the studies—two of which were funded by the European Research Council—involved nearly 1,000 R&D executives and innovators. Through them we identified three particularly effective practices: finding and mobilizing catalysts in external networks who help launch ideas, engaging with internal sparring partners to turn those ideas into viable business propositions, and selectively sequencing the introduction of ideas within your social circles in the company to stress-test them and gradually gain buy-in.

While there’s nothing inherently magical about these activities, in our work with executives and companies we’ve observed that few leaders fully appreciate or habitually do them. But all leaders can master the three networking practices once they understand their underlying principles.

Find and Mobilize Innovation Catalysts

The first problem with novel ideas is, quite simply, that business leaders don’t come across them that often. The siloed nature of organizations means that for many managers, a big chunk of day-to-day interactions are with the same people in the same context. And though C-suite executives at large, diversified companies will naturally mix with managers from around the organization—not to mention with numerous formal and informal advisers outside it—many of them still gravitate toward like-minded people with similar experiences, expertise, and backgrounds.

Our research shows that leaders at genuinely innovative companies consciously avoid that trap by deliberately seeking and spending time with people we call innovation catalysts: individuals who have a knack for cultivating networks that combine a sense of community and a diversity of perspectives. Because these people have access to wide-ranging knowledge that is acutely relevant, they’re able to inspire new ideas and enhance their development. What sets catalysts apart is that they are unusually generous with their time, exceptionally skilled at staying connected to people from many spheres, and always on the hunt for out-of-the-ordinary ideas.

One business leader who can attest to the value of innovation catalysts is Jaideep (not his real name), the head of digital transformation at a large health care trust in the UK. For many years its affiliated hospitals had been coping with increasingly longer patient waiting lists and overcrowded emergency departments. A solution to the waiting lists in radiology came from an innovation catalyst named Hannah in a group of Jaideep’s friends from medical school, who for the past 15 years had held weekend outings twice annually.

Warming up over a cup of tea after a mountain hike, Jaideep and Hannah got to talking about the waiting lists. Hannah, who’d been using artificial intelligence in her work developing new brain cancer therapies for a major pharmaceutical firm, suggested AI as an avenue for Jaideep to explore. She connected him with people in her network who had pioneered AI in other health care settings, putting him on a path that would eventually result in the UK’s first cloud-based AI radiology device. Now deployed nationwide, it’s able to read and interpret results far more quickly than human radiologists, resulting in faster treatment times and shorter waiting lists.

The strong bonds among members of the alumni group—who had built deep trust over many years of friendship—made it easier for Jaideep to share his challenges and for Hannah to commit time and energy to think about them. Equally important as the social bonds were the divergent career paths of the group’s members, which spanned an extraordinarily varied range of medical experiences and expertise. But even among this well-connected bunch, Hannah stood out for her diverse array of contacts. She loved the exchange of ideas, often going to conferences well outside her own domain and making friends in many different communities.

Conversations with catalysts are best held away from a larger group—at a quiet lunch outside a conference venue or perhaps over a shared drink on a park bench. Informality and privacy make it easier to bounce around ideas that might seem offbeat. It’s also important that both parties get something out of the exchange. Jaideep can’t just harvest Hannah’s ideas—he has to reciprocate by sharing ideas himself that she could pass on to some other connections of hers in a different line of work. Being part of a close-knit network involves give-and-take, which fosters trust as members build reputations for being helpful to others. Such reputations, in turn, enable people to get more assistance down the road.