Sense and respond has always been part of how we work at Collective Intelligence — an instinct Harv carried over from his years in farming. So when an acquaintance approached him with an ambitious project needing a skilled team behind it, that instinct kicked in. Could a model honed on the land be adapted to something entirely different?

Harv thought so. He handpicked a diverse team for the challenge — much like training his first sheepdog, he committed fully. That project became the unlikely origin of what is now our Incubator offering.

The first Incubator team didn't deliver what everyone had hoped for. But it wasn't for lack of effort, and the lessons it produced were invaluable. Failure, when you're willing to honestly examine it, teaches more than success ever could.

The enthusiasm held. And when Harv was introduced to Dr Amanda Evans — through Sarah Tocker — it was immediately clear this was worth backing. Amanda had a bold vision: establishing a Gold Standard for Paediatric Palliative Care in New Zealand. A no-brainer to get behind.

This time, the Incubator model delivered. Beautifully. With plenty more learnings along the way.

Last month, it was a genuine joy to watch Amanda take the stage representing Rei Kotuku Charitable Trust as a finalist in the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year — Community category.

Diverse teams are remarkably versatile — capable of making sense of complexity in ways that more conventional approaches simply can't.

If you have a big idea that needs the right people around it, an Incubator team might be exactly what it takes to bring it to life.

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