16 Jun Driving an Open Innovation Mindset Into Companies
A few weeks ago, several staff members attended a webinar on innovation conducted by Technology scouting services expert Tim Bernstein of yet2.com and Innovation Engineering™ leader Doug Hall of Eureka. The talk, “Waiting for the Cavalry. Rescuing Your Innovation Process”, was an open discussion focused on how to quicken (or expedite) the innovation process, among other important aspects. For those interested in open innovation, it was quite inspiring, since they touched base on useful matters when regarding the introduction of an open innovation culture that encourages ideas and innovation within companies. Here we summarize some actions to be undertaken in order to achieve this aim.
Get the workforce involved. People are important to open innovation strategies’ success. According to Tim Bernstein, innovation depends 96% on the system and 4% on the people, but since open innovation is more generally
a mindset, this spirit must reach the entire workforce to get the whole organization working together with the same goal.
Alignment of strategy and resources. Leaders must clarify exactly what innovation is for their company and how to reach to move the whole company in the same direction.
Decentralization. Once everyone knows their goals, companies must provide freedom of action and autonomy to reach them, as well as “smiling stimulus”.
Training. The open innovation mindset must be trained, permeating into everyone in the organization. Also, agents of change have to be located and used to spread the seed of change towards an open culture and align people with the new values and strategy.
Go for external knowledge. The not-invented-here syndrome is always mentioned as one of the greatest obstacles to open innovation. Employees suspiciously regard what comes from the outside, but talent is everywhere and organizations must be able to incorporate it. Tim Bernstein made the following observation: Sometimes consultants from the outside are no better than internal workers, but they are able to inspire them by simply bringing fresh perspectives.
No Comments