Author Archives: Stefan Lindegaard
What are the key challenges for business innovation units? Let’s have a discussion on this. Below you get my starters. Your input is highly appreciated! Continue reading
Yes, you gotta love Lego! Not only is the company doing amazingly well during this ”crisis”; they are also constantly experimenting with new ways of working together with partners. Their new thing is Lego Cuusoo. Here Lego has teamed up with Cuusoo, which is a Japanese pioneer of user innovative product design that introduced a design-to-order process already in 1998. The following image gives you a good explanation of the project: Sofar only 1 project has been realized, but once Lego Cuusoo expands beyond Japan and thus activates the huge international fan base, this could turn into an interesting vehicle for Lego. I think this is a great example on how crowdsourcing/co-creation (users create projects, try to get support) mixes with open innovation (the partnership between Lego and Cuusoo). It fits well into my thinking that terms such as open innovation, crowdsourcing and co-creation are becoming less relevant. It is … Continue reading
Paul Sloane recently asked this question in my 15inno LinkedIn group: Is Open Innovation the future for all companies or is it so damned hard that only a few will have the resources and commitment to make it work? I think this is an interesting question although I acknowledge it is a question that you cannot answer with a simple yes or no. Personally, I do not think we will talk much about open innovation 5-7 years from now. This is not because I believe the idea of opening up the innovation process is wrong; on the contrary. What will happen is that the terms “open innovation” and “innovation” will merge leaving us with just “innovation” – but the meaning of this term will include a much higher external element than what see today. As an answer to Paul’s question, I would say this development will happen in all industries … Continue reading
Perhaps the question should be: Is the term, open innovation, superficial? The topic was raised at the Open Innovation Summit in Chicago after a presentation given by Susan Harman, Group Manager, Open Innovation at Intuit. Intuit began their open innovation efforts a few years back, and they have lots of ongoing initiatives. So they do open innovation, but when Susan asks her colleagues if they are doing it, she gets blank stares. This led Susan to questioning the term and now she is learning that it is easier to get people on-board by asking question such as: Are you working with external partners? If so, are you collaborating and experimenting with them, or just purchasing products or services? Susan’s note: Collaboration and experimentation with third parties (individuals, customers, entrepreneurs, suppliers, academia, bug companies) is what leads to innovation and speed to market. Are you experimenting and doing rapid prototypes? Are … Continue reading
The pace of evolution on the intersection between open innovation and social media is astonishing and companies need to pay lots of attention to where things are headed. P&G and their Connect+Develop initiative is rightfully considered one of the best examples of open innovation implementation and I especially like their “behind the scenes” efforts and how they and constantly try to improve their efforts. Despite their good work, I think P&G’s Connect+Develop site (and sites of other companies) need to evolve into next generation sites that include more community features. Three companies give us an idea of what direction things are headed although they are still in their earlier phases themselves. GE and their Ecomagination challenge showcases lots of social media features, Psion and their Ingenuity Working portal is developing into an interesting destination site not only for Psion, but also for other companies interested in rugged handheld computers and … Continue reading
As I mentioned in this blog post, 5 Keys to Making Innovation Communities Work, I gave a talk at the recent HYPE Innovation User Forum. At the forum, I met Colin Nelson from HYPE Innovation, who gave an interesting presentation in which he shared some good insights on how to make people participate in innovation challenges. I especially paid attention to his comments that any individual that we invite to share ideas or expertise run through a series of mental checks before they spare their time. Colin states that these checks are carried out at lightening pace and often done subconsciously. However, if we understand what they are, the answers to such checks can be built into a communications plan. Some examples are below: I fully agree with Colin when he says that people are busy and that they will only spare their time if they understand it is for … Continue reading
When I give talks on the intersection of open innovation and social media, I often get into discussions on what it takes to make a community work. This also happened when I met with the participants of the HYPE User Community, which is a group of corporate innovation people using HYPE innovation products and services. I have some experience on making communities work as I have witnessed several initiatives and by running my own groups and networks in both the virtual and physical world. I would argue that the below 5 elements are key to success. 1. “Need” Many community owners or initiators take it for given that their intended target group has a need for this group or community. This is not always true and they need to remember that they are asking for the most precious thing potential participants have – that is time. They need to find … Continue reading
