[P2P-F] Open Innovation and How to Foster it appols for X-post frm Nick Jankel

[Michel Bauwens]

thanks Mark!

On Fri, Feb 4, 2011 at 1:27 PM, Mark Petz <ravenwyn at gmail.com> wrote:

> Frm Nick Jankel <nick at wecreate.cc>
>
>
> http://www.wecreate.cc/nuggets/nugget/the-key-to-sustainable-growth-building-an-open-innovation-culture/
>
> Home <http://www.wecreate.cc/> > Nuggets > The Key to Sustainable Growth:
> Building an Open Innovation Culture
> The Key to Sustainable Growth: Building an Open Innovation Culture
>
> *January 26, 2011*
>
> A landmark report from The Judge Institute at Cambridge University,
> published in the Journal of Marketing, has finally proved something of
> unprecedented importance to all innovation professionals. Innovation success
> is not driven by innovation process, star hires, R&D spend, budget or even
> the country in which the company is based. In the study of 800 firms across
> 17 countries, company culture was the single greatest determinant of
> profitable innovation. Yet developing a culture of innovation, especially of
> radical innovation, is extremely challenging - perhaps nothing could be more
> challenging for an organisation, particularly those entrenched in
> conventional, risk-averse and hierarchical management practices. What is
> more, the usual costs associated with such a wholesale change management
> process are prohibatively high in this economy and risk alientaing staff.
> But there is another way...
>
> For those that commit to creating such a culture, the rewards are rich
> indeed. Having an innovation culture is perhaps the greatest asset a company
> such as Apple or Pixar has. It provides them with a unique, defensible and
> sustainable capability to overcome market challenges whist concurrently
> shaping the market to fit their own ideas and vision. We believe creating
> bot just an innovation culture but an open, collaborative innovation culture
> is the preeminent business challenge of this century. Given the evolutionary
> law of requisite variety (organisms that thrive best are those that most
> closely match the features of their environment), it is clear that
> organisations that match the increasingly open and networked culture of our
> emerging society will be best placed to capitalize on the vital role
> distributed creativity (I.e. the wisdom of the crowd) can play in creating
> profitable innovation. The era of GM stye hierarchies is coming to a close.
> The future belongs to those who innovate, and do so collaboratively.
>
> Here are the 7 specific, smart and cost-effective tools and mechanics - the
> ‘jewels\ to engineer an innovation culture that won’t break the bank or be
> resisted by ‘business as usual’ attitudes and conventional behaviors of the
> majority.
>
> 1. FOCUS ON FOSTERING A VIRAL INNOVATION CULTURE ONE MIND AND TEAM AT A
> TIME
>
> Top down hierarchical initiatives designed to ‘make’ a company innovative
> are expensive and far from certain to work, especially in challenging times
> when entrenchment is common and ‘change fatigue’ an issue. Whilst one needs
> definitive innovation leadership and commitment at the top, it it usually
> fastest, more efficient and more effective to create an innovation culture
> at the grassroots, one team / mind at a time. To make grassroots
> transformation happen fastest, one needs to create a set of simple (but not
> simplistic) tools, practices and principles, the best of which are set out
> below. As Buckminster Fuller said, small interventions - put into motion in
> specific sweetspots in the system - can create massive change. He called
> these trim-tabs (after the tiny part of a rudder that can alter the course
> of the largest tankers). A great way to find them in your organisation is
> observational / ethnographic research into how your teams do and think and
> what real and perceived obstacles exist for innovation. Then small but
> powerful changes can be designed to transform ‘business as usual’ into
> ‘innovation as usual’. The goal is to create the maximum conditions likely
> to lead to sustained innovation - not mandating it from on high. Lasting
> competitive advantage comes from harnessing distributed creativity inside
> and outside of the organisation as a matter of course - no longer from
> managing (through command and control) a small group of innovators in
> traditional R&D depts.
>
> 2. INSTITUTIONALIZE INNOVATION HABITS USING HEURISTICS
>
> Innovation is not a ‘thing’. It is a set of behaviours or habits, driven by
> a governing mindset. This is what a company culture is. Apple’s “best feat
> may be the culture that helps generate so many folks who’ve gone on to
> create great products elsewhere” (Business Week). As well as coaching and
> training, we suggest designing and instilling a set of heuristics (or rules
> of thumb) which the organisation uses semi-religiously and becomes ‘the way
> things are done here’. E.g ‘Always look for the win win win.’ or ‘Fail fast
> but only fail once’ or ‘Do things nobody else will do’. This also includes
> strategically re-designing the way meetings are run, projects signed-off,
> people appraised etc that generates an innovation culture every day. For
> example, when people rubbish or critique an idea at any time in a meeting,
> ensure that any team member has the right to challenge them to think of two
> good reasons why the idea is good (and there are always two good reasons for
> any idea, no matter what). New recruits can be invited as a matter of policy
> to present to the team / management the 3 top things they would change about
> the organisation, the company or its products, perhaps a month after joining
> (when their critical capacities and lack of group think are keenest). These
> small changes ensure new habits are built in the everyday moments when
> culture is created and maintained.
>
> 3. DEFINE WHAT INNOVATION LOOKS LIKE USING THE POWER OF CHECKLISTS
>
> It is vital the the organisation gains consensus on what quality,
> innovation and creativity look and feel like when you do create them. This
> means knowing what the ‘minimal viable’ value add is. To create a common
> approach - as well as ensure optimal iteration of all ideas as far as they
> can be pushed - we use checklists, which are designed around organisational
> values, business practices and goals. Checklists have been proven to be
> extremely powerful in shifting behaviour in the real world and they are very
> simple. They can be put on credit card sized aides, desk accoutrement or
> within forms on and off line.
>
> 4. GIVE MAVERICKS & THEIR NETWORKS PERMISSION TO INVENT THE FUTURE
>
> Lack of ideas is never the problem. Most of the winning ideas already live
> within your teams, partners, customers / users and networks. The trick is to
> harness them within impactful and / or profitable innovation. Mavericks
> within the team (and outside the organisation) have more ideas and passion
> than most. But often they are sidetracked, ostracized or ignored. Clustered
> around them are often the other kinds of people needed to generate
> successful innovation - commercializers and those great at implementation.
> Centralised R&D / innovation prevents distributed innovators from
> prototyping, testing and iterating at the rapid pace they can work at when
> not managed centrally. Give natural innovators permission - and space / time
> / budget / credibility - to turn their ideas into innovations. Research also
> shows that diverse teams are often better than crack teams at solving
> complex problems so ensure that the team is made up of people that dont have
> the same perspectives. Encourage  team member to understand the vital
> importance of their own personal and professional networks in their
> innovation capacity - and give them time and space to nurture their strong
> and weak ties inside and out (including online and in social media). Banning
> Facebook may not make your organisation more competitive.
>
> 5. HARNESS THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE BY CELEBRATING THE ROLE OF INNOVATION IN
> GENERATING FLOW STATES AND PERSONAL FULFILLMENT
>
> IIf you want people to shift to be more creative and inventive, show them
> the benefits of being innovative rather than forcing them, cajoling them or
> threatening them. Being innovative is a fundamental competitive advantage to
> any professional and also has many positive benefits within our personal
> lives. It allows us all to solve our own, and our organisation’s, problems
> no matter what life throws at us. More than anything, innovators tend to
> experience the psychological phenomenon of ‘flow’ far more often than others
> because they are so engaged. Inspire your teams to explore their potential
> as innovators and creative leaders for their own benefit. Fear rarely
> creates the right conditions for innovation and it is vital to repeatedly
> prove to people that taking risk and making mistakes will not lead to ‘pain’
> (in the form of ridicule, alienation etc) Once they start to shift, it is
> vital that you trust them to grow and develop themselves and their ideas.
> All innovation projects can lead to valuable learnings for individuals and
> the organisation. This means you reframe ‘failure’ as ‘successfully learning
> how not to do something’.
>
> 6. INCENTIVISE INNER MOTIVATION AS MUCH AS LEVERAGING FINANCIAL OR
> PROFESSIONAL REWARD
>
> Recent research has shown that human beings are highly motivated by the
> excitement and kudos of cracking a problem or mastering a new skill. In
> fact, when we reward inner motivated people with money or promotion, often
> their performance falls! True innovators are highly motivated by
> problem-solving, making things better and taking on new challenges so allow
> them to self-organize and self-direct. That said, for many others types of
> people necessary within innovation teams, unless innovation habits or
> behaviours are measured in evaluation programs, it will not be prioritized.
> Ensure your incentivisation levers are balanced, rewarding innovation with a
> mix of credibility / kudos, promotion and material benefits. With open
> innovation, sharing rewards is as important as sharing the efforts.
> Incentivising entire teams can work better than incentivisng individuals
> which can just drives non-collaborative practices.
>
> 7.GIVE INNOVATION CLEARLY SANCTIONED SPACE (& BRING IT TO LIFE)
>
> Unless innovation has an officially sanctioned physical place and
> conceptual space, it will often peter out. GIve people time to experiment,
> try new protocols, shift their mindset as well as space to take real risks
> and make mistakes. Signal to teams that some areas of the office (which can
> grow over time as the viral innovation culture spreads) are set up for
> innovation. In some cases, taking people out of the office into a new space
> like a ‘skunkworks’ - where new habits / principles apply rather than the
> old ways of doing things - can radically shift their behavior towards
> innovation (and it can replicate the start-up atmosphere that leads to more
> disruptive innovation). Turn complex innovation processes and approaches
> into visual tools that can go on walls, in rooms and even on the floor. We
> even work to turn innovation process into 3D experiences, as in the latest
> museum exhibits, that act as both training programs, design tools and *aide
> memoires*.
>
>


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