Why you should commit to open innovation: Lessons from Rockwell Collins

by Stefan Lindegaard

Andrea Meyer of Working Knowledge pointed me to an interesting article on how Rockwell Collins, a 20,000 people company within communication and aviation electronic solutions works with open innovation.

I liked the article and in particular the below quotes that I want to share with you. They are strong and yet simple reasons why you should engage with open innovation initiatives.

Nan Mattai, senior vice president of Engineering & Technology at Rockwell Collins, encourages their employees to spend more time accelerating the use of technologies from external sources instead of reinventing wheels that others might have already developed.

“We have to be smart innovators,” said Mattai. “We have to be willing to collaborate inside and outside of our own four walls in order to bring the...

How to approach open innovation: With lessons from P&G

by Stefan Lindegaard

As you start the evolutionary process of adopting open innovation to your organization, always remember that open innovation is just a tool, not a goal. The goal is to grow your company and make a profit. Some companies might also have the goal of changing the world to a better place.

Understand that open innovation is only a piece of an overall innovation strategy. To begin, look for opportunities to develop overall open innovation capabilities out of the pockets of open innovation you may already have in your company in areas such as key partnerships, supply/value chain, and selected employees with the right mindset and toolbox. 

In my Leadership+Innovation community on LinkedIn, Chris Thoen, a R&D director at P&G, started a spirited discussion by asking...

Are there lessons we can learn from the people who innovated before us? – Podcast with Phil McKinney

by Stefan Lindegaard

I had the pleasure of meeting with Hewlett-Packard CTO, Phil McKinney a while ago. He is a great guy and very inspiring.

Phil is really into podcasts and he has just announced the first in a series of podcasts focusing on this interesting question: Are there lessons we can learn from the people who innovated before us? In the podcasts Phil conducts interviews with HP employees who were the minds behind some of the most important breakthroughs in HP’s history.

The first in the series is an interview with Dave Cochran, the product manager of the groundbreaking HP-35 calculator.  This was the first calculator that could perform all the functions of a slide rule, and it could fit in a pocket – an achievement that was incomprehensible...

The full picture of innovation: Observations from Hewlett-Packard, Doblin and IDEO

by Stefan Lindegaard

Paul emphasized that successful intrapreneurship requires this level of innovation to differentiate it from standard business growth initiatives. This contrasts sharply with most people who are accustomed to innovate one thing at a time.  He explained that this is true, in part, because...

Innovation leadership and culture: Observations from Johnson & Johnson

by Stefan Lindegaard

I have had the pleasure of getting to know Jeff Murphy over the last couple of months. Jeff is an executive director at Johnson & Johnson where he is working with improvement methodologies and business innovation.

At a meeting a couple of months ago, we got into a discussion on key leadership behaviors and decisions with regards to innovation leadership and culture. Jeff works with this at Johnson & Johnson and he has made the following observations on what business leaders who are seeking to improve their organization’s innovation capability and capacity should do.

They should:

• make innovation a TRUE business priority
• encourage cross-functional collaboration on innovation.
• make innovation part of everyone’s performance review. Recognize publically and  rewardappropriately.
•...

Should everyone work with innovation?

by Stefan Lindegaard

I have often made the argument that companies need two kinds of people to make innovation initiatives successful. They need innovation leaders who focus on building the internal platform required to develop organizational innovation capabilities. This is work on the strategic and tactical level.

Innovation leaders are often also involved as coaches and facilitators for the second group required for innovation; the intrapreneurs who turn ideas and research into new products and services. Intrapreneurs are much more operational minded, and they are rare within most companies.

A while ago, I had a conversation with Martin Smith, Director of Group Technology and Innovation at Manchester Airports Group. Martin believes there is a lot of truth to my ideas. However, he also made the observation that it implies that...

Only network if you have a reason

by Stefan Lindegaard

I have given many talks and workshops on networking and relationship building and I have learned that the best way to help people become better at networking is to create something close to a coaching sessions. I prefer getting into real issues trying to guide a volunteer with an issue on the spot. The volunteer gets a free coaching session and the other participants learn by listening and helping out.

More often than not, people have the same issues on networking. This evolves around career development and getting things done. The career stuff is more long-term and strategic whereas the latter is much more operational driven.

Relationship building

As we move towards open innovation, companies have to be able to identify and establish partnerships that...

What should managers do to get innovative employees?

by Stefan Lindegaard

Can you list five ideas on what managers should do to get innovative employees?

I was recently asked this question by a journalist and having pondered a bit on the e-mail, I decided to turn things a bit upside down and start out by challenging the managers first. This was my reply:

• Look into a mirror and ask yourself whether the person you see really understands innovation.

• Get external validation of your own self-assessment on your innovation capabilities – or lack thereof.

• Make the adjustments needed – if any – for you to manage innovative people.

• Focus on people before concepts, processes and ideas.

• Make a plan for how you will identify and develop the people you need to drive innovation within...

Innovation Upgrade: How Global Shifts Will Change Your View on Innovation

by Stefan Lindegaard

There is so much change in our innovation community right now. It is driven both by the economic crisis and the overall fast pace of change that we just need to get used to. I am convinced that once the crisis is over, things will not be as they used to be. We will get a new kind of normal, and I have been pondering what this will mean for our innovation community. These are just my early thoughts – your input is highly appreciated.

Shift 1: Information and knowledge are fast becoming more accessible and transparent. What happens when we can google all the information we need? How can we become better at extracting knowledge out of information? There is a lot of research going...

Finally! – a company that stays committed to innovation even in tough times

by Stefan Lindegaard

What should a company do with their innovation initiatives in tough times like this?

Unfortunately, most companies respond to tough economic times by cutting deep –often too deep – on their organizational innovation capabilities, and this time around has been no different. It has been somewhat depressing witnessing this over the last 6-9 months.

The answer to what companies should do was given in an article in the leading Danish business daily, Borsen, and I was delighted that the advice was not given by a consultant or an academic. No, it was given by Niels B. Christiansen, the CEO of Danfoss, a global leader in development and production of mechanical and electronic products and controls. This company with 23,000 employees has definitely been hit hard...