You are definitely right that companies also need to look at the inside-out part of open innovation. However, I think it is OK for companies to focus on how they can work with external partners on projects they can control before they look into how they can contribute – and make money – on their own patents and R&D ideas. As you say, this is quite difficult…

Stefan

Thanks for the insightful interview with Jeff. From reading the article it appears that the G-Win activity is very well-versed in three of the four steps to a truly Open Innovation Program. In order to make that ‘final leap’ a program to export internal technology to create new revenue streams must be in place. This is an extremely difficult step not only to execute but to get internal buy-in, as it requires establishing a means for outside entities to have access to your Patents, trade secrets and R&D ideas that have been previously left on the ‘cutting floor’.

I would be curious to learn about organizations that have made that leap, or are thinking about making that leap, to learn about best practices, wins and challenges. I think General Mills has come a long way in their Connected Innovation initiative, and in some regards can be looked at as a leader in this portion of OI, but a total OI package needs to look at ‘EI’ as well.