Fast, Open and Global – The Future of Innovation
Innovation might seem a bit foggy at times, but I have a pretty clear vision that the future for this increasingly important discipline will be build on three key elements; Fast, Open and Global.
If you follow my blog, then you know I have a strong focus on open innovation. This is one of the key elements, but it cannot stand by itself. Companies must bring the open approach into a fast and global perspective.
I give a brief explanation on the elements below, but first let me share why I write this post. I simply find the combination intriguing and I want to look further into this, write about it on my blog and share my findings through LinkedIn and Twitter. Hopefully, this will result in a new book in the spring of 2011.
It would great to get you involved and I hope you will join the discussions on the upcoming blog posts and thus share your views on this topic. I will be very open to include your thoughts in the book (due credit will of course be given)…
Let me get back to my early thoughts on fast, open and global.
Fast as in fail fast and fail often. Companies will no longer have the luxury of spending the time they do today in order to develop their products and services. As the speed of change increases and the life time cycles of products and services decrease, companies need to work hard on bringing their offerings to market faster and cheaper.
Open as in open innovation. This paradigm shift is inevitable for many companies and industries. It is just a question of which companies that gets this first and executes the best in order to reap the benefits of being the preferred partner of choice within their industry. Besides my blog, you should also check out my new book: The Open Innovation Revolution
Global as in innovation happens anywhere. Global companies continue to move their R&D and innovation activities away from their corporate headquarters into a growing number of global innovation hubs. What I find to be an interesting addition to innovation globalization is the emerging trend of reverse innovation in which western-based companies that innovate in emerging countries and bring this innovation back to the western world. It is no longer just a one-way game. Check this article:
I look forward to working with you on the topic of Fast, Open and Global…
I must agree with your thinking here. The notion sad notion that exists today among certain organizations that "we're quite innovative," then citing mundane and mediocre offerings just won't cut it in the future. Way too much evidence of this reality today.
I would say that fast really needs to be faster. Whatever speed a firm is comfortable at, well then ratchet things up until you become uncomfortable. Failing fast with a purpose will yield the type of results that will generate real learning. Quickly translate that learning into the next round of ideation… and keep repeating till you find the marketable item.
Open and global must exist on the same level, as they are the ying and the yang of the future. There is no more a reality where products exist for a mere single market. Everything will be a variant of a larger global offering that is ideated, developed, and manufactured for the world economy. Where it comes from will be irrelevant for the most part. The whole notion that silos will perform certain activities (i.e. Innovation) will soon cease to be part of successful organizations.
The future "innovation network" will truly be a powerful thing to those who cultivate the necessary relationships and become part of the larger entity. Single corporate departments becoming the benchmarks is over. The people, the practitioners, the black belts of innovation will become the new engine of vision and creativity. And through this powerful, OPEN, GLOBAL, and collaborative entity will come the breakthrough innovation that is talked about for years to come.
Cheers!
I agree with the principles Stefan, and would add the biggest driver is competition. Competitors are becoming more agile, therefore faster, and speed to market (which has always been important) gets even more important year by year. I agree with Randy's statement that open and global go together. You need to search for the innovation wherever it is, not just your own back yard; that way you understand other markets better, meaning you can develop better products etc etc.
So what does it mean for companies?
- better consumer/customer engagement to ensure products have the widest relevant global audience, without making too many compromises
- more agile product development, for example ditching command and control stage/gate systems in favour of devolved, responsible, multi-functional project teams
- moving more resources to Open Innovation, with serious effort on culture change in those companies where NIH is a real barrier
- dedicated resources around the world scouting for new technology to integrate into products to be launched globally
- better engagement of IP and Legal functions in big companies to make them agents of change rather than potential barriers (it's usually not their fault, by the way)
- acceptance of failure – if people are scared to fail they will make sure everything is right, and take more time doing it
There's more – I look forward to this discussion, it's a good topic.
Kevin
Hi Stefan,
Now that I'm writing my thesis about Open Innovation, I have no doubts that this is the trend worldwide. However, as same as you, I have also asked myself about what is going to be the future of Innovation.
A couple of weeks ago, I had an interesting conversation with Jennifer Ernst (Director of Business Development at PARC), and there was a question that came up during the discussion, where both of us thought that it would be nice to get some further insight form people involved in the topic.
The question was: What is going to happen when everyone realizes that in order to compete, and maintain a company's organic growth, it would be necessary to "Open Up" their Business Models? If that happens, what today seems to be a competitive advantage for many (P&G, IBM, Cisco, GE, and so on), is not going to be anymore…….it will become sort of a commodity, that if you do not have it, you are out.
I think that what is going to happen next, is that a bunch of companies will start implementing an Open Innovation approach, because they think this is something "cool" to have, that seems to bring a lot of advantages (based on the experiences of the companies mentioned above). However, most of them will fail in the process, therefore will choose to come back at the same place they were. For instance, being the partner of choice is "easy" to say for a company like P&G. Off course everyone will like to partner up with P&G, because they know that leveraging P&G's marketing and channels strengths means to amplified the chances of succeed in the market place. BUT, would it be equally easier for a not that renowned company to say to the world, we want to be your partner of choice? I do not think so.
I also keep thinking that FAST and GLOBAL are consequences of being OPEN. I mean, you look at opening up yourself to the wold, in order to go to market FASTER, and in order to reach out all the knowledge that is GLOBALLY spread.
Looking forward to a great discussion ahead!
Daniel