Four Roadblocks for a Corporate Network Culture

by Stefan Lindegaard

In working with companies that are trying to build a networking culture, here are some reasons I’ve identified for why such efforts can fail or not reach the hoped-for degree of success.

• Lack of time: Many of us simply do not have the time to network and build relationships. It is necessary to develop a strategy and initiate projects, but you also need to give your people time to invest in initiating and maintaining both internal and external relationships.

• Lack of skills: Some people are natural-born networkers; many others are not. But the basics of effective networking can be learned, just like any other business skill. With appropriate instruction and motivation, wallflowers can learn to work a room. By providing your people with...

Good Reads on Innovation #30

by Stefan Lindegaard

Here comes a list of blog posts and articles on innovation that I have enjoyed in the last couple of weeks. You can follow me on Twitter: @lindegaard

Wanna Solve Impossible Problems? Find Ways to Fail Quicker by Aza Raskin http://bit.ly/elzRG8

From Products to Services: How Medellín, Colombia is Overcoming the Commodity Trap by Chesbrough http://bit.ly/hOnnSF

Innovation Always Starts With Empathy; Look at Zipcar and Even Apple by Vossoughi http://bit.ly/glK8vu

The Benefits of Open Innovation in Low-Tech SMEs by Wim Vanhaverbeke http://bit.ly/eUjb2r

Fail Bigger Cheaper: A Three Word Manifesto by Umair Hague http://bit.ly/fdigSp

Why Apple Succeeds: Users, Not Designers, Have the Best Ideas by Adam Silver – http://bit.ly/eDet8K

Open Innovation &...

Open Innovation Is Hyped – and Why This Is a Good Thing

by Stefan Lindegaard

I met with a new client last week. It is an interesting and successful company that has decided to look further into open innovation and how this can help them become even more innovative.

As we introduced ourselves, the CTO noticed that open innovation is very hyped right now. This is not the first time I have heard this in the recent months and I agree. Open innovation is hyped. This is a hot topic at conferences, in blogs and articles and now it also seems to be catching fire within companies.

Hype is often a bad thing because things that are hyped tend to overpromise and under-deliver. This could very well also be the case with open innovation. However, the current hype is also...

Metrics and Open Innovation: The 15inno Open Innovation Roadmap

by Stefan Lindegaard

This is a difficult topic. I believe what’s worth doing can also be measured and there is also truth in the adage of “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”. However, I have seen too many examples in which smart people get side-tracked on what really matters –the output – as they try to develop metrics in order to satisfy executives further up in the system.

The development of metrics for innovation in general has been a major topic for more than two decades. Yet there is no clear guidance on how companies should approach this in a way that makes it possible to measure internally let alone across competitors and/or different industries.

One reason that it is very difficult developing metrics that...

What a Networked Innovation Culture Looks Like

by Stefan Lindegaard

In a recent post, 4 Key Elements for Open Innovation Success, I mentioned that a networked innovation culture is critical. But what does a good networking culture looks like? It’s such a new concept that there aren’t a lot of examples available to illustrate it, but here are some key components of a good networking culture:

• Top executives have outlined clear strategic reasons why employees need to develop and nurture internal and external relationships. This includes making clear how your company’s networking culture links with and supports your innovation strategy.

• Among the things to consider when developing your networking culture strategy is what types of networks you hope to build to support your innovation efforts. If your organization is moving toward...

Crowdsharing and Beyond: Innovation Lessons from O2

by Stefan Lindegaard

This is a guest post by Shomila Malik, Innovation Manager at The Lab – Telefonica O2.

I’ve been running an innovation programme inside O2 UK (part of the Telefonica group). It started as a small pilot and has grown into a company wide program that is producing new products, services and ways of doing things. It’s called O2 Crowd and includes a crowdsharing tool (provided by BrightIdea) to share ideas, comments and votes.

Employees from around the business with a problem or challenge to solve, come to my team to use O2 Crowd. We design and set up a challenge for them and ask the crowd to help.  One challenge was entitled ‘how do we create more fans?’ which led to the launch...

4 Key Elements for Open Innovation Success

by Stefan Lindegaard

Here are four key elements that are necessary for turning an open innovation strategy into a success:

• Stakeholder Analysis. You must get an overview of your internal and external stakeholders and analyze the pros and cons of the open innovation initiative for these people. Who will be affected by the open innovation intention? What issues bother these people? How can you create a value proposition that will make the stakeholders support the initiative?

One approach is to create a stakeholder map that identifies all the various groups that might be impacted by your open innovation initiative, then develop specific value propositions for each group. Don’t forget to focus on informal influencers, that is, people with a disproportionate level of influence. Find these people and...

How the Rubber Band Effect Hinders Innovation

by Stefan Lindegaard

You stretch it, you hold and — swish, it just goes back to normal. This is what happens when you play around with a rubber band. You just don’t get anywhere with it.

Unfortunately, this is also the situation with many organizations trying to change the corporate culture and further develop their innovation capabilities. I have seen too many cases in which innovation leaders and team members are supposed to be inspired by books, blogs and consultants to change their corporate culture.

At first glance, it all makes sense, but the trouble comes along when we move to long-lasting implementation. This is where the rubber band metaphor kicks in. You stretch the mind-set, you try to keep people in this new way of thinking, but...

Open Innovation and the Solar Industry

by Stefan Lindegaard

I am currently in San Diego, which seems to be the solar capital of the world based on the number of solar-related companies that I have driven by : – )

This made me wonder on what is happening within the solar industry when it comes to open innovation and I did a quick search that resulted in these fairly relevant links:

The Festo Engineering network – a closed photovoltaic community with a virtual platform for collaboration

Opinno helped Spain-based Cidersol find new applications for already available technology

Joel West blogging on the topics of clean-tech, solar, innovation and entrepreneurship

A list of solar technologies for sale on IdeaConnection (other intermediaries such as NineSigma, InnoCentive and Yet2.com are also active on this)

I...

Book a Workshop with Lindegaard on Social Media Tools and Open Innovation

by Stefan Lindegaard

I have developed a workshop on the intersection of social media tools and open innovation. Those are hot topics and I believe this workshop can bring value to innovation people at many companies. This could very well include you and your colleagues.

Interested? Please contact me on stefanlindegaard @ me.com and let us discuss how we can make this relevant for you and your company.

P.S. You can find some more information on this intersection in this blog post: Social Media Tools and Open Innovation: An Overview

Workshop Description: Social Media Tools and Open Innovation

Many companies have begun using social media tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and apps in their open innovation efforts. Done right, this can put companies in a...