10 common mistakes – open innovation

10 COMMON MISTAKES – OPEN INNOVATION

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For additional information about Innovation

please visit www.InnovationGrow.com

www.InnovationGrow.com

As a relatively new form of innovation that involves so many people there are bound to be some mistakes when using open innovation. The key is not to give up on the whole concept because of these mistakes, but instead learn to find a variation that works for your company’s needs.

Make sure that you find the resources to tweak your open innovation system so that you can take full advantage of the speed and cost savings that are afforded when you get it right.

Here are 10 common mistakes and how you can work around them for the best open innovation that is possible for your company.

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1. OPENING THE INNOVATION TO A NETWORK WITHOUT A CLEAR STRATEGY

It is tempting to dive in head first and just give open innovation a try, but you have to make sure that you have a strategy to harness the power.

If you don’t have a clear strategy and objective than you are likely to not get as much as you could out of the open innovation and waste your resources at the same time.

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2. POORLY DEFINING THE NEED OR REQUIREMENT

Just as you need a solid strategy, you need to make sure that the objective is clearly defined.

This will allow people to understand and input their creativity in the same direction instead of misinterpreting the task and wasting time and money.

Narrowing the objective will also allow people to get more creative and find more solutions to that exact issue and incorporate other complementary ideas.

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3. NOT GETTING THE WHOLE COMPANY ON BOARD

When you are trying to create a great cohesive network for open innovation you have to make sure that everyone in the company is working towards this goal.

By encouraging the whole company to contribute and engage in some way you are leveraging your internal resources so that they can be multiplied externally.

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4. NOT DEFINING THE PROCEDURE AND TAKE ON HANDLING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IP)

The legal teams on all sides of open innovation can halt the process before it even begins.

Planning out the procedure will not only satisfy the legal team but it will also ensure that everyone can work together with fear of sharing too much information.

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5. JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS WITHOUT A SOLID IDEA TESTING PROCEDURE

Ideas and innovation will come from all angles and it is important to test each of them with a process that works quickly.

Instead of vetting the ideas from a gut reaction use numbers and metrics to determine what an innovative idea is potentially worth.

By shutting the door on ideas before they can be tested you won’t maximize the ideas that you create.

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6. NOT USING ALL POSSIBLE NETWORK TYPES

There are several different avenues that you can build an open innovation network with and most companies tend to focus on just one; or a fraction of one.

By trying new networks and approaches you will be able to find a method that works for your company.

Make sure that you review these methods frequently so that you are not missing out on a better opportunity.

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7. NOT FACTORING IN THE CULTURE OF THE PARTNERS THAT YOU BRING INTO THE FOLD

There may be advantages of resources or talent that gets you excited to work with a potential partner but you can’t overlook the culture and working relationship that they bring to the table.

Ensuring that you can work synergistically will save you headaches and resources by considering culture from the beginning.

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8. NOT GIVING YOUR PARTNERS OR NETWORK ENOUGH RESPECT

Communication is very important in any relationship and open innovation is no different.

Making sure that you respect your partners with open communication and feedback will encourage an open working relationship.

As long as you chose a good network that you can work with (culture) than increasing the communication will help to smooth out any little hitches.

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9. LOOKING AT THE SMALL PICTURE

Open innovation requires that you collect as many ideas from as many places as you can and this means keeping an open process.

Bringing together everyone that could benefit from the solution, even if just for a one time project, will amply your results and bring in the most ideas.

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10. FAILURE TO BUILD AND CULTIVATE TRUST

In order to work in a collaborative and open way you need to be able to trust all of the parties involved, and they need to trust you.

Making sure that you operate from a win-win mindset and try to build trust on all levels of the network will guarantee that people will want to work with you on your innovations.

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GROWING BUSINESS WITH INNOVATION

For additional information about Business Innovation

please visit www.InnovationGrow.com