Just recently, Stefan Lindegaard released his new book, The Open Innovation Revolution. I just finished reading it, and must say that I am glad to finally see such a practical and applicable piece of work hit the bookstore shelves. Stefan took a non-academic approach, and loaded the book with real-life stories and quotes from those actually in the open innovation trenches, living and breathing this stuff. And since he spent time talking with those in the trenches he was able to shed light on something that has been all too often ignored – the soft side. By soft side, I am referring to the human element. You know – the effects of change on culture, the importance of communication, human roadblocks, and the like. Why am I so passionate about the soft side of open innovation? It’s simple – I have seen too many companies try open innovation without paying attention to these things, only to end up abandoning their OI efforts without reaching their end goals.
Another great point brought out in the book was the importance of finding the right open innovation champions and ‘intrapreneurs’. These people are not your typical R&D managers. Rather, they need to possess a unique set of skills ranging from diverse technical competencies to keen networking skills. They are the face of a company’s open innovation effort and will need to represent this function both internally and externally. These people are bridge builders, spanning the proverbial gap between marketing and R&D, and working across various business units to educate people and to entice them to use open innovation where and when it is most likely to demonstrate success. With each success, this person communicates the results and continues to build momentum behind the cause.
These are key concepts addressed in The Open Innovation Revolution that should be strongly considered by every company embarking on a new open innovation journey. The book gets right to the heart of what really matters, and should be read by anyone in the planning phase of open innovation, or anyone looking for ways to improve an already existing program.
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