Open innovation is a philosophy, or a mindset, that allows companies to work better with external companies, merging internal and external resources in order to bring out better innovation to the market at a faster pace.
So said Stefan Lindegaard, Copenhagen-based speaker and author of Open Innovation Revolution, who was speaking at the Discovery annual IT Conference 2013 held in Pretoria, last week.
In the Open Innovation Revolution, Lindegaard, states that life is not exactly a bed of roses for most innovation leaders and intrapreneurs - those assertive, innovative, corporate risk-takers who passionately turn ideas into profitable products.
He says innovation leaders and intrapreneurs take on corporate sacred cows and face down challenges that would cause less driven and less talented people to quickly throw their hands down in defeat. They struggle daily to unleash entrepreneurial thinking while dealing with an army of people fiercely dedicated to maintaining the status quo, he adds in the book.
"Enterprises can embrace open innovation by changing how they innovate; being competitively unpredictable; and by developing the right conditions and framework. Open innovation is more about changing the processes in a company," he said.
According to Lindegaard, there are five factors to consider when going into the open innovation space such as cycle time for products/services development; money and IPR which is needed for getting new products/services to market and the level of conservatism in the industry; and internal readiness of the company.
"If you consider these five factors, you will get a better understanding of whether open innovation is relevant for your company and industry. Personally, I find it to be more difficult for life sciences, financial and service-related industries, but you can always find exceptions in both directions", said Lindegaard.
He urged every member of a corporate innovation team, especially the leaders, to occasionally take a hard look in the mirror and ask these questions: "Do I have the right mindset; the know-how and the toolbox needed to lead my company's efforts for innovation in times like this? Do I have a process that keeps me updated on the innovation trends and practices that my company needs to embrace to beat the competition?
"Companies need executive support to make this happen by educating external and internal partners as a lot of people are not aware of open innovation", Lindegaard noted.
He also pointed out that open innovation is not just transactional commitment - it's developing together, co-creating together, and sharing intellectual property together.
Lindegaard encouraged organisations to step away from the concept of owning an idea. "Share ideas with others and protect your intellectual property; have in mind that you need to execute the idea. Organisations should practise this mindset internally and the good thing there is that there is no worrying about intellectual property rights as it is being practised within the organisation."
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