How do you build and sustain your personal and professional reputation as an open innovator?

In my experience you build this by actively participating in as nany projects as you can, as being an open innovator you can only learn in practice.

By aligning your actions with your purpose and vision, you can build and sustain a lasting reputation that attracts meaningful opportunities and collaborations (Chesbrough, 2020; West & Bogers, 2014). Open innovation is inherently collaborative, requiring a willingness to share knowledge and create space for co-creation, but also being actively involved in communities and offering mentorship. Key questions: what are you passionate about? and what problems do you want to solve? A personal tip: find your Ikigai, which is a Japanese concept that means "reason for being". It represents the intersection of four fundamental elements: what you love, what the world needs, what you can be paid for and what you are good at.

Cultivating relationships with potential partners both within and outside of your organization is critical. This can be achieved by attending industry events, joining communities, engaging with experts, and participating in challenges or innovation competitions. Trustworthiness is one of the most important qualities when establishing long-lasting partnerships in open innovation. According to Chesbrough (2020), maintaining confidentiality and respecting IP are critical components of building trust in collaborative environments. Keeping promises and being transparent in your dealings help solidify your reputation. Moreover, recognition and appreciation of the contributions of others are crucial in collaborative efforts.

According to Chesbrough (2020), organizations need to both absorb external insights and share their internal know-how to foster a collaborative environment that drives collective innovation. By openly sharing your knowledge, you establish your credibility and demonstrate the value you bring to the table, for instance, as West and Bogers (2014) suggest, the use of real-world case studies can help ground theoretical ideas in practical applications, making the content more impactful. Mentorship and training are also powerful avenues to disseminate your expertise while fostering the development of others. Furthermore, co-creating solutions with your partners enables shared ownership.

Open innovation encourages exploring new ideas and iterating on solutions, which inevitably involves risk and uncertainty. However, failure should not be seen as a sign of weakness but as an opportunity to learn, improve, and succeed. Adopting a growth mindset—one that embraces failure as a step to success—allows organizations to refine their approaches. This mindset encourages resilience and adaptability. Documenting and sharing failures are equally important. In open innovation ecosystems, transparency about setbacks can foster collective learning and help others avoid the same mistakes. Additionally, this openness can enhance your credibility, as it shows that you value continuous improvement and accountability.

Para construir e sustentar sua reputa??o como um profissional de inova??o aberta, o conceito de "Give First" promove o compartilhamento desinteressado de conhecimento e recursos, criando uma rede de confian?a e colabora??o, pilares fundamentais da inova??o aberta. Adicionalmente, comunicar o impacto de suas inova??es de maneira mensurável, como ressaltado por Dixon et al. (2010), o uso de métricas evidenciam os resultados alcan?ados para solidificar sua credibilidade, como aumento de receitas ou redu??o de custos, você demonstra de forma objetiva o valor das suas iniciativas. Por fim, coletar depoimentos de colegas, parceiros ou clientes. Utilize o LinkedIn para dar visibilidade às suas conquistas, conforme apontado por TopResume e HubSpot.

Open innovation projects vary and success can be highly specific to their context. So sharing success cases and references from the past is only the beginning of creating a reputation in the field. Sustaining it requires continuous presence with insights and activities. Writing a regular newsletter is one idea for keeping up. Others are hosting audio or video events on the topic, such as interviewing customers or other experts in the field.