6 ways to effectively manage change in open innovation

While more organizations turn to cross-industry partnerships to create ground-breaking solutions, the pursuit of innovation is not smooth sailing backed by strong winds. It takes an incredible amount of commitment and effort for an organization to disrupt its business model and open new avenues of research and development. 

But one of the hardest things facing these partnerships is culture - a strategy all its own in the context of embracing open innovation. How do leaders manage change in a way that brings all stakeholders onto the same page and secures their buy-in?

Without that support, collaboration could easily disintegrate, and an amazing idea might never see the light of day. So, ahead of the Texas Open Innovation Summit, I asked some of the leaders in open innovation about their thoughts on how to manage change and create a culture that aligns with the strategic objectives of collaboration.

1. Create a framework that accelerates ideas to evaluation and implementation - Dr. Robert Bornhofen, Innovator, Speaker & Featured Contributor

According to Robert, innovation is about process and people – people need to buy into the concept of open innovation, and be able to work together based on a framework that gives them the understanding and means to do so. 

“Having a well thought-out framework in place will help ensure ideas go all the way through to evaluation and are prioritized for possible implementation. As noted, there’s a critical governance aspect that needs to be in place so that projects are properly evaluated. Swift decisions are made as to which projects advance, are delayed, or cease to exist due to actual results,” he says. 

“Runaway, unchecked projects can run up costs and push out due dates while taking resources away from more compelling efforts, and compromise early market advantage. Checkpoint reviews and key performance indicators should be in place to manage overall progress among projects. Other key metrics are useful to track the number and source of ideas identified; speed in which they advance through the innovation process; and the number that actually get prototyped, developed and launched, including benefits.”

This type of insight enables Southwest Airlines' governance to identify where the bottlenecks are to understand the 'why,' and then address its root causes so that progress can accelerate. 

At the upcoming Texas Open Innovation Conference in March, Robert will discuss his insights and experiences on open innovation, with the hopes of helping organizations achieve success.

2. Have a well-articulated argument for collaboration - Steven Gonzalez, NASA Executive Liaison at Greater Houston Partnership; Deputy, Strategic Partnership Office

When it comes to addressing change management in support of open innovation, Steven says the business case is a pivotal trigger for changing mindsets. 

“There needs to be a coherent and well-articulated argument. For us it was tough because each company would have a culture based on the perception that what they do is unique; or what they do is so tied to the culture in the way they do business that it is hard to find,” he explains. 

“Take, for example, our initial outreach to energy companies. What they do is so high-risk and has a strong environmental impact. Their risk profile was so high they couldn’t partner with other organizations. But once they understood that our risk profile is similar – with lives on the line, too – we were suddenly able to find an opportunity and advance our collective technology.” 

His observation emphasizes an important point: in many cases, each organization will have a somewhat protective demeanor over their unique operating nature and industrial requirements. 

Steven’s  response to this obstacle is to find a test case and identify a champion for open innovation who can facilitate collaboration. 

“At the end of the day, it’s a two-fold approach. Find an example either outside or inside the organization where this has been piloted and tested successfully to show the return. Then secondly, find the champion. For us, especially when it came to open innovation and the crowdsourcing platforms, it was the power of that director who made sure it happened. If it was not for that champion, I do not think that they would have gone as far as they did in that organization with their initiatives,” he remarks.

At the upcoming Texas Open Innovation Conference in March, Steven will explore how NASA has pursued open innovation to not only develop its own technologies for space and terrestrial journeys, but also in terms of contributing to other industries at the same time. 

“This is a chance to see what the other challenges are in various industries, what the innovations are and see whether or not we might be able to work with them. It’s also a forum where we can look for new models of being able to move forward. At NASA we’ve tried the crowdsourcing model and partnership model, but if there are other models out there for open innovation, then we can see whether or not they fit within our own culture and adapt them for success,” he says. 

3. Embed 'innovation enablers' to implement change efficiently - Rustom Mody, VP - Technical Excellence, Baker Hughes

To establish a culture that embraces new ways of working collaboratively, Rustom believes that embedding ‘innovation enablers’ can allow companies to implement change efficiently and reduce the cycle time for acceptance of new solutions and frameworks. 

“Innovation can’t take place in a vacuum. It needs knowledge, with the interaction between different departments, companies, industries, geographies – you name it. And influencing the culture ties back to having diverse ideas, too. At the same time, it can only happen if leadership is transparent, approachable, and genuine. You need to empower your employees and communicate the fact it’s okay to fail sometimes,” he says. 

Rustom is also quick to note that genuine leadership within the organization influences compliance. A motivated and well-trained workforce that believes in safety and compliance can take innovation to new heights. At Baker Hughes, there are several core values to support a safety-conscious and compliant environment that includes integrity, teamwork, performance, learning and courage. 

At the upcoming Texas Open Innovation Conference in March, Rustom Mody will explore the drivers for open innovation and share examples of successful outcomes from cross-industry collaborations. 

“To me, the biggest value is to never stop gaining knowledge. The best part about knowledge is that it’s everywhere around you; you just need to go seek it. Anytime you go to a conference that features peers unrelated to your core competency, you gain a lot of knowledge. Networking with people outside the industry is all part of the continuous journey to seek knowledge. Without it, you can’t innovate.” 

4. Ensure innovation is in the DNA of the entire organization -  Hani Elshahawi, GameChanger and Principal Technical Expert on Formation Testing and Sampling, Shell

Innovation needs to be in the DNA of the entire organization – that’s what Hani believes when it comes to aligning the culture with the goals of open innovation. He also says that having an empowered central group is key to ensuring that collaborations and partnerships have long-term growth (especially a group that is supported by a mandate from relatively high levels of the organization).

“When GameChanger was originally founded, it was sponsored by the highest levels of the organization and stayed that way for many years. Leadership sponsorship is crucial, but at the same time it’s not sufficient,” he explains.

“You need to build a wide and extensive network of advocates throughout the organization who can metaphorically build bridges and open doors to push GameChanger ideas through. We want to avoid decision-making by consensus because it often hinders momentum or derails these projects, but effective stakeholder management remains important.”

At the upcoming Texas Open Innovation Conference in March 2017, Hani will discuss how disruptive innovation can be achieved through collaboration and partnerships, sharing highlights and examples from Shell’s GameChanger program.

 “Open innovation to me is a good vehicle for getting more for less because research and development budgets are competitive and our team is very small. We can improve our chances of success by having conversations with potential partners and interested parties at forums like the Texas Open Innovation Conference,” he notes.

5. Have the push for innovation come from the top - Dr. Jose Gutierrez, Director of Technology and Innovation, Transocean

One of the main challenges to aligning the internal company culture with open innovation, according to Jose, is the fact that innovation is a human process.

“It requires change management and I rely a lot on my human resources team to help me in that capacity; otherwise I couldn’t make it happen. The push for innovation needs to come from the top. If it doesn’t, then you’re in for an uphill battle. Every company has key personnel who are gatekeepers of innovation,” he explains. 

“Sure, they might get some wins here and there but then it’s random – not a strategic function. And those pursuits that don’t pan out can cost a company millions; not to mention damage to the reputation internally and externally.” 

Aside from the need for innovation to come from the top, Jose says the main goal for innovation needs to focus on removing obstacles to collaboration. 

“Promoting the values of innovation means promoting a diverse culture, open to discussions, trying to remove the traditional silo thinking symptoms so you can create collaborations. The fact that a company is good at doing one thing doesn’t make it an innovator. There needs to be consistency in the messaging from the top-down and bottom-up.” 

At the upcoming Texas Open Innovation Conference in March, Jose will explore how companies can strategically drive innovation through partnerships and collaboration, and understand how ideas can be generated, qualified and translated into successful outcomes for companies and their respective industries. 

“I pay attention to anything that has the word innovation. But unfortunately, many of these discussions are based on a technology push and ‘buy-my-product’ agendas. That’s where an event like the Texas Open Innovation Conference can allow for networking and spreading the gospel of innovation. People can get inspired and work together to identify new opportunities,” he says. 

6. Recognize and avoid 'Bright Shiny Object Syndrome' - Christina Robinson, Chief Strategist – Innovation and Research, Lone Star College–University Park

Bright Shiny Object Syndrome – that’s what Christina believes is a major impediment to innovating effectively. The scenario where leaders chase the newest idea or initiative. 

“It’s an all-too-common case. Let’s refer again to higher education and the funding issue – what happens when funding dries up? So we get all of this funding for these innovative programs but we don’t necessarily have the ability to continue those programs because the funding dries up. The advantage of collaboration is the fact it’s more likely sustainable,” she says. 

“My goal is to look for opportunities for long-term stability, scalability and sustainability. That happens when we look at the mission and the student outcome and link them to a specific focus, which in our case is student success. That can’t be emphasized enough for institutions like ours.”

At the upcoming Texas Open Innovation Conference in March, Christina will explore the advantages of open innovation and share insight on the nuances of influencing change across the organization. 

“To my knowledge, nowhere else in the state can you come to one place and bring innovation leaders together to have an open dialogue on what innovation needs to look like, how we can better collaborate, drive and fast-track innovation. This is a great opportunity to learn from, benchmark and network with other innovation leaders. It’s a chance to grow their organization innovation practices,” she explains. 

I hope you found the article helpful. These insights are part of a new eBook exploring open innovation at six major organizations in Texas.

If you'd like to know more about the Texas Open Innovation Conference, please visit www.texasopeninnovation.com.