How to get started on open innovation

The “open innovation” approach is an established tool in the technology management toolbox. This comes from the observation that, instead of trying to do everything in-house and keeping the results to themselves, successful innovative companies look to the outside world for new ideas and information, as well as sharing what they’d learned and created.

The examples of large, innovative corporations that have successfully adopted and leverage an open approach to innovation abound. But how can small and medium size enterprises that need to reposition themselves with innovation in business and technology implement an open innovation approach?

Let’s have a look at three practical things you can do today!

1. Question a “make or buy” decision

You have asked your team to develop a new feature for your product, to solve that glitch that had been upsetting your users for a while, or to solve that issue with production that has been costing you so many hours in rework lately. Depending on the task and the culture of your company, there are two most likely outcomes: the team is heads down in the lab developing it in house, or heads down on their laptop looking for a supplier. Doing it in house is proving to be slow, and some unforeseen development challenges have come up. Sourcing it from a supplier is proving difficult, nothing seems to meet all the requirements without costing a fortune.

It may be the right time to partner up. Look for a supplier with a product or solution which has a good fit for your needs, and co-develop a bespoke version that is a perfect fit for you.

This is not just a compromise between making it in house and buying it from the supply chain, it is the best of both worlds!

The development and implementation is quicker than when done in house, because it leverages the skills and expertise of your partner who already has a similar solution. The final solution is also a perfect fit for you, because your team has collaborated with the supplier to develop that missing interface, or function, that makes it just right.

And one more thing, the network of innovation of your company has just grown a bit… who knows when that is going to be useful next! (more on this topic in one of my next articles)

2. Sponsor a student

We all have that crazy idea for a new product, solution, or feature, that we really think is going to revolutionize the company, but who has time for that? Today, it is nothing more than a sketch in a notebook, and who knows if it is really going to work. It may be the right time to sponsor a student!

The aim of a student project is to fail fast at a low cost! The process of turning your idea into a project that a student can execute is:

1. Break down the idea in its key components
2. Identify the one that, in your view, is most likely to fail
3.  Formulate a question whose answer tells you whether or not that specific aspect is going to work (or fail)

That question, not the overall idea, that after all, is your intellectual property, is the student project.

Universities are eager for collaboration with local enterprises. Their students, whether they are looking for a topic for a bachelor or master thesis, or for a relevant part-time employment opportunity, are highly attracted by working on a real industry problem.

And there is more to it, this is the perfect occasion to delegate the interaction with the university and the supervision of the project to one of your promising team members. Supervising a student can be their first attempt at management. Maybe they are great at it, or maybe they need some coaching to get there, just like with your crazy idea, best to find out quickly and when the stakes are not too big!

3. Give a talk

So far we talked about innovations flowing into your company, or team, by sourcing solutions from the outside with a partnership or by working with a local university. It is time to reverse the flow, and make some of your ideas flow out.

Large corporations in IP (Intellectual Property) intensive industries have licensing departments focused on identifying licensing opportunities for their IP protected, but unutilized, innovations. You also have some interesting developments that you have not managed to put into use yet. Maybe the outcome was not quite what you expected, and you cannot implement it in your product, or maybe it is very promising, but you simply do not have the resources to get it to the market on your own, or maybe it is working well for you, and you are wandering, what else can another industry do with it.

So, how can you bring some of your (yet) unutilized ideas to the outer world for a monetary, or nonmonetary, return? My suggestion is to start by giving a talk.

Professional institutions, industry association, chambers of commerce, and universities are always looking for speakers who can inspire their members with their stories. Giving a talk that touches on that innovation, or idea, is a great opportunity to gather feedback, to answer questions you hadn’t previously thought of before, and to test your assumptions with an audience that is likely more diverse than your colleagues.

I cannot guarantee that someone in the audience will reach out to you after your first talk to adopt your great, but unutilized, innovation in their business, but for sure, if no one knows about it, nobody will!

So, you have heard about open innovation, but your resources are limited and you need you and your team to stay focused on the "core" of the company. You cannot afford to setup a dedicate department, but still you want to try it out. This article gave you three ideas that you can try out today:

1. Question a make or buy decision
2. Sponsor a student
3. Give a talk

I am not claiming that questioning one "make or buy" decision, sponsoring one student and giving one talk is going to bring you up to the top of the open innovators league, but making a habit out of these three things that you can start doing today will get you started on the right track.

How have you made open innovation work for you and your company?

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