Open Innovation Course - a guide to get you started

6/11/2014 | Christian Kreutz
Bogdan Suditu https://www.flickr.com/photos/bogdansuditu/2607404802 (CC)

Open Innovation is a great concept to drive ideas and find solutions. To approach and dive into open innovation is not always uncomplicated. At WE THINQ (Disclaimer: I am the founder of WE THINQ) we believe that an easy-entry point is much needed, and that a good alternative to this would be practical and concise messages showing you the potential and needed resources, factual examples, and providing accurate answers to the right questions. Here is a little taster to show you how this open innovation course will help you get started.

Instead of putting it all into a guide, we have come up with something different. We have created a seven-day tutorial via email. Since most printed documentation is easily stored and forgotten, we believe email is the most accessible way, from anywhere, at any time; therefore, we provide you with seven concise emails filled with the most important and up-to-date information on open innovation. Enjoy everyday our step-by-step course, with just sufficient content, and learn how you can implement open innovation in your organization.

** Enough. Get me started with the open innovation course.**

Goal

The goal is to define the right entry points to foster an open innovation environment. A temporary process, such as an open innovation campaign, could be a great option to to tackle a problem your organization is facing.We provide you with successful examples of different approaches taken by other organizations to innovate easily in collaboration with their co-workers.

The checklist

Great part of the open innovation process involves planning in order to set the right incentives; therefore we also provide you with a checklist of points to be considered before getting started. These include questions such as: How many resources do you need and who needs to be on board?

Here is an abstract of the open innovation course:

  • What are challenges you are trying to solve? Our advice: Start small and add more depth as you go. The more concrete your challenge is, the better feedback you get. More feedback is not always better feedback.
  • Can you compress this challenge into one key question? Our advice: Ask your question like you're telling a story. Setting a frame around the whole process is very important.
  • What kind of feedback and ideas are needed to solve this challenge? Can that be done online or offline? Or will a combination of both work best? Our Advice: Collecting and discussing ideas works well online. Implementation of ideas needs some stronger commitment and is mostly better offline.
  • What are the incentives to participate? Will rewards be offered? Would it be enough to know that one has taken part on the solucion finding process? What else might motivate someone to participate in the project? Our advice: While palpable rewards always come in handy, recognition is much more acknowledged and appreciated. A combination of rewards will attract the most participants.
  • When could possible resistance to the process happen? Our advice: It is almost impossible to predict everything in advance, but taking measures and learning from other projects that have used a similar method to yours is always a good way to prevent obstacles.
  • Who can take part in the process (specific skillsets, specific community, international/local, staff, customers, etc.)? Our Advice: Anyone you wish. Think big – online there is no limit of participants.

Mobilization

You will be presented during the course with the different mobilization options, and learn about the importance of mobilization.

This is just a short summary. Join now the open innovation course and get some great insights on how to make open innovation work for you.