Open Innovation - A chance to transform your organisation

1.  Every organisation wants to do Open Innovation.  But few succeed in doing it in the right spirit.  Issues are more related to culture rather than lack of external solutions.

2.  Best way to start is to start on projects which are new and just starting.  Get both the internal and external teams working together - exchanging ideas/solutions and knowledge.  It's amazing how everything seems to fall in place once you open your mind and start working together with common objectives.

3.  Never expect that an outside solution will fit your entire problem as it is.  It rarely happens.  Typically the Open Innovation solution needs to be integrated with custom solutions before it can be presented.  Hence budget in time and money for this crucial integration piece.

4.  Success of all open innovation initiatives should be measured only by one simple question - Would we have thought of this if we have not gone the open innovation route?  Most companies would continue their open innovation initiatives if it was truly measured on this parameter.  Real successes will come further down the line when the entire engine is well oiled but that will take time and you got to keep the faith.

5.  The real strength of open innovation solutions are generally hidden.  Most leaders in organizations only view the solution as it is and see if it meets their criteria.  However they generally miss the thought process behind the solution. Mature organizations evaluate the thought process more than the actual solution.  The beauty of open innovation is that it exposes different angles to the problem at hand usually in unrestricted ways.

In summary - companies should view open innovation as an opportunity - to get diverse thought processes and ideas from experts all over the world.  In today's globalized world, it is not just a lost opportunity if companies are not doing it but could also be the reason why they need to play catch up with their competitors tomorrow.