When I urge managers in a company to make open innovation part of their innovation strategy, they get it conceptually. They see that a solution coming from outside is more likely to be a dramatic leap versus an incremental one—simply because it came from a mind not narrowed by conventional thinking. They understand that the infusion of fresh ideas can also open their own R&D engineers and technologists to new and different possibilities and cause them to push their thinking further. At a minimum, they agree that better solutions tend to emerge when there are more options to consider in the first place.
A recent project we did for FVA, a branch of the German trade association VDMA for companies that provide drive-train systems and components, bears this out. Every year, FVA conducts an industry-wide technology search to identify new and emerging solutions, and it shares the results as a service to its member companies. Although the search has been productive, members within the FVA leadership circle wanted to see if there was a better search process that would unearth more solutions and potentially create more value. A vice president of the group had been to a presentation on Open Innovation and was intrigued by the concept. And although he seriously doubted it could work in a field as specialized as drive-train technology, he was willing to find out. FVA commissioned Aachen University to manage a selection process and trial study, and the selection committee found us at NineSigma most suitable to conduct a series of technology searches.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Where Open Innovation Stumbles - Bloomberg
