7 Steps for Open Innovation

- Grading Your Company’s Open Innovation Capabilities

www.15inno.com
stefanlindegaard@me.com
Twitter: @lindegaard

Hey! Free books, white papers and exercises on 15inno.com!

Stefan Lindegaard
Author, speaker and strategic
advisor on open innovation,
innovation management /
culture and the people side of
innovation.

Get in touch!

www.15inno.com
stefanlindegaard@me.com
@lindegaard
7 Steps for
Open Innovation
1. Common Language and Understanding, Motivation,
Mandate and Strategic Purpose
2. Assets and Needs
3. Value Pools and Channels
4. Internal Readiness
5. External Readiness
6. New Skills and Mindset
7. Communications Strategy
Faster pace, shrinking window of opportunity,
less time for cash cows

Driven by global megatrends: faster, more

open, more transparent and more connected

We need a more holistic approach to innovation!

What is open innovation?
“…a philosophy or a mindset that they should
embrace within their organization.

This mindset should enable their organization

to work with external input to the innovation
process just as naturally as it does with internal
input”

Open innovation as a term will disappear in 5-7

years!
 P&G MEDTECH PHARMA

Cycle time, money, IPR, conservatism,

government regulations and internal readiness
Corporate
benefits:
(open innovation/crowdsourcing)

• Speed, diversity, new

knowledge pools
• Experimentation (don’t be
left behind)
• Marketing as well as
innovation vehicle
• More cost-effective than
hiring consultants
Change how we innovate

Be competitively unpredictable

Develop the right conditions and framework

COMPANIES PRODUCTS FUNDING

INTER-
PUBLIC
MEDIARIES

WORK
Social media is key for crowdsourcing

LEGO went out of comfort zone, partnered

with another company

Do you know your external touch-points? Do

you use them properly?
Current pilot projects:
"People are much more likely to act their way into a new way of
thinking, than think their way into a new way of acting."
- Richard Pascale

Therefore we run pilot projects

- in our production area (solving hard, “unsolvable” problems)
- on improving the core LEGO experience through crowdsourcing
- on how to improve core HR processes
- on an Open Innovation platform
Design, build and sell awesome products
together.
Is the real business model facilitation?

1. Develop a community
2. Make it work in chosen area (vehicles)
3. Move into other industries (complex
mechanical devices)

This can work for startups. What about SME’s

and bigger companies? New business areas?
“FirstBuild is global co-creation paired with a
microfactory on site,” said Chip Blankenship,
CEO of GE Appliances. “We will innovate and
bring products to market faster than ever before.”
Image: Colin West McDonald / CNET
Samsung Open Innovation Center has 3 of 4
legs focusing on startups
Current (open)
innovation trends
• go beyond products and technologies - more
innovation teams without R&D link even in R&D
heavy companies (BASF, Cisco, Pfizer)
• the start-up value pool is sizzling hot
• the big issue is how to scale up open innovation
• tolerance for failure, experimentation and
“smartfailing” are growing issues
• companies are about to upgrade their innovation
capabilities (some are in for a surprise)
• Near future: From 1-1 to many-to-many
www.businessmodelsinc.com
Open innovation works!

21
Source: Open Innovation Executive Survey Frauenhofer and UC Berkeley
Source: Open Innovation Executive Survey Frauenhofer and UC Berkeley
Source: Open Innovation Executive Survey Frauenhofer and UC Berkeley
Source: Open Innovation Executive Survey Frauenhofer and UC Berkeley
It’s about execution!

People first, processes next,

then ideas…
7 Steps for
Open Innovation
1. Common Language and Understanding, Motivation,
Mandate and Strategic Purpose
2. Assets and Needs
3. Value Pools and Channels
4. Internal Readiness
5. External Readiness
6. New Skills and Mindset
7. Communications Strategy
Step 1: Common language and
Understanding, Motivation, Mandate
and Strategic Purpose
Think / Reflect

• Does your organization have a good

understanding of open innovation and the
demands it puts upon your company?
• What is motivating the organization to
pursue open innovation?
• Is the mandate for open innovation clear
and the strategy and strategic purposes
well thought out and well understood by
everyone involved?
“You need to speak the same language if you
want to get internal and external stakeholders
onboard.
This starts with a clear agreement on how
innovation – internally as well as externally
focused - fits the specific situation of your
company.”
- Stefan Lindegaard
To Clorox, open
innovation means
• More capabilities and expertise: Using
others to deliver meaningful innovation
• More find: Developing external networks to
exponentially increase the source of new ideas
Clorox wants to use open innovation to:
1. Find ideas, technologies and products
2. Outsource entire chunks of product
development
3. License / sell internal ideas and technologies
to others
Clorox says that for
open innovation to
work, they need…
• strong internal and external networks
• clear, choiceful corporate strategy that directs
the “find” activities
• capabilities, teams and processes to find more
ideas
• and capabilities, teams and processes to
enable what’s found to be used: combined with
other inputs, quickly assessed and built into
business opportunities.
Clorox, don’t get too narrow!
“We will no longer talk about open innovation in
most industries within the next five to seven
years.
It will just be about innovation, but the level of
external input to the innovation process will be
much higher than what we see today.”
- Stefan Lindegaard
What is Connect
+ Develop?
“It's our version of open
innovation: the practice of
tapping externally
developed intellectual
property to accelerate
internal innovation and
sharing our internally
developed assets and
know-how to help others
outside the Company.”
Shell
GameChanger
The programme started in
1996 and has long
practised open innovation,
inviting ideas from outside
and working with others…
…designed to prove the
technical and commercial
viability of an idea quickly
and affordably…
…worked with 1,500+
innovators; more than 100
ideas into reality.
What open
innovation means
Open innovation at Tate &
Lyle means partnering with
external innovators to bring
products to market faster
and develop innovations
we cannot create alone.
In short, the aim of open
innovation is to deliver
faster growth.
John Stewart, Head of Open Innovation
This happens
by…
• partnering with companies
(large and small) to bring
new products to market
• helping to grow our
innovation pipeline with
externally-sourced products
and technologies
• finding new products and
technologies we cannot
create alone
John Stewart, Head of Open Innovation
What it does
NOT mean…
• Contract research
• Academic collaborations into
basic research (our technical
teams do this directly)
• Joint Ventures (other teams
manage these directly)
• Spinning out technologies or
companies
John Stewart, Head of Open Innovation
Two key
questions:
• What is your motivation
for pursuing open
innovation?
• Why is open innovation
relevant to your company,
its present situation, and its
mission and vision?

Tie this into your strategic

purpose and innovation
mandate!
Danfoss: Man
on the Moon
• To identify and develop new
ventures that creates
significant growth and/or
strategic advantages
• To spot and develop talent
• To change the culture and
establish ”intrapreneurship”
as a fourth career path
Intel
(elements of a specific
innovation drive)

• Foster and encourage

innovation and creative
thinking
• Challenge the status quo
and embracing change
• Provide a challenging work
environment
Grundfos
(part of an innovation intent)

• Experiment with and

develop towards future
organizational paradigms
• Create new career paths
for Grundfos managers
“Executives and senior innovation leaders must
develop an intention in the form of a strategic
purpose, but they must also define the mandate
given to the innovation leaders.
A clearly given mandate can help work out the
inevitable internal conflicts with regards to
resources and authority given to an innovation
team.”
- Stefan Lindegaard
A clear innovation
mandate should:
• Lay out the resources and
authority given to the
innovation team
• Clarify how potential
conflicts are to be handled
• Encourage stakeholders to
solve problems on issues
such as resource allocation
and commitment without
involving the executives
The TBX model
or why middle
managers stop…
...innovation just
by doing their job!
• T (Top Down): Get executives
onboard, personally committed to
innovation. Without executive
support, no change occurs
• B (Bottom Up): Value creation
begins with people, one by one, team
by team. Nothing happens unless you
get employees engaged
• X (Across): Middle managers get the
job done (for good and bad) – set the
right objectives and incentives!
Think / Reflect

• What is the most important question to

have in mind when leading change driven
initiatives such as open innovation?
• It is simple yet a question that everyone
will ask themselves…

What’s in it for me?

“You should also have in mind that open
innovation is just a piece of the overall
innovation strategy, and it might not even work
for all companies.
So, again, start by being clear about what is
motivating you to move towards open
innovation.”
- Stefan Lindegaard
Step 2: Assets and Needs
Think / Reflect

• Have you identified the assets and resources

(internally as well as externally in your ecosystem)
that are relevant for your innovation projects?
• Have you identified other assets and resources
that are needed but are not available within your
current ecosystem?
• Do you have a process for getting access to
these needed assets and resources?
• Do you have a process for merging internal and
external resources?
Three main
areas:
1) Internal Assets,
2) Ecosystem Assets and
3) Needs
“(Internal) assets are capabilities and
resources that enable you to bring innovation
to market faster.
This includes physical resources such as R&D
facilities, but it also includes nontangible
capabilities, such as tested and proven
processes that are in place to move innovation
forward – and people.”
- Stefan Lindegaard
Different companies,
different assets:
• Smaller companies: Higher need for
ecosystem partners – find right place, ask if we
can grow more together?
• Big companies: Might have most in own
corporate structure; still ask if we can grow
more with others?
Bonus for big companies! They get to decide
where the bus is going and who should be
onboard.
Jackpot for OI leaders! Preferred partners get
the first pick; others get the leftovers…
“Archer or magnet? Try to become a preferred
partner of choice with either approach.
Why? Any given industry will have lots of small
winners, but there will only be one clear winner
among the big companies – and several
losers. Big companies have more at stake.”
- Stefan Lindegaard
3M also has an active external open innovation program. Can
you describe it?
”Our corporate labs are continually bringing in new
employees and technologies from universities and other
sources. And we collaborate closely with customers. We have
30 customer technology centers around the world, where
our technical and marketing employees meet with
customers and expose them to the full range of 3M
technology platforms. We ask them what their technical
issues, problems, and opportunities are, and whether any of
3M’s many different technologies can help them.“

Fred J. Palensky, CTO at 3M

Strategy + Business, May 11, 2011

 Can you discuss a specific product that arose out of
3M’s open innovation process?
”Really, all of them. To take one example, we just
introduced an entirely new kind of sandpaper… The
mineral technology came from the abrasives division,
some of the shape technology came from optical
systems, coating technologies came from the tape
division, and mathematical modeling and fracture
analysis came from the corporate research center.
Altogether, the abrasives division used seven different
technologies to create the product, only two of which
came from the division itself.”

Fred J. Palensky, CTO at 3M

Strategy + Business, May 11, 2011

 5 business groups, 88,000 employees, 40+
technology platforms, 30+ technology centers
Why is this
relevant?
• Internal open innovation = better internal
collaboration, less silo mentality
• Lots of white space = internal open
innovation opportunities (3M excels here)
• More than “just” corporate innovation; also
a learning platform for external innovation
• 60-80% of the same issues, challenges on
i-OI and OI (mindset, approaches - not IPR)
• Experimentation is much easier internally,
less risk of back-fires, not public domain
Getting started –
some key questions
• What are the (learning) objectives?
• Who are the project owners? Who sees
the big picture? Are they committed?
• Where is the right place to experiment?
How do you prepare / motivate people in
the right place?
• Are you ready to learn? Do you have a
“smartfailing” process?
• What is the right balance between
exploration and exploitation?
What tools can
help make this
happen?
Insights and
inspiration
Can business model insights help companies
go beyond R&D and include more functions?

www.businessmodelsinc.com
Business plan competitions dig deep in the
drawers, uncover white space opportunities…

…and bring organizations together on innovation

What if you invited external partners into such an

initiative? Learn together!
 Horizontal: disposition for
collaboration across disciplines

Only I-shapes: Only T-shapes:

“…very hard for them “Occasionally, we

to collaborate…each Vertical: have people who
individual discipline depth of don’t really have a
represents its own depth of skills, and
point of skill which they really struggle.
view…becomes a allows to They don’t get
negotiation…you get respect from the
gray compromises… contribute group.”
The results are never
Not Invented Here
spectacular but at
versus Re-applied with Pride
best average.”
Credit: Tim Brown / IDEO
Seed capital: Inventors can request seed capital from
their business unit managers; if their request is denied,
they can seek funding from other business units or
corporate funding.

New Venture Formation: Product inventors must recruit

their own teams, reaping the benefit of 3M’s many
networking forums as they seek the right people for the
job at hand. If it fails, previous jobs are guaranteed.

Dual career ladder: Scientists can continue to move up

the ladder without becoming managers. 3M does not lose
good scientists and engineers only to gain poor
managers.

Credit: Govindarajan / Srinivas

It’s almost fair to
say that 3M does
not need open or
external innovation.
They do so well by
themselves…
CEO, Six Sigma
key elements for
crisis in 2007.
Will a lack of
understanding of
open innovation
lead to a new one?
 Transformational Growth:
Industry is accessing the world for innovation

The “Want, Find, Get, Manage” Model®

What external resources do we need to

Want succeed in our mission?

What mechanisms will we use to find these

Find resources?

What processes will we use to plan,

Get structure and negotiate an agreement to
access the resources?

What tools, metrics and management

Manage techniques will we use to implement the
relationship?
Step 3: Value Pools and
Channels
Think / Reflect

• What value pools can you tap into to build value

for your innovation initiatives?
• Are these relationships solid or do you need to
do additional work to build good, mutually
beneficial working relationships?
• Are there potential external value pools that you
have not yet tapped at all? If so, what is your plan
for reaching out to them?
• Are your channels for communicating with your
value pools strong or do they need further work?
Employees Managers Suppliers Academics /
institutions

Executives Alumni VCs Startups

Business unit Users / Government

/ function consumers

Competitors Inventors
“This is important. Most big companies have 8, 10
or perhaps even 12 different external value pools
that they can look into.
However, even companies that are doing well with
open innovation are generally not capable of
working with more than two to four value pools at
the same time.”
- Stefan Lindegaard
A quick and dirty
exercise…
• Write down a list of your
current and potential value
pools
• Which of them are the
most important? Rate their
importance on a 1-10
scale. Why this grade?
• Rate your current efforts
on the top 5 rated value
pools on a 1-10 scale
“More companies should ask themselves what it
takes to become a preferred partner of choice
within their innovation ecosystems.
They will discover that building the foundation and
creating the perception are equally important.”
- Stefan Lindegaard
Build the
foundation
• You cannot build a strong
reputation and a perception
of being a preferred partner
if you do not have the
infrastructure in place to
deliver on your open
innovation efforts.

Be careful about inviting

guests into a home that is
not in order…
Create the
perception
• Once the foundation is in
place, you must make
others believe that your
company has what it takes
to be a “preferred partner
of choice” within your
industry.
More focus on stakeholder
management and
communication efforts,
please!
Best potential vs
least resistance
• Do not always start out
where the biggest potential
lies. See the bigger picture
and balance two factors
against each other when
selecting the starting
projects
Internal resistance = fear of change in general, bad risk
management attitudes such as low tolerance for failure
and worries on sharing intellectual property
“As with value pools,most companies can only be
successful in managing two to four channels at a
time, especially when you are new to open
innovation.
You need to experiment to determine which
channels work best for you.”
- Stefan Lindegaard
 InnoCentive Alliances / Campaigns
joint ventures (Comm / Public)

Entrepreneur Consortia
Day

Supplier
Summit

Campaigns MyStarbucks
(Comm / Public) Idea.com

CREDIT: OVO Innovation

Step 4: Internal readiness
Think / Reflect

• What is your company’s state of internal

readiness for open innovation?
• Does your culture support networking across
internal units and with external organizations?
• Is senior management up to speed on how
innovation really works?
• Do you have the right people in place to make
open innovation happen?
Every corporate culture is innovative! Find the
pockets, build the foundation and perception
Today, innovation is about having groups of
people come together – internally as well as
externally.
This requires a networking culture that is
designed, supported, and modeled by your
company’s leaders.
You simply can’t have a strong innovation culture
without a strong networking culture.
- Stefan Lindegaard
What does a good
networking culture
look like?
Networking efforts require direction, training and
time. Few executives get this.
Embrace experimentation
– and the failures that
come along with it!
Most companies are
not ready for this…
• Small failures are accepted, but not
big ones: 47 %
• Failure is not accepted here: 7 %

• More than half of the companies do not recognize

failure as an inherent part of an innovation culture!
 “Two types of failure:

• honorable failure is where an honest attempt at

something new or different has been tried
unsuccessfully and

• incompetent failure where people fail for lack of

effort or competence in standard operations.”

Credit: Paul Sloane

 “A mistake is when you do something wrong,
even though you knew the right way to do it.

Failure is when you are trying something new,

and you don’t know ahead of time how to make it
successful.

Credit: Jamie Notter

Developing a culture that is constructive about
failure requires a new vocabulary.

Smartfailing

When an organization embraces smartfailing, it

de-stigmatizes failure internally and uses failure
as an opportunity to learn and to find a better
course.
System failure (collapse of communism)

System component failure (stock market crash)

Major firm failure (Enron going out of business)

Start-up failure (Pets.com going out of business)

Product failure (New Coke tanking)

Idea failure (Apple Navigator protype, no launch

Credit: Tim Kastelle

The failure to anticipate / execute on…

…markets and technologies

…platforms for bringing innovation to market

…how companies innovate

External change is faster than internal change!

You win or lose in these pockets of opportunity!
Full survey: http://www.15inno.com/2012/11/08/surveyresults/
 There are no quick fixes because the top
executives that got us into this mess are not
ready to lead us out of it!
Too much focus on products, technology

Unrealistic expectations on time, resources

Lack of resources in budget, people, infrastrucure

Silo rather than collaborative approaches

Poorly defined innovation strategy (if any)

Don’t make your platform too complicated!
- but learn from your mistakes…
Identify reasons, create learning process!

Go beyond products and technologies!

Be open – more communication, new terms!

Reward learning behaviors!

Educate up and down on innovation!

Intrapreneurship is
an overlooked tool!
 “Intrapreneur:

a person within a large corporation who takes

direct responsibility for turning an idea into a
profitable finished product through assertive risk-
taking and innovation.”

American Heritage Dictionary, 1992

The Man on The Moon competition

• To identify and develop new ventures that creates significant growth

and/or strategic advantaages

• To spot and develop talent

• To change the culture and establish ”intrapreneurship” as a fourth career path

“…an intrapreneur must have the ability to see and pursue possibilities by
piecing together innovations across three or more business functions
simultaneously.”

Paul Campbell, former VP, HP

 A career path for trouble-makers?

“When someone tries to innovate within a traditional

organization, few will understand what he/she is
doing, but everybody will understand who is a trouble-
maker.

After the innovation has been embraced by the

organization, few will remember who started it,
but everybody will remember who was a trouble-
maker.

This is the dilemma encountered by many

intrapreneurs - they risk punishment for success.”
David Nordfos, Stanford
 The Lean Startup approach relies on validated
learning, scientific experimentation, and iterative
product releases to shorten product development
cycles, measure progress, and gain valuable
customer feedback.

Fail fast, fail often and fail cheap!

Stage 1: Shock and Surprise

Stage 2: Denial

Stage 3: Anger and Blame

Stage 4: Depression

Stage 5: Acceptance

Stage 6: Insights and Change

Credit: Steve Blank

Six stages of failure and redemption

Don’t get stuck in 2, 3 or 4 – move forward

Don’t skip acceptance of your role

Get to insights to change behavior…

…commit to challenge / do different next time

Credit: Steve Blank

Innovation metrics –
what and how?
Number of innovation-related rewards and recognitions

Numbers from various feedback mechanisms, showing employee

acceptance and understanding of the initiative

Results from the innovation self assessment capability maturity

framework (survey measuring five levels of maturity related to innovation
behavior)

Percentage of our budget dedicated to innovation, research, and

exploration of emerging technologies

Shareholder value created from innovation activities. (Shareholder Value

= IT Efficiencies + Business Value provided to the IT customers)

# of ideas generated in specific innovation harvesting campaigns

# of ideas harvested from campaigns, turned into implementable projects

# of Intel patent submissions

#Number of white papers published

Inspiration Jeff Murphy, former Executive Director

• Focus on engagement, training and participation

of individuals. Get critical mass
• Shift / add focus on innovation pipeline (active
projects by stage, flow of projects, development,
launch and kill)
• Shift / add focus on end goals (ROI, successful
products/services, revenue/savings from new
launches, optimized processes)
Inspiration Jimm Feldborg, Director Global Projects

• Lag indicator: Results are historic and can’t be

changed (rewards, number of patents)

• Current indicator: Results are present, indicators

can be changed (# of ideas, ongoing projects)

• Lead indicator: Results are predictive for future

and can be changed to high degree (hard to
identify)
Why you should not
pay too much
attention to this!

Open innovation changes

perspectives and approaches
If you really want to
change a culture…

Reward behaviors, not just

outcomes!
Step 3: External Readiness
Think / Reflect

• How ready is your industry for open innovation?

• What are the obstacles and drivers for open
innovation within your industry?
• What are you doing to persuade your partners to
work with you on open innovation?
• How strong is the trust between your
organization and your external partners?
 P&G MEDTECH PHARMA

Cycle time, money, IPR, conservatism,

government regulations and internal readiness
If you are the visionary
in your industry…
1) educate others in the industry, bring them up to
speed and get them to experiment with you

2) find new partners that are ready for open

innovation outside your industry

You can of course do both…

Some key
questions
• What should our future innovation eco-system
look like?
• How will current and potential partners perceive
our open innovation initiative? How can we adjust
as we get feedback on what we say and more
importantly how we act?
• Can we develop systems and processes that
enable us to deal with external input and handle
this in a proper way and in reasonable time?
• How can we work with external consultants,
service providers and innovation intermediaries?
…create a new business model for the manufacturing
industry by harnessing open innovation, the maker
movement, and community involvement to build a
revolutionary new wave of smart appliances. Goal: 100
micro-factories in the next decade
Image: Colin West McDonald / CNET
Change how we innovate

Be competitively unpredictable

Develop the right conditions and framework

Lessons from Todd Boone, former Director, Corp Comms

Psion
• Biggest obstacle? Getting partners to
understand the full scope of our efforts
Solution? We brought all partners together
• Communication messages were focused on an
industry opportunity; not just a Psion initiative
Some thoughts
on trust
• What does it take for you to trust others? What
can you do to convince others to trust you?
• Trust is a personal thing; it is first and foremost
established between people and then perhaps
between organizations
• Transparency is essential to trust. Without
transparency, trust will not take root
Trust barriers in
your ecosystem
• Most organizational structures foster an internal
rather than an external perspective
• Partners are viewed as someone paid to deliver
a service rather than a source of co-creation
• Most companies are more focused on protecting
own knowledge and intellectual property rather
than opening up and exploring new opportunities
• Forging strong relationships takes time and
personal commitment
“There are a number of elements that are critical
in building a successful innovation partnership,
but the key is for everyone to be the partner
they’re looking for.”
- Chris Thoen, former Managing Director,
Global Open Innovation Office at P&G
Good advice from
Chris Thoen
• Don’t think in terms of one-off deals
• Unless win-win is the mentality, there are no
wins in the long run
• Grow the total pie versus growing your piece of
the pie
• Be up front and transparent
Step 6: New Skills and Mindset
Think / Reflect

• Do your company’s leaders understand that

people matter more than ideas when it comes to
making innovation happen?
• Have you identified people who are best suited
for working at the different stages of innovation?
• Do you hire for potential or is your hiring based
on past experience and competencies?
• Are your hiring and training programs geared
toward developing the characteristics and skills
needed for innovation?
A CFO is wary about investing in the training and
education of the employees.
He asks the CEO: ”What happens if we invest in
developing our people and then they leave the
company?”
The CEO is a bright person and replies: ”What
happens if we don’t and they stay?”
Discovery – Incubation – Acceleration: Have the
right people at the right time!
What skills / key people do you need now, short
and long term? How do you get access to them?
1) Holistic point of view (intrapreneurial skills)
2) Ability to constructively handle conflict
3) Optimism, passion and drive
4) Curiosity and belief in change
5) Tolerance for / ability to deal with uncertainty
6) Adaptive fast learner with sense of urgency
7) Talent for networking / strategic influencing
8) Communication skills
58 replies, 62% working in companies with
more than 5000 people

45% work with innovation in full-time position

as leaders/managers, 18% full-time with no
leadership role and 27% on ad-hoc basis

Full survey = search “survey” on 15inno.com

 Please rate these qualifications for a team
working to create a stronger innovation culture.
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Please rate these ways for leaders to motivate
employees to become more innovative, help
create better culture for innovation.

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Innovation is a team sport. To which extent do
these statements resonate with you.

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Companies need to upgrade their innovation
capabilities. How relevant are these
initiatives and activities for this?

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No networking culture? No innovation culture!
- future winners get communities to work!
Networking efforts require direction, training and
time. Few executives get this.
 Horizontal: disposition for
collaboration across disciplines

Only I-shapes: Only T-shapes:

“…very hard for them “Occasionally, we

to collaborate…each Vertical: have people who
individual discipline depth of don’t really have a
represents its own depth of skills, and
point of skill which they really struggle.
view…becomes a allows to They don’t get
negotiation…you get respect from the
gray compromises… contribute group.”
The results are never
spectacular but at
best average.”
Credit: Tim Brown / IDEO
Thoughts on
training programs
• Begin by training the trainer
• Intrapreneurship-like programs are one of the
best ways of identifying and developing people
who will drive innovation forward
• Bring in real life experiences
• Training program itself must be agile to keep up
with emerging trends in innovation
• Don’t forget the executives
Finding and developing
the right people
• Future potential versus past competencies
• Adaptability is key – but in what direction?
• Future innovation leaders create communities
(shared sense of purpose, values and rules of
engagement)
• Future innovators are intelligent in many ways
• Build the right conditions and frameworks
Step 1: Common language and
Understanding, Motivation, Mandate
and Strategic Purpose
Think / Reflect

• Do you have clear messaging that lets people know

why innovation is important to the company?
• Are you working cohesively with the corporate
communications team on communicating about
innovation? (You might have to train them.)
• Are you doing a good job of communicating with
internal and external stakeholders?
• Do you train your innovators to become better
communicators?
Great innovators are
great communicators!
• Have a plan in place…
• View communication in the broad sense –
include networking and stakeholder management
• Have clear messages that resonate with the
audience – go beyond the corporate speak
• Use a range of communication tools – too few
innovators know about social media
Identify and interact with innovation partners

Generate more ideas, faster

Get market and competitor insights

Promote corporate innovation capabilities

Identify 10 keywords / terms and work with them
on LinkedIn and Twitter. What happens?
It’s about execution!

People first, processes next,

then ideas…
Get in touch!

Send me your questions!

Let’s connect on LinkedIn!

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15inno by Stefan Lindegaard
Check my blog on www.15inno.com - share it!

stefanlindegaard@me.com / @lindegaard