5 Essential Thoughts for Open Source Innovation
An interesting article on TheAge.com discusses open source innovation, which is essentially networked innovation made possible by the internet. Kristen Le Mesurier presents 5 essential thoughts to stimulate the adoption of open source innovation:
- Bury the thought that innovation is a department or a role. Encourage all employees to think creatively.
- Make the cliche company suggestion box transparent and put it online, in an email, or on the intranet.
- Don’t just ask employees for ideas. Formulate the problem and ask employees for solutions.
- Work out who the enthusiasts are and get them involved.
- Make your product or service available for free to those who might be able to improve it.
I would like to highlight one important element. While everyone is talking about crowdsourcing, tapping into the wisdom of the crowd, and sourcing external ideas… a company shouldn’t forget to stimulate its own employees to participate in its open innovation contests and processes. Why not first set-up an internal platform with idea contests, problems, and proper rewards? It could be a good learning experience to open up (parts of) your platform in a later stage. P&G’s Ask Me feature on its intranet is a successful example of such an internal platform.
Via: fogglog
Open Innovators: 12 Pioneering Books on Open Innovation & Crowdsourcing
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