Viewpoints By

Article: Behaviors that Fuel Innovation #1: Make Commitments - The Cornerstone of Results

Trust matters. Commitment matters. For any complex project, upfront, cross-functional planning with critical dependencies identified is key to success. Commitments are important building blocks of the plan, and seeking these commitments is critical.

Article: Four Behaviors that Fuel Innovation: Unleash Commitments, Requests and Offers to get the Innovation Results you Seek

Bad habits can negatively impact innovation. Instill these behaviors in your innovation teams to improve results and sustain them over time.

Download: Open Innovation: Practical First Steps for B2B Companies

Considering an open innovation initiative? Don’t take it lightly. For B2B companies who face unique additional challenges, identifying and achieving value can be especially difficult. If your company sees the value and is ready to get started, here are four critical steps that will help ensure success.

Download: The Value of Open Innovation for B2B Companies

We hear a lot these days about applying open innovation concepts to improve innovation and product development processes. The value is clear for B2C companies, but B2B firms have different challenges and needs that have caused many to hold off. Despite the challenges, the open innovation payoff for B2B companies is significant if done correctly, especially in today’s resource-constrained R&D environments.

Article: Foundation for Open Innovation, Part 3: Managing uncertainty of technology development

When managing the invention and development of a promising new technology, how do you most effectively deal with the uncertainties that exist? How does a thoughtful manager handle this? This third post in a three-part series introduces ways to address the uncertainty and risk in Open Innovation.

Article: Foundation for Open Innovation, Part 2: Where will breakthrough ideas come from?

For managers of R&D or engineering, generating breakthrough ideas is a critical initiative. I believe breakthroughs will come from both invention and innovation efforts. This second post of a three part series discusses how Open Innovation supports these breakthrough ideas.

Article: Foundation for Open Innovation, Part 1: Invention vs. Innovation

How many times have you heard from a co-worker - “I’m not a scientist or engineer; I can’t innovate.” This frame of mind frustrates many forward thinking managers and stands in the way of systematic creative work, especially in technical environments. This blog post defines invention and innovation, setting the stage for a broader Open Innovation discussion.