Presentation given in Ottawa in February 2013 - TIM Lectures: Local open innovation and the seeking solutions approach

1. Ottawa - February 7th 2013
Philippe Dancause, Yahya Baby Christophe Deutsch & Frank Piller*

2.  Introduction
 Local open innovation
 Why local open innovation?
 Open innovation
 Broadcast search
 Success criteria for openness: Intimacy factor
 A definition for local open innovation
 How to implement Local open innovation:
Seeking Solutions approach
 The concept
 Quebec Seeks Solutions 2010 highlights
 Other examples
 Conclusion
 Questions
 A taste of the Seeking Solutions Approach
2

3. 3
Why local open innovation?

4. 4
Innovation =
disciplined problem solving

5. Open innovation = Increasing the
productivity of problem solving
http://www.flickr.com/photos/midnight-digital/2825160379/sizes/o

6. Open innovation is
the use of purposive
inflows and outflows
of knowledge to
accelerate internal
innovation, and
expand the markets
for external use of
innovation,
respectively
Henry Chessbrough
7

7. 8
Open innovation is
the formal
discipline and
practice of
leveraging the
discoveries of
unobvious others
as input for the
innovation
process through
formal and informal
relationships.
*Note: the informal relationships constitu
Frank Piller the "innovativeness" of open innovation

8. Opening Innovation
openness to outsiders =
new ideas – new visions –
breakthrough

9. 11
Open
= broad, free, undefined,
distributed, shared

10. 13
How to make these
connections?

11. 14
Broadcast Search

12. 15
Broadcast Search
"Seeker" broadcasts a (technical)
problem to an undefined (and
generally large) network of "solvers"
in form of an open call
15

13. 16
From market places
(for technologies) to
problem places for solutions
16

14. 17
But how open is open
enough? Or can there be
too much openness?

15. 19
Intimacy
or: The power of Q

16. 20
Brian Uzzi, Northwestern U.

17. 21

18. Brian Uzzi, Northwestern University
Research on composition of 2254 musical
productions at Broadway (1945-1989),
measurement of connectivity and ties between
members of the production team.
Calculation of social intimacy measure Q =
How much do team members
know each other already?

19. Successful musical: Q=2.6
Low Q (<1.4) vs. High Q (>3.2)

20. 24
Success factor for R&D:
Creating (extended) teams
for innovation with the
right Q

21. 25
The case for going local

22. 26
Opening a domain to outsiders
Broadcasting problems
Providing a space for cooperation
Enabling collaborations
with the right Q
An arena for local open innovation
26

23. 27
Local Open Innovation
=
Seeking Solutions
Approach

24. The Concept

25. 1 – Problem Sourcing *

26. 2 – Problem Selection

27. 3 – Problem Broadcasting

28. 4 – Seeking solutions workshop

29. QSS 2010 edition Highlights
• 9 companies / 10 problems
• 175 participants (paying 200$ to participate)
• Results :
• 60% of the seeking companies have stayed in contact with
people met during the event near to one year after the event
• The largest perceived impact is the networking
• Real business opportunities appeared : at least three contract
have been signed
• 50% of the seeking companies are actively working on solutions
suggested during the event and collaborate with partners met
during the event.

30. Kruger’s problem: finding a new product
• A problem with critical consequences
• Finding innovative applications using offline coaters or the
manufacturing plant in Trois Rivières closes down
• The solution:
• paper tarpaulin instead of plastic
• Opening to outsiders of the domain: agro-environment
• Proof of concept in the field : feasibility has been demonstrated
• .5 M$ grant for a project between Kruger, FPInnovation and IRDA
and 3 other industrial partners

31. QSS 2012 edition Highlights
• 9 Seeking companies,
• 162 potential solvers over 2 days
• Results:
• Real solutions
• A complex problem solved thanks to a very simple idea with a
simple tool (commodity in another industry)
• Real business opportunities
• Solution that helps a SME saving costs and creating new
sourcing strategy
• Side effect: cultural changes inside the participating companies
• 7/9 of company would participate again
• Networking

33. « I got a lot of very fruitful contributions today. The more
we advanced in the day, the simpler the solutions became.
I would never had thought this type of exercise would go
that way.
I liked it a lot. I came with a white page and I leave with 4
potential solutions. That’s very promising !
Thanks for the process »
Jo Lanoë - Textiles Techniques
Chaudière-Appalaches

34. ISPIM Seeks Solutions
• Workshop during the
Innovation management
conference in Barcelona
• 13 problems submitted
• 5 problems selected
• A new way to increase the
energy in a conference!

35. Benefits & Outcomes
• For the Seeker s
• New way of solving pr oblems
• Networ king
• Tr y Open innovation
• For the solver s
• Networ king
• Business oppor tunities
• Visibility
• For a Region / confer ence / Consor tium / Company
• Incr eased value cr eation
• Incr eased collabor ation
• Incr eased capabilities to quickly solve all sor ts of
pr oblems
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotorita/2313873355/sizes/l/

36. From a collection of intelligences
to a collective intelligence

37. W ant to tr y it ?
• For your r egion
• Inside your own Company
• In a cluster
• Dur ing a confer ence
Contact us at info@enmodesolutions.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/b-tal/116220689/sizes/l/

38. Questions
45