Here are 10 common mistakes and how you can work around them for the best open innovation that is possible for your company.

1. 10 COMMON MISTAKES –
OPEN INNOVATION
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As a relatively new form of innovation that involves so many people
there are bound to be some mistakes when using open innovation. The
key is not to give up on the whole concept because of these mistakes,
but instead learn to find a variation that works for your company’s
needs.
Make sure that you find the resources to tweak your open innovation
system so that you can take full advantage of the speed and cost savings
that are afforded when you get it right.
Here are 10 common mistakes and how you can work around them for
the best open innovation that is possible for your company.
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1. OPENING THE INNOVATION TO A NETWORK
WITHOUT A CLEAR STRATEGY
It is tempting to dive in head first and just give open innovation a try,
but you have to make sure that you have a strategy to harness the
power.
If you don’t have a clear strategy and objective than you are likely to not
get as much as you could out of the open innovation and waste your
resources at the same time.
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2. POORLY DEFINING THE NEED OR
REQUIREMENT
Just as you need a solid strategy, you need to make sure that the
objective is clearly defined.
This will allow people to understand and input their creativity in the
same direction instead of misinterpreting the task and wasting time and
money.
Narrowing the objective will also allow people to get more creative and
find more solutions to that exact issue and incorporate other
complementary ideas.
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3. NOT GETTING THE WHOLE COMPANY ON
BOARD
When you are trying to create a great cohesive network for open
innovation you have to make sure that everyone in the company is
working towards this goal.
By encouraging the whole company to contribute and engage in some
way you are leveraging your internal resources so that they can be
multiplied externally.
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4. NOT DEFINING THE PROCEDURE AND TAKE
ON HANDLING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IP)
The legal teams on all sides of open innovation can halt the process
before it even begins.
Planning out the procedure will not only satisfy the legal team but it will
also ensure that everyone can work together with fear of sharing too
much information.
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5. JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS WITHOUT A
SOLID IDEA TESTING PROCEDURE
Ideas and innovation will come from all angles and it is important to
test each of them with a process that works quickly.
Instead of vetting the ideas from a gut reaction use numbers and
metrics to determine what an innovative idea is potentially worth.
By shutting the door on ideas before they can be tested you won’t
maximize the ideas that you create.
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6. NOT USING ALL POSSIBLE NETWORK TYPES
There are several different avenues that you can build an open
innovation network with and most companies tend to focus on just one;
or a fraction of one.
By trying new networks and approaches you will be able to find a
method that works for your company.
Make sure that you review these methods frequently so that you are
not missing out on a better opportunity.
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7. NOT FACTORING IN THE CULTURE OF THE
PARTNERS THAT YOU BRING INTO THE FOLD
There may be advantages of resources or talent that gets you excited to
work with a potential partner but you can’t overlook the culture and
working relationship that they bring to the table.
Ensuring that you can work synergistically will save you headaches and
resources by considering culture from the beginning.
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8. NOT GIVING YOUR PARTNERS OR NETWORK
ENOUGH RESPECT
Communication is very important in any relationship and open
innovation is no different.
Making sure that you respect your partners with open communication
and feedback will encourage an open working relationship.
As long as you chose a good network that you can work with (culture)
than increasing the communication will help to smooth out any little
hitches.
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9. LOOKING AT THE SMALL PICTURE
Open innovation requires that you collect as many ideas from as many
places as you can and this means keeping an open process.
Bringing together everyone that could benefit from the solution, even if
just for a one time project, will amply your results and bring in the most
ideas.
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10. FAILURE TO BUILD AND CULTIVATE TRUST
In order to work in a collaborative and open way you need to be able to
trust all of the parties involved, and they need to trust you.
Making sure that you operate from a win-win mindset and try to build
trust on all levels of the network will guarantee that people will want to
work with you on your innovations.
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13. GROWING BUSINESS WITH INNOVATION
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