Open Innovation Websites- The Supplier/Customer Perspective

There are many websites now touting open innovation which in essence is a way to match up an invention/technology, product or service with a potential investor/licensee, manufacturer or distributor. Some of these websites do a good job articulating the information required to make a match while others could use some improvement. This is a case where one of Stephen Covey's 7 habits, "Begin with the end in mind" is appropriate.

Open Innovation sites will be most useful when analyzed from the supply side of the relationship first. Who is the supplier? The supplier in this case is the problem solver, investor, licensee, manufacturer, distributor etc. that we are trying to capture interest from for our innovation. They may be supplying knowledge, solutions, $'s or expertise. Since these sites typically charge the entity posting the innovation or problem needing solving, it would make sense that the poster spend adequate time on articulating the idea, product or problem such that the potential supplier can understand and hopefully connect a solution with it.

One of the sites used by Proctor & Gamble (Connect + Develop) does a good job of mentioning technology needs while also describing what they have already tried or investigated which saves the searcher valuable time. For example, one entry seeking reduced calorie density in snack foods mentions 3 methods already tried which tells me that if I have method 4, then maybe I have something they're interested in but if my technology is one of the 3 listed then maybe not.

Here are some simple examples with me as the potential innovator asking questions:

1. If I want someone to invest in my technology, can I articulate potential uses (products, industries, applications) for that technology in addition to solely providing details describing what it is?
2. If I want someone to purchase and distribute my product, can I articulate how it may be packaged or purchased or shipped clearly? Can I provide lead times or availability if applicable?
3. If I need a manufacturer, does my entry let someone know basic manufacturing processes (i.e. injection molding, extrusion, powder coating) that I need to produce my product?
4. If I want a licensee for my service (or product), what is the proof or background that I can provide to meet potential investor needs (previous orders, testimony from initial users, quality of work and most certainly, the basic business case)?

You could make a much longer list. The point is that like everything else we do, open innovation needs to focus on the concept understanding to the potential supplier for my problem. The supplier/customer relationship in open innovation can become very blended and we could argue over who actually is the supplier and customer in this relationship but either way, looking at the innovation from the other side will provide clarity and hopefully better responses.

Innovation Quick Hits - If at first you don't succeed....

John Barry died this month. He was 84. Why do we remember Mr. Barry? He became president of Rocket Chemical Co. in 1969 and was involved in a great innovation. Rocket later became the WD-40 Corporation. Interestingly, WD-40 started out as an agent to protect the skin of the Atlas Missile from corrosion but was so popular it became available in local stores in the 50's as the lubricant we all know and love. WD stood for water displacement ( no water, no corrosion). The significance of the 40? Turns out the formula worked on the "40th" try.

Are you willing to try 39 times before your "Eureka" moment? As Edison was quoted as saying, "Innovation is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration".

Innovation Quick Hits - Drivers License Innovation

Kudos to the State of Georgia on a simple, effective innovation that costs nothing, solves a problem and helps enforce the law. In a recent Atlanta newspaper article, the folks that produce the drivers license are revamping the look for the first time in like 13+ years. What got me wasn't the new holographic or anti-forging technology and the like, which we've come to expect, but something much simpler I didn't expect. For carding purposes, they are going to print the license vertically for licensees under 21 and horizontally for those over 21. This is a great example of a simple innovation that helps everyone from bar owners to the police to identify underage drivers. What a great idea! (unless you're the teenager).

Importance of History on Innovation Today

Preparing for an upcoming presentation, I decide to start with a quote from famed philosopher George Santayana:

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"

The perception of what innovation is and how we view it in our organizations has a lot to do with what we've believed about how it was done in the past. Unfortunately, our view of the past is colored by the way history has been presented to us. The Myths of Innovation is a great read describing the facts behind the lone inventor/innovator myth (i.e. Thomas Edison with the light bulb and the Wright Brothers with the airplane). History is easier to remember when we compartmentalize inventions and innovations as being this Eureka moment attributed to a single person or group. The truth is harder to swallow when you consider the timeline of innovations before and after the one person who gets the credit in the history book. Advances in aviation and light bulbs continue to this day.

So why is studying the incremental innovation histories of these inventions so important going forward? If we believe the cliff notes version of these past inventions, we can become biased to thinking that we or our organization can ever be that creative or innovative when our reality may be totally based on a flawed historical view. Taking this forward to a current example, there are those that would credit Steve Jobs as the creator of the IPod and IPhone. Steve Jobs may be an awesome visionary and creative leader but he's backed by thousands of creative staff to turn vision into reality. As humans, we like a straight line problem and solution and a person to give credit to, but reality in the world of innovation is failure cycles with twists and turns in ideas that are difficult to predict. They involve groups of lots of individual sparks of innovation across individuals, companies and countries which are all dependent on the availability/affordability of the needed technology to pull it off.

Study of past companies and the path to get to where they are can be an encouraging process to show you that those who have innovated before you have gone through the same struggles and failures that you're experiencing. Study the "real" history and be encouraged that others have gone before you and succeeded.