Working Out Loud Through Open Innovation

Sharing, learning and connecting through open innovation

or the Bromford Lab guide to working out loud

Paul TaylorI’m Coach at @BromfordLab

You can find me at @paulbromford

“

So many of us , right around the world , are working on solving exactly the same problems.

Huge amounts of global talent seeking to address climate change, income and health inequality, lack of affordable housing,

unemployment, ageing, digital exclusion and loneliness.

All uncoordinated and fragmented.

The challenge is connecting the players and closing the gaps

Many of our most challenging business issues, fall into the category of Wicked Problems

These aren't amenable to the single organisation, top down instinct to define, analyse, dissect and process.

Do we want ideas and opportunities exploredthrough machinery?

Or through networks?

The Rebels

😆😈The Pragmatists

🙈🙉🙊

The Idealists

😃😍The Investors

😇😟

The Doers

👷👮

The Doubters

😬😤

OpenINNOVAT

ION

The corporate intranet The biggest innovation slayer in existence today?

“

If we organise our work around the way we are currently structured we lock ourselves to the present - restricting the

ability for people to imagine a different future

If we make our thinking private property we are effectively closing our organisational borders to others

Traditional vs Networked Innovation

Traditional

Organisation basedDo it ourselvesPlannedSuggestion schemesControlled Seeks standardisation“The smart people are here”

Networked

System basedDo it with others

Can be chaoticOpen sourced

FluidSeeks diversification

“We need more input”

“Working Out Loud = Observable Work

+ Narrating Your Work”

Bryce Williams

Open innovation - the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation, and expand the

markets for external use of innovation, respectively (Chesbrough, 2003)

However - it’s not the social sector who are leading the way in transparency and openness

Problem definition

12 weeks max

Coaching

Think 10x bigger

prototype Test

Evaluate

Fail?

Prepare exit

resource for scale

The Bromford Lab approach to open innovation

Think beyond organisation and sector - that means changing your jargon and tone of voice

Share everything you can - with a range of digital tools

Have an easily accessible dashboard so people can see what you’re thinking and doing

Act on report recommendations before writing more of your ownDitch ideas when you can seen people are already working on them

Encourage partnerships that challenge your practice

Be social - respond to comments, welcome ideas and challenge

Make it fun and engaging - most people don’t want to read a boring report

The second incarnation of our Trello public dashboard

Sharing the journey of our learning

Sharing and connecting knowledge across

sectors via:

Twitter

YouTube

Instagram

Trello

Periscope

Medium

Vine

Continual renewal. Provoker of change. Maker of new products and services.

Problem Definition Design Test Pilot

Phased Implementatio

n

Delivery

Sharing the evolution of how we work

Sharing the successes and learning from

failure

Allowable failure rate of 70% means we don’t have any vested interests in spinning a story

Imagine if all across the social sector we shared the failures as well as the successes?

The big public sector innovation challenge:

The need for innovation and change is at an all time high

The capacity for innovation and change is at an all time low

Who has asked for your bright idea?Does it solve at least one problem for people?What unique benefit does it have compared to what’s already available?

Three questions to ask of any change or innovation programme:

Corporate Initiative-itis Vanity Projects Walking Dead Zombies

We need less talk of innovation and more about impact..

Digital technology means we can share and learn in ways unimaginable even 10 years agoWe have an opportunity before us to connect sectors and boost our capacity for innovation and change. We must not waste it

Twitter: @paulbromfordMail: lab@bromford.co.uk

Thanks!

Credits

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