E31: Solve Internal Problems by Looking Externally

What if the best solutions to your internal business problems can be found by looking externally? 

In this episode, I have a conversation (using the Invisible Solutions® lenses) with my friend and colleague Jon Fredrickson. He is the Chief Innovation Officer for InnoCentive (a Wazoku company) and has 15 years of deep open innovation experience.

The conversation covered a wide range of topics including:

• According to a study conducted by Harvard, over 80% of solvers of InnoCentive challenges would not fit the hiring profile of the client
• One company replicated 15 years of R&D history with one problem with a 60 day challenge - and they got a better answer
• If you start looking externally, you can find a kernel of a solution which can be brought back to the organization and adapted
• Open innovation enables parallel processing of problem-solving which can speed time to solution

There were so many stories, such as how a radiologist solved a problem on how to identify fractures and fissures in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico to find natural gas or oil deposits.

I think you'll really find this conversation fascinating.

Learn more about InnoCentive

Learn more about Wazoku

Read about my strategic partnership with Wazoku/InnoCentive

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Brought to you by Stephen Shapiro—helping people and organizations create high-performing collaboration, innovation, and teams since 2001.