Why is Covid time the best for Change, Collaboration and Open Innovation ?

Covid time has exposed us to many novel thoughts, experiences, apprehensions, fears and anxieties.

When we experience new ideas and thoughts during this Covid time, we need to keep the following points in mind.

Open innovation is a term used to promote an information age mindset toward innovation that runs counter to the secrecy and silo mentality of traditional corporate research labs. Wikipedia

Click here for Viima Open Innovation blog ..

Depending on the way in which innovation happens, innovation is divided into open and closed innovation. While closed innovation happens within the closed and self-contained company environment, open innovation incorporates external knowledge into innovation management.

This Covid time is ideal or us to collaborate and overcome the harsh realities and grief of suffering and death while at the same time be able to achieve greater heights in our progress and development of humanity.

As per the Cambridge English dictionary,  Collaboration is the situation two or more people or groups working together to create or achieve the same thing.

How to collaborate : Collaboration should help benefit both the teams and hence the environment should be ideal for perfect collaboration. Some of the points that can help to have a collaborative and progressive environment are given below.

They are

1. Ignore Intellectual Property (IP ) for the time-being - The IP rights holder can share his rights with others and ensure effective utilisation of the product or process for the betterment of humanity

2. Leverage two sided innovation (open innovation) - When innovation takes inputs and ideas from the environment instead of from closed indoors an organisational confines, the benefits to humanity can indeed be great.

3. Need to embrace new partners - Earlier intense competitors can collaborate and come up with innovative products and processes.

4. Situational Urgency leads to transformation - unless humans find a real need for change, change never happens. These times of stress and grief definitely opens up more avenues for collaboration and  cooperation. Technology can help make this transition fast and effortless.

5. Looking ahead into the future - the future holds promise for the growth of humanity. So being very positive about the changes that happen in future for the betterment of humanity, in spite of the temporary setbacks, holds the key to the good future of humanity

Covid is definitely taking us back economically and socially, but it is taking us ahead in technology adoption and environmental compliance leading to safe and healthy environments around us. If organisations across the world, embrace these principles, it will make a big difference in what the world would be post-Covid.

This article has inputs from an article by Linus and Martin, Why now is the time for Open Innovation, HBR, June 2020. 

George..