Is the horizon the past or the future in innovation dynamism?
Innovation has entered its death spiral as many have known it.
I mean it, innovation is starved, bleeding from a lack of resources, finances and top leadership resolve. It is fighting nothing more than rearguard defense.
Forget linear processes, forget one company inventions, forget the reliance of all the internal parts of the organization to support you, especially if you are an outlier, separated from the core of the business, sitting in some remote part of the world searching for inspiration, you are operating in a time capsule of old innovation practices.
Comparing Operating Models to change to Business Ecosystems
Forget how you operate in traditional business models if you are considering the value and benefits of applying Ecosystem thinking and designs. You really have to think radically differently.
There are significant differences in how we (can) operate and appreciate the distinctive aspects between our traditional management approach and applying Ecosystem thinking and design. Initial assessments are highly valuable before you embark on participating in Ecosystem collaborations.
There are several emerging frameworks that provide for both universal and distinct application stages. There is always a need to emphasis “contextual nuances” and those “triggering points” but those are further critical aspects to explain for gaining a deeper understanding of Business Ecosystem distinctiveness in future posts.
My aim is to encourage business thinking around Collaborative Ecosystem Management for the future. Considering and then undertaking Business Ecosystems has a very different organizational impact and significant changes to be considered to be built and then put into place.
One exercise I recently undertook was to compare traditional to ecosystem distinctiveness. I offer here ten key distinctive areas for comparison. Let me share these:
There are many aspects to evaluate. Here I provide a handy comparison of existing and necessary changes likely to be made for Ecosystem management. Take a look at many of the principle differences.
I have put these into ease-of-reference set of tables.
Dynamism and Knowledge are essential to your future
In today’s business landscape, where change is the only constant, businesses that can adapt quickly and effectively will be the ones that thrive through active dynamism. Dynamic ecosystems provide a framework for businesses to do just that
To make an Innovation or Business Ecosystem dynamic, interconnected, and capable of engaging a diverse group that drives innovation and business tasked with creating real impact and value, any business ecosystem should include the following key elements:
Recognizing the differences in Innovation Ecosystem Design
Recently I have been reading or listening too different understandings of innovation ecosystems. Some fuse and some confuse.
All have some merit but are not defining enough for me, so here is my take.
So to kick things off lets offer a clear definition of what an innovation ecosystem is and why it is important in today’s business environment?
Defining Innovation Ecosystems:
Definition: An innovation ecosystem is a dynamic, interconnected network of diverse actors and resources that collaborate to drive innovation and create value.
Feeling trapped, break out of the box with Innovation Ecosystems
We continue to fail to unlock the full potential of innovation. I continue to receive reports on the latest surveys on the management of open innovation and its progress.
So little is said or discussed on changing the innovation system, it seems organizations are (really) comfortable with incremental or experimental innovation as the extent of their ambition. We are trapped in a ever decreasing cycle.
I recall one report mentioning only 7% of innovation is deemed radical or significantly changing the way business undertakes innovation.
The business model, built on the premise the knowledge needs to flow into “us” and not mutually sharing the final outcomes, going into the market. Why?
In my view, Innovation Ecosystems Outperforms Traditional Internal Innovation Structures? Why don’t we change?
The Story of Dynamic Ecosystems- the adaptive core
I am offering a different perspective here, one that explores dynamic ecosystems as a transformative organizational model. Sit back and listen.
I asked Google Notebook LM to look at one of my articles: “A fresh perspective of Dynamic Ecosystems”.
Expanding on the idea of Dynamic Ecosystems as the decision-making and adaptability core of business ecosystems involves positioning them as both the “intelligence layer” and the “adaptive engine” that powers business agility, resilience, and growth. This approach redefines their role from a passive network to a responsive, intelligence-driven hub that continuously senses, learns, and guides the ecosystem.
I closed out my posts in 2023 reflecting on the “golden” threads that need to weave through innovation business ecosystems. So equally I share these four threads here again as they are so important to Business Ecosystem thinking and design going forward.
I raised the ecosystem thinking and design story ““At the heart of this story lies the understanding that innovation is NEVER a solitary endeavor; it thrives really well within ecosystems.
Just imagine these ecosystems as intricate and interconnected sets of networks, bustling with activity, with thinkers and doers, where individuals, organizations, and institutions converged with a shared goal – to innovate and create value“
The value of business ecosystems needs to be highly dynamic. Four threads need to weave through innovation ecosystem designs“
My review of 2024 from a posting perspective has been a really positive one.
Taking my two primary posting sites of paul4innovating.com and ecosystems4innovating.com I wrote just over 100 posts, which always comes as a surprise in what it entails in time invested.
The split between sites was fairly even as I continue to increase my focus on building the building case for Ecosystems, in thinking and design.
In this reflective post I took a look back on why I moved from an “absolute” focus on innovations into innovation and business ecosystems.
Recognizing the value and potential to the Integrated Ecosystem Design
The concept of having an integrated business ecosystem is central to the future growth and value businesses can provide. Yet, these have to be seen as highly collaborative, where mutual co-creation through networks of partners join forces to overcome more complex and challenging problems we seem to be facing today.
The single organization is unlikely to bring the depth of knowledge, diversity and access in resource and market realization. We need to learn to work in collaborative Ecosystems.
Pitching the reasons to change to Innovation Ecosystems in thinking and design
So after working through the values of the Innovation Ecosystem over a series of three posts I asked Chat GPT to help me in making a pitch for the change from existing internal orientated innovation processes and structures.
I wanted to go way beyond just “open innovation” here, I wanted to provide a compelling set of reasons to make this move or accelerate this into reality.
Does this resonate with you? Are you moving along this journey of change seeing the reasons and lasting potential?
Unlocking the Full Potential of Innovation: Why an Innovation Ecosystem Outperforms Traditional Internal Innovation Structures and Systems
