amplifying the innovation signal | Paul4innovating Innovation Views

By Breaking Down Resistance to Business Ecosystems, we embrace them.

Resistance to Business Ecosystems does need to be broken down and addressed to realize the power of Ecosystem thinking and design and its growing value to Enterprises.

So why are we not doing this today?

Adopting any business ecosystem-centric approach involves a significant shift in mindset, culture, and organizational structures.

While some forward-thinking organizations have embraced aspects of ecosystem thinking, there are several challenges and barriers that hinder widespread adoption.

In the suggested Hierarchy of Business Ecosystems, recognizing the value of an interconnected series of (dedicated) Ecosystems that build out innovation, business, dynamic flexibility, and connected enterprise layers does need to address the natural instincts to resist the adoption of business ecosystems in the fear of sharing what we know, against what we often don’t know as it is outside our restricted view.

The question is whether we need to recognise the opposite; it is the need to embrace building a different approach to the new business needs of fast-changing markets, constant change and growing complexity and opening up to different and diverse experience and knowledge gives us the greater potential to expand and build out new potential opportunities.

The value of interconnecting layers within the Hierarchy of Business Ecosystem Needs.

Interconnecting Layers for the Hierarchy of Ecosystem Needs

So, the value of establishing this hierarchy of business ecosystem in its needs requires understanding why it is depicted as interconnected layers. Is this establishing a new sustaining excellence for businesses?

They are when combined, collective in significance and impact and provide a higher level of radicality to present and offer as an alternative to today’s business and economic growth approach.

Why? Well, today, businesses are facing growing complexity and more demanding challenges. To gain growth and find new value, they must look far more toward managing collaborative ecosystems to co-create and build a sustainable platform to grow.

When I was thinking through this Hierarchy of Business Ecosystem Needs, I asked myself a series of reality checks to keep me on this path of discovery and validation.

What are the Barriers when Implementing Business Ecosystem-designed approaches

Implementing and Building Ecosystem Designs

While ecosystem-based approaches offer numerous advantages, there are also challenges and potential barriers that organizations may face.

As I was building out the Hierarchy of Business Ecosystem Needs, you have to consider many of the (current) issues and challenges being faced by advancing Ecosystem thinking and design. The business case adds more value and needs to think more about the impact of ecosystems in highly connected ways.

I believe in building the foundation layer, the Innovation Ecosystem pushes the “grey cells” and gives the best platform for integrating a comprehensive Ecosystem framework in my proposal, which comprises an Innovation Ecosystem, a Business Ecosystem, a Dynamic Ecosystem and the Enterprise Ecosystem.

The question of barriers and issues must be addressed to comprehensively understand the values of synergies, interdependencies and the exponential value created when these Business Ecosystem layers I am proposing in my Hierarchy framework are interconnected. Constructing an interconnected business ecosystem framework is undoubtedly “no walk in the park”; it is hard work.

Emerging Blueprint for Thinking Through the Hierarchy of Business Ecosystem Need

The Hierarchy Of Business Ecosystem Needs- A Blueprint View

Several vital considerations come into play in developing a blueprint to thrive and find solutions that provide growth and fresh impact to a business amidst growing complexity and uncertainty. One that argues for a different business approach, with Ecosystem thinking and design being central.

When I was pulling together my view of the needs and contributions Ecosystems can provide businesses, I recognized an identification of aspects as essential to consider, this blueprint consideration and then addressed what was necessary to provide a comprehensive solution for offering a Hierarchy of Business Ecosystem Needs as a viable alternative to the current way we undertake business.

Let’s explore these considerations to ensure a comprehensive approach to addressing the challenges at hand when building an ecosystem hierarchy for future growth and prosperity.

Being explicit about ecosystems in the context of organizational strategies provides several distinct advantages compared to traditional approaches. We increasingly need to consider ecosystems in our thinking and design to leverage more significant insights, extract knowledge and build on collaborative experiences and diversity of views.

Why Ecosystems? Let’s get explicit on why they are important to us today.

Being explicit about ecosystems in the context of organizational strategies provides several distinct advantages compared to traditional approaches. We increasingly need to consider ecosystems in our thinking and design to support the growth and sustainability that collaborations can contribute to and provide different options and pathways to value creation.

I have begun to outline the initial case for a new framework of ecosystem hierarchy within cooperation needed in business environments as they offer the potential for the transformative power of a collaborative and collective set of ecosystems coming together to offer new impact, value and growth, needed in today’s current business environment.

In a series of posts over on my dedicated Ecosystems site, I provide this initially connected narrative, “Navigating the New: Introduction to the Hierarchy of Ecosystem Need“, and flowing on from this, I will offer separate explanations of each of the individual ecosystem layer posts covering innovation, business, dynamics and enterprise-building ecosystems.

This Ecosystem hierarchy has a clear message of being interconnected as each layer contributes to the whole, and I trust it provides an introductory but comprehensive understanding of the values of synergies, interdependencies and the exponential value created when these layers are interconnected (read).

The result of each Ecosystem layer, even as a standalone layer, can drive innovation, resilience and prosperity within individual organizations. Yet the real potential when each layer is strategically integrated brings a more interconnected vision and value, building the impact and effect of Ecosystem design for collaboration and co-creation.

The critical differences in understanding Dynamic Ecosystems.

The need to understand Dynamic Ecosystems

I believe dynamic ecosystems require a richer understanding of the characteristics, environmental factors, and critical differences that can shape the dynamism of the business system.

This post highlights the essence of Dynamic Ecosystems and how they differ or provide active support for other ecosystem models, as they do have different roles to play in Ecosystem thinking and design:

Dynamism and Knowledge Insights are crucial to unlock future success

Dynamism and Knowledge insights are crucial to unlocking future success.

Dynamism and knowledge insights are crucial to unlocking success proactively, actively shaping any business landscape and stimulating your innovation activities.

Today, we need to collaborate far more and leverage collective strengths. We require being far more adaptive and flexible to pivot and adapt to changing circumstances quickly. As we share more data, we are breaking down organization silos and achieving far more comprehensive overviews to identify different levels of innovation complexity. Through open innovation, through the use of platforms and technology, we gain knowledge sharing and diversity in experiences.

For me, innovation is becoming far more dynamic in the different parts of work we must undertake today. Linear organizations can struggle with the different dynamics and ways they need to adjust and work, far too wedded to the pursuit of internal efficiency. The organizations that recognise that they need to collaborate and co-create are those emergent thinking ones that elicit increased cooperation and achieve significant differences in innovation outcomes, ones that offer the potential for a far more open collaborative environment that can lead to eventual and often unique value.

Closing out the year by transforming into innovation ecosystems

As we close out the year, I have been looking back and recognizing the transformation concept for innovation, which has been central to my work and, more importantly, moving forward in where I go in my innovating focus in 2024.

Here is the story as I look back at 2023……..

Once upon a time, in a world driven by innovation, there was a transformative concept known as the Integrated Framework for Innovation Ecosystems. This framework was not just a set of ideas but a guiding light for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers seeking to unlock the potential of innovation in various corners of the globe.

“At the heart of this story lies the understanding that innovation is NEVER a solitary endeavour; 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.

Embracing the power of dynamic ecosystems.

Innovation’s power lies in the ability to adapt, evolve, and collaborate, and our need is to make this as much of a dynamic ecosystem as possible to tackle the growing complexity and challenges we are facing today and in the future.

In recent weeks, I have been deepening my thinking on innovation ecosystems and the dynamics within these that can make them different by giving them this “dynamic focus.”

So, it is time to embrace the power of dynamic ecosystems – where innovation excellence isn’t just a goal; it’s the very fabric of sustained success.

Dynamic ecosystems are not just about collaboration and innovation. They are also about adaptation and resilience. In today’s business landscape, where change is the only constant, businesses that can adapt quickly and effectively will be the ones that thrive. Dynamic ecosystems provide a framework for businesses to do just that.

Dynamic ecosystems are not just about individual businesses; they are about creating value for the entire ecosystem that businesses participate in.

Innovators need to heighten sensory intelligence and cognitive abilities.

Understanding the sensory and cognitive abilities of innovators

Following on from my first post on building an Innovator’s Sensory profile, the combination of various cognitive, emotional and environmental factors heightens our awareness, so I needed to explore this further in this post.

I wanted to build out some thinking based on the question, “Can we unlock the innovator’s potential through understanding their sensory and cognitive abilities?”

It is our ability to develop the capacities to learn, absorb and interpret information and how this all interacts becomes the essential interplay that can give us a continuous feedback loop, shaping perceptions, thoughts and actions. This shapes what we do and how we can respond to navigate an increasingly dynamic and ever-changing world.

The recognized simpler view of innovators having essential cognitive skills is made up of generally needing to associate, question, observe, network and experiment and should be part of the innovator’s DNA. I would argue we need to go deeper to build out innovators’ skills and abilities to provide distinctive value; value gives us worth!

So, what contributes to having enhanced innovation capabilities to gain a potential competitive advantage?