The future of business is building around the relationships you are forming, the level of participation onto platforms and building ecosystems. These form relationships and networks to accelerate your potential innovation solutions
the building blocks through research building towards Business Ecosystem design.
During the month of August 2024 I undertook some fairly intensive research work on Business Ecosystems. Most of this was not just to compliment what I had already built and shared in different posts in the past few years but to push out the future thinking in a more comprehensive manner.
There are a lot of concepts that need to come together for thinking through and designing Business Ecosystems let alone to roll these out in very thoughtful and constructive ways.
I have found the study and application of Business Ecosystems is without doubt a constant ongoing journey that is constantly in flux, adaptation and learning. It is truly dynamic.
Today, we are faced with so much complexity that the approach to modern ecosystems needs this consistent attention and adapting
Extending out the Interconnected Business Ecosystem
The Interconnected Business Ecosystem Framework is a pioneering and holistic approach that redefines how organizations create value, drive innovation, and achieve long-term success in an increasingly complex and dynamic business environment.
By seamlessly integrating interdependent ecosystem layers this framework unlocks a transformative paradigm that transcends traditional boundaries and silos, creating a virtuous cycle of value creation, resilience, and adaptability to secure an enduring competitive advantage in today’s dynamic business landscape.
Recognizing the Dynamics are becoming increasingly the core
Like any ecosystem this interconnected business ecosystem framework is dynamic, it is constantly evolving through greater insights, research and pioneering.
Initially I focused on framing this around four ecosystems: innovation, business, dynamic and enterprise as interdependent ecosystems.
In the past few months I have been questioning this and believe the interplay was lacking in recognition that other ecosystems were coming into play.
Navigating complexity within the realm of Dynamic Ecosystems.
We all recognize that markets are changing, complexity is growing, and challenges are more formidable to manage without extended help. This requires all businesses to face rapidly changing business environments to design their response rates and abilities to react differently. How radical will this be?
Recognizing critical aspects provides organizations with a strategic framework that not only recognizes the challenges of complexity but actively leverages the dynamic nature of the ecosystem we need to build, to thrive in the future. To achieve this we need to break down existing complexity.
Complexity matters in recognizing what it inhibits and what needs unbundling so any future design of an organization or process is (attempting) to put into place the right processes, skills, and culture to make them more responsive, or dynamic. In any future design we can’t continue to behave in linear ways.
Embracing Innovation Ecosystems for Evolution and Revolution
My definition of innovation ecosystems is that they are dynamic, interconnected networks of diverse actors and resources that come together to collaborate to drive innovation opportunity and create a more compelling value.
They are progressively replacing “just” innovation as this tends to be housed in one organization, to be developed and delivered on the resources and insights they have.
Innovation Ecosystems are richer due to this diversity, different knowledge and market intelligence that a broader group can bring into the creative thinking and market realization.
This interconnected community find ways to bring new ideas to market, built on their shared vision, having a collaborative and supportive environment to use, such as a shared platform, and able to reach out to a variety of resources that become accessible to all participants.
During May and June 2023, I worked through and concluded my thinking on why we needed to change our Innovation approach. A radical change from far to often a linear one, into a new, more up-to-date, and dynamic solution for managing innovation.
This solution recognises that innovation discovery all the way through to implementation is now so often non-linear and that is causing plenty of problems connecting all the understandings fully up in one manageable place
I have called this the Composable Innovation Framework– here is why and what went into this proposal that I feel should be adopted for managing innovation in the future.
As the investigation, validation, and viewpoints were built up over numerous posts I am summarising the series here
We need to shift our innovative thinking from static to dynamic.
Open up your CEO’s innovating thinking to make the jump
Innovation must rely increasingly on interconnected organizations organized around a central focal point of value and impact. An ecosystem design should be in thought and design so that organizations can act differently on strategies, business models, leadership, and customer engagement to build new value and worth.
If we fail to recognize that innovation is vital to our business, to sustain it, and to enable it to grow, we eventually die. Today, more than ever, it is becoming an evolving collective endeavour. Increasingly, we are faced with growing complexities and challenges to resolve.
We need to foster collaboration between individuals, organizations, and institutions, creating a symphony of ideas that resonate far beyond the boundaries of any single actor.
The design and thinking behind the Composable Innovation Framework
I have been undertaking a significant revamp of two pivotal frameworks I have been building in the past twelve months that move towards Ecosystem thinking and design.
Part of this has been a renaming. I explained the Composable Innovation Enterprise concept in several posts last year. I have now shortened it to the Composable Innovation frame within its new positioning role, which is more central to applying the thinking towards Innovation Ecosystems.
Building Partner Ecosystems Progressively through Three Horizon Thinking
Thinking Partner Ecosystems in design and delivery. There is a need to resolve immediate, mid-term, and long-term issues to show progressive thinking on how to grow collaboratively. How to collaborate to deliver impact, and create value when building your thinking in products, services, or new business models on any Partner Ecosystem design and thinking. One methodology stands out for me: the three-horizon framework
Partner ecosystems are highly valuable for delivering on these ambitions. Partner Ecosystems enable you to go beyond addressing immediate and surface-level issues to tackle deeper, systemic challenges and position clients at the forefront of collaborative and co-creative approaches.
In my view, this requires a progressive mindset that considers growth, impact, and value across various time horizons. This mindset lends itself really well to applying the three-horizon methodology.
Dynamics and Knowledge are essential to your future
Dynamism and knowledge insights are crucial to unlocking and stimulating new ideas or thinking. It is all about actively shaping thoughts or insights to navigate the changing terrain.
We do need to actively navigate the rapidly changing business landscape in multiple ways it is not just about reacting to external forces. It’s about proactively shaping the direction and actively participating in the evolution of your industry, your positioning and your own insights.
In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, the ability to build a strong case, stay informed, and think critically is the key to unlocking success and driving innovation.
Exploring Complexities of Business Ecosystem Collaborations
Why should “we” step into the realm of ecosystem collaborations? What does one organization give away and has to overcome in constraints and organizational barriers that form part of those lingering concerns regarding embracing Business Ecosystems?
The question always starts with “do I not give away more than I have as an individual entity?” What would make this attractive is overcoming many of the unknowns. It is hard to know the cost/return/risks and value when you begin this journey. Do you give away intellectual property or gain more from collaborations?
Still, you have to contain the change and disruption by recognizing these unknowns are offset by the many immeasurable benefits that arise as you explore and exploit the collaborative benefits and scope and scale potentials.
“Would it make my organization a market challenger, provide first mover advantage? How would I contain the step process, and how would I see this taking shape?”
You do need to provide a compelling case that addresses these concerns.
I offer here many distinct aspects and strategic advantages. Collaborations are challenging but exciting and potentially rewarding, but they radically differ in how you conduct business. They are complex.
Business ecosystems give strategic advantages that offer levels of uniqueness and competitive advantage and can fulfil customer needs far more than “stand-alone” solutions.
Business Collaborations are needed more today due to growing complexities and challenges requiring a radically different unlocking method. The validation for such a radical change in operating this requires working through systematically. Let’s offer some of these here.
