6 Key Success Factors for Open Innovation

Open innovation is a modern paradigm with the potential to boost ideation and innovation in organizations, as many experts agree. However, practical implementation is often a challenge. To make the most of open innovation, it is important to have clear goals, facilitate collaboration, promote transparency, reward participants, find the right channels, and commit to the implementation. Good examples of successful open innovation implementations include LEGO, GE, and Samsung. This article presents six key success factors for open innovation, with GE's operations as a guiding example. The factors are: (1) Clear goals, (2) Facilitating the collaboration, (3) Transparency, (4) Rewarding participants, (5) Finding the right channels, and (6) Commitment.