Outside / Inside Innovation: Combining Open Innovation with Employee Networks to Drive Success

Innovation leaders can leverage their efforts and scale their impact by combining open innovation (OI) and employee networks. OI, a methodology to source ideas from outside an organization, can be linked with employee innovation networks that engage employees around innovation skills on an ongoing basis. Innovation leaders can connect both areas with activities like OI and idea development training, providing tools and resources, creating communication channels, and having a strategy in place. Combining OI and employee networks creates a deeper culture of innovation, enhances idea success rate, employee engagement, and scales up innovation efforts. This approach is relatively new, and innovation leaders need to manage resources, have a strategic plan, gain stakeholder buy-in, and be patient as these efforts take time to form and drive results.