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“ONLINE COLLABORATION AND INNOVATIONNETWORKS”
Håkan Ozan, CSC June 2009
 
 
 
In this article we discuss how online innovation networkshelp support outside thinking and how this changes theapproach to innovation.
Online collaboration helps dissolve the “efficiency trap”.
Innovation traditionally concernscoming up with new ideas andcreating new things. The ability tothink in new ways to solveproblems is dependent on thecontext in which the presentproblem appears. According tocreativity researchers like EdwardDe Bono the brain is an extremelyefficient problem solving unit, butunfortunately thisefficiency inhibitscreativity and thusinnovation.The deficiency increativity appearsdue to the humanbrain’s learning pattern. If we havepreviously solved a problem in asuccessful way, the human mindwill recognize the pattern of thesituation in which it was solved andthus quickly be able to apply thesame solution to new situations asthey appear. The ability to reuseimplicit knowledge is a humannecessity which helps us thrive andsurvive, but it is at the same timean obstacle for creative thinkingand innovation.Users that operate in the sameenvironment and context are likelyto find interchangeable solutions toin-context problems due to theirsimilar frames of reference. Inorder to avoid “vertical thinking”and stimulate innovation, we aretraditionally exposed to variousmethods to stimulate creativity.These are generally intended tohelp people on the “inside” to thinkout of the box, that is - outside of their terms of reference.With online collaborationpossibilities arising,networks of externalusers may be assembledto represent the outsidein more accurate waysthan we can do ourselves.In an online environment, your“outside” may be their “inside”. Anexample of this force in action isthe open innovation marketplaceInnoCentive. Lakhani (2006) studied166 problems that were submittedto InnoCentive, neither of whichcould be solved by the corporateresearch departments, and foundthat as many as 30% of theproblems were rapidly providedwith a satisfactory solution. 
”ONLINE COLLABORATION ANDINNOVATION NETWORKS”
Håkan Ozan, CSC June 2009
 
“In an onlineenvironment,your “outside” may be their “inside”.” 
 
 
The most fascinating finding wasthat the average time spent ondeveloping the winning innovativesolution was 74 (!) hours, comparedto 6 to 24 months spent by thecompanies’ internal research teams.Lakhani’s conclusion was simple;innovators reused previoussolutions. They recognized the newproblem’s pattern and applied asimilar solution to the same (orsimilar) problem, only in a differentcontext. Lakhani’s conclusion wasalso that since the solution wasfound outside the originatingcorporation’s area of expertise, they were alsovery unlikely to have foundthe solution on their own,other than by chance. Asprofessor Frank Piller of Aachen University states -pioneer companies havestarted to spend less efforton solution-seeking andmore effort on problem-broadcasting, henceimproving cost-efficiency inthe innovation process.The major insight is simply thathaving a large number of creative,out-of-context collaborators analyzeyour problem(s) from new anglesand with new perspectives willincrease creative diversity and thusimprove innovation results.Previously, gathering the minimumnumber of people required for sucha network would have been muchtoo time-consuming and expensiveto pursue, but with new technologyand new collaboration models thecost is negligible compared to thegains received. With decentcommunication skills, a littlemarket knowledge, a few web toolsand some good managementpractices your company mayrelatively easy build its ownnetwork of innovators - from whichit may profit immensely. As writtenin
Swarm Creativity 
by Peter Gloor:Online participation involvingdiverse target groups improvesboth the variety of perspectives andoverall communication. This in turnleads to a higher idea improvementpace and faster delivery times of new innovations. Financial gainsare but a mouse-click away.
”ONLINE COLLABORATION ANDINNOVATION NETWORKS”
Håkan Ozan, CSC June 2009
 
“There are some basic differences betweenthe pre-Internet innovation networks and theInternet-enabled collaborative innovationnetworks of today. Members of innovationnetworks of the pre-Internet age had a fundamentally different attitude toward authority, transparency, and meritocracy.But the biggest difference is the existence of the Internet, which gives today’s community members immediate global reach at very low cost; it allows teams to collaborate at a level of transparency never before possible.” 
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