Enabling Co-Innovation as Behavior

Abstract

What do a dairy cooperative, a wildlife conservation non-profit, and mining company have in common? Each organization sought partners with complementary capabilities to help them seize opportunities, accelerate the innovation process, and solve novel, tough to tackle business problems. But shifting from a “winner take all” culture within a hierarchy to one of co-creating knowledge with external partners is not easy to do. Blending distinct cultures, objectives, and ways of working is complicated especially when collaborations span industries and managers have different assumptions about priorities, opportunities, and critical growth drivers. The uncertainty inherent in innovation projects adds another layer of complexity. This chapter focuses on the project level and highlights some of the processes and practices that foster the desired behaviors for effective co-innovation work.