As I was chairing the first day of the Open Innovation Summit today, I was struck by something that many speakers acknowledged: Their companies converted to open innovation—relying on outsiders for their next products or services—only after falling into a crisis. Moreover, the panic struck most around the time of the previous recession in 2001, which suggests that we should start seeing many more open-innovation practitioners soon.
Among those that found religion a decade ago are Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and Whirlpool. Others which came to open innovation more recently after moments of doubt are Rockwell Collins and the consumer-products unit of GlaxoSmithkline. As Cheryl Perkins, former chief innovation officer at Kimberly-Clark and now president of her own consultancy, Innovationedge, told us in her presentation: “Often open innovation starts with a burning platform.”
Open Innovation's Secret: It Takes a Crisis - BusinessWeek
Michael Arndt
