13 :: Co-Innovation

🚪TL;DR:
Think of an orchestra. A fusion of diverse collective talents and their different instruments unfolds as a symphony greater than the sum of its parts. Shared efforts, responsibilities, goals, for a higher-value output. In the same way it blends melodies to produce musical art, co-innovation yields innovative masterpieces that resonate far beyond the capabilities of individual contributors. And it is not just about collaboration; it is a strategic fusion that leverages the specialized skills and knowledge of multiple stakeholders - be it companies, research institutions, or visionary thinkers.

🧠 What is it?
Co-innovation, short for collaborative innovation, refers to the joint development of new products, services, or solutions by multiple organizations or stakeholders. It involves a collaborative effort where different parties, such as companies, research institutions, customers, or startup founders, for example, work together to co-create something that none could achieve individually. The participants in a co-innovation initiative bring together their unique expertise, perspectives, and capabilities, aiming to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes and risk distribution. Some examples include industry-academia collaboration (more about this soon), cross-industry partnerships with different organizations, or even coopetion.

📦 Why is it relevant?
Speed matters in innovation and this concept challenges the idea that to go faster one must go alone while to go further one must go together. There are certainly some blockers and additional decision layers when involving other parts in the process. However, collaborative efforts often lead to faster development cycles as well, with tasks distributed among participants and learning curves not representing a big threat to productivity. Any CINO that is interested in producing high-quality innovations that can be brought to market quickly should further explore co-innovation strategies. Having a comprehensive understanding of the different entities available to co-innovate with is essential to tap into diverse pools of knowledge, skills, and resources that may not be available within their organization. Ultimately, it can lead to more complete and groundbreaking innovations.

🧶 Where to learn more about it:
One of the coolest examples of co-innovation I have seen recently is the Center for Responsible AI, led by Paulo Dimas. From a different angle, the examples of Panasonic's co-innovation initiatives available here also provide interesting insights on the topic. Lastly, this IMD research paper about where the sweet spot is for companies when co-innovation is a worth-it quick reading.

See you next Tuesday! 👋