It is no longer a surprise: companies must be innovative to remain competitive in their various markets. Except that innovation today is not what it was yesterday. In fact, while it used to be the responsibility of a specific department, namely R&D, innovation is now everyone's business. In other words, innovation must be collaborative. But how can you stimulate a culture ofcollaborative innovation in your company? An article in the Seattle Times outlines the 3 pillars ofcollaborative innovation

1- Use a tool to help your employees bring innovation to life

Good ideas can come from anywhere in your company! But budding innovators often need help in expressing and framing their ideas. The first pillar ofcollaborative innovation is to offer them a framework to answer the following questions:

What is your objective? And without any jargon! How is it currently done, and what are the limitations or difficulties of current practices? What do you bring that is new? Why do you think your idea is good? What difference are you going to make compared to the present? What are the risks? How much will it cost? How long will it take? What are the steps? How do you measure success?

2- Process new ideas continuously

You can't afford to look at innovations only once or twice a year. A culture ofcollaborative innovation is above all a culture of continuous innovation. This means that your innovation committee must constantly check and process proposed ideas, to bring them to light - or archive them, if necessary. The aim is to ensure that no good idea is missed and that these good ideas are given the best possible chance to emerge.

3- Identify and remove (gradually) barriers

In most companies, leaders decide which projects should emerge, or not. But in agile organisations, the roles are reversed, at least philosophically. Instead, leaders must serve innovative employees, enabling them to bring their ideas to fruition. They remove obstacles to promising projects and unlock the resources needed to bring them to fruition.