Tuesday, February 2, 2010 #

Communities Of Practice In Open Innovation

While flying from NYC back to Dallas this morning I took part in an excellent Twitterchat about "Knowledge in Innovation" led by Christian De Neef (@CDN) at  #KMers.
 
The topic of using communities of practice (CoPs) as innovation sources came up, and I mentioned I'd used them in the past and had found them to be excellent sources if guided well. @AndreaMeyer asked what recommendations I had regarding guidance, and before I could answer the WiFi connection was turned off. :-)
 
So, in answer to Andrea’s question, here are six things I would recommend when working with CoPs as well as other types of communities. (By the way, these recommendations are covered in detail in a white paper I co-authored called “Enhancing the Open Model Through the Use of Community.”)
 
1. Start With A Clear Purpose – Answering this question early will keep your efforts on track. Do you really need innovative thinking, or something else called for, such as the sharing of best practices? 
 
2. Determine Who To Involve – Just because someone is a CoP member doesn’t mean they’ll be a good source of innovative ideas. Typically, my innovation activities with CoPs have involved a relatively small subset of community members – those who are capable of and willing to offer innovative suggestions. Spend time identifying the characteristics, behaviors, attitudes, and interests of your “ideal” contributor, and then create a profile of who you should involve. Also, there isn’t a magic number regarding how many people to involve; but keep in mind the larger the group, the more challenging it can be to keep everyone engaged and productive.
 
3. The third recommendation is to communicate parameters and the end goal clearly and appropriately to the participants. Innovation flourishes in a clearly-defined environment, one in which individuals can work together toward a common goal rather than wander aimlessly by themselves. Regardless of how innovative the members are, in order for them to offer creative, actionable contributions, they must understand the goals and what they have to work with.
 
4. The fourth recommendation (and this is probably one of the more difficult recommendations to implement) is to create an appropriate innovation environment. This doesn't necessarily mean sitting on the floor and playing with toys. However, if CoP participants are to offer up innovation suggestions and ideas, often they have to “leave their expertise at the door” – at least for a while. This is a situation in which being a subject matter expert can constrict innovation rather than enhance it. There is an appropriate time for asking questions, discussing pros and cons, and offering up past learnings, but it’s not while looking for sources of innovation.
 
5. If you intend use CoPs as innovation sources on an ongoing basis, make sure to motivate the participants in meaningful ways. Often a public acknowledgement of participants' contributions can be sufficient.
 
6. Again, if you intend to continue to tap into CoPs for innovative ideas, be sure to assess each person’s participation; if their contributions aren’t what you had hoped, don’t involve them next time. This can be done subtly so no one becomes disgruntled or feels disappointed. Participants can be given a “vacation” providing new people with the opportunity to participate in projects.
 
Hopefully you'll find these recommendations helpful; and as always, comments are welcome!
Gwen Ishmael
@Gwen_Ishmael

posted @ Tuesday, February 2, 2010 3:16 PM | Feedback (0)

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