The Problem Space
Gaining Insights Common Insights
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After visiting various research locations, observing their respective innovation environment and interviewing a lot of people from different organizations, the impressions, observations and findings were condensed and synthesized into human-centered insights. After combining and clustering the insights derived from the empathy fieldwork of all eight teams, several patterns were identified. In the following we will describe the cross-section of insights: • • •
common insights that depict common themes across different organizations, unique and surprising insights, and contradictions that arose within and between organizations.
Common Insights • • • •
It’s all about trust Building a creative ground „Random” encounters Connecting people, not organizations
It’s all about trust The overriding insight all teams have identified is trust. A trust-
ful relation is very important when it comes to sharing knowledge in a corporate - and competitive - environment. Building connections between companies that are neither one’s suppliers, market allies or members of a partner network needs to be established in a trustworthy manner. Establishing a culture of open-mindedness and sharing is ultimately about creating trust. One interviewee stated that “you cannot build trust if you are not sharing”. Although many innovation managers and senior managers are aware of the importance of trust-building activities, company policies, strict regulations, hierarchical structures and - sometimes even the internal bureaucracy still remain as inhibiting factors. These perceived regulations are preventing people from taking the first steps toward trust-building activities with other organizations. Despite an acknowledgement of “soft” collaborative power to unleash the creative potential of organizational members, “hard” concerns (e.g. intellectual property rights) quite often prevail.
Building a creative ground
Meeting people on “neutral” grounds is mainly not about the fact of being equal but rather about getting everybody out of their everyday business activities. When it comes to thinking ahead