Innovating Regions - Flint

Where we stand: A profound shift gains momentum

Where we are heading: Innovating regions

Building prosperity with open innovation: The theory of change

How regions move toward open innovation: The four horizons

WHERE WE STAND: A PROFOUND SHIFT GAINS MOMENTUM -------------------------------------------------------------The Nation is undergoing a profound economic shift in

which

hierarchical,

command

and

control

organizations are being forced to adapt to open networks, powered by the Internet. In the Industrial Era

(“our

Grandfather’s

Economy”),

businesses

generated wealth by dominating relatively stable markets. Vertical integration gave corporations the control they needed to minimize costs and maximize profitability.

Now open networks are creating new pathways to wealth. Embedding knowledge into products and services in fast moving markets requires agility and collaboration. No one organization has the expertise required to innovate successfully. “Open innovation” in

which

knowledge

crosses

organizational

boundaries through collaborative networks points the new pathways to what’s next: our Grandchildren’s Economy.

In the face of this profound shift, regional economies are either in the process of: 1.

Releasing assets from traditional industrial

organizations by learning to collaborate across political and organizational boundaries, or 2.

Accelerating their move up the new S Curve

of open networks with advanced strategies to accelerate open innovation.

In either situation, regional leaders are confronting unprecedented

complexity.

To

manage

this

complexity, they need a simple, rigorous process for guiding the transformation of their economy toward open

networks.

process called

REGIONERATE

is facilitating

this

“strategic doing”— a low cost,

repeatable way to define and implement strategy in open networks — and new strategy frameworks embedded in the concept of an innovating region.

leaders to chart a new course toward economic

HERE WE ARE HEADING: INNOVATING REGIONS

transformation.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Innovative regions create a stable platform for collaboration to strengthen regional competitiveness.

They bring together representatives from the four sectors

that

invest

heavily

in

competitiveness:

business, government, education and nonprofits. (the “quad helix”). Through guided, focused interactions,

4.

Our policy and practice has not kept up

with these changes. We are attempting to meet the complex competitive challenges of the 21st century with policies and practices invented in the 20th century.

each region designs and delivers new strategies, policies

and

practices

to

improve

regional

The new

Flint

region will create new, focused

collaborations that “link and leverage” the core

competitiveness.

strengths across the quad helix. These collaborations point the way to the next generation of policies,

The region operates on the following assumptions: 1.

Our national economy is undergoing a

profound transformation toward open networks.

We

are

moving

knowledge-based

rapidly

toward

economy

in

a

collaborate

and

which

innovate

and

research

to

transform

regional

economies and accelerate regional innovation.

more our

competitiveness will be determined by how well we

practices

across

The values of our region: Civility and collaboration •

Defined guidelines of civic behavior to

enable complex thinking.

organizational and political boundaries;

Without civility, complex thinking is impossible. In 2.

As this new economy emerges, regions will

drive

national

competitiveness.

Competitive

regions will foster a dynamic interaction among members of the quad helix. Regions with thicker collaborative networks will be more competitive.

You will learn faster. They will spot opportunities

some regions, civility has broken down. It must be re-established before a region can move toward open innovation.

•

Emerging, open networks of collaboration to

translate ideas into action.

Most often, the move toward open innovation begins with a relatively small number of people

faster. They will act faster.

willing 3.

Higher education institutions anchor the

regional networks that are key to our national competitiveness. higher

education contribute brainpower and

entrepreneurs.

hotspots

for

these

Their new

campuses and

become

expanding

companies. Campuses also become the beacon for young people and adults as they explore new career

cross organizational

and

political

boundaries to experiment. This core group guides the initial stages of the transformation.

Fully engaged institutions of

other resources to support innovative companies and

to

options.

Finally,

leaders

in

higher

education play a vital role in convening regional

Engaged networks and anchor institutions •

Engaged leadership across the four sectors

that drive regional competitiveness: business, education, government, and the nonprofit sector.

Open innovation requires contributions across the “quad helix”, since each sector has resources to contribute. Although all four sectors do not have

to be represented for transformation to begin, the

Leaders of innovative regions are willing to share

absence of one slows down the transformation.

what they have learned with other regions.

•

Leaders in innovating regions know that building

At

least

one anchor

higher

education

institution that actively participates in guiding

economic

prosperity

in

our

Grandchildren’s

regional strategy.

Economy is not a zero-sum game of winners and

Without an engaged higher education institution,

losers. Instead, they recognize that regions with

regional transformation is not possible. The reason

more connections -- thicker networks -- will be

is simple. A regional transformation is powered by

more competitive. They will learn faster, spot

brainpower.

opportunities faster, assemble resources faster and act faster. Connecting with new regions

Advanced strategy and analytics •

A flexible, low cost and repeatable process

to define, implement and adapt strategies.

Traditional approaches to strategy -- strategic planning -- are too slow and costly to work in fast moving,

open

networks.

Strategic doing,

a

discipline of simple rules, builds new habits of collaboration,

clarity,

measurement

and

commitment to action.

•

Analytic tools that support data driven

strategies.

Strategies in open networks represent continuous experimentation to find “what works”. Successful pilot initiatives transform a regional economy, if they can be replicated, scaled and sustained.

Quick access to data creates the insights needed to guide the process.

Open innovation and thought leadership •

Continuous interaction across boundaries to

generate innovation.

Open innovation thrives in an environment of continuous overlapping

knowledge networks.

exchange

Within

an

within

innovating

region, these exchanges take place in a variety of different ways: entrepreneurship forums, angel capital networks, and formal cluster organizations, to name a few.

•

Help for other regions learning the lessons of

open innovation.

presents opportunities.

--------------------------------------------------------------

BUILDING PROSPERITY WITH OPEN INNOVATION: THE THEORY OF CHANGE -------------------------------------------------------------Innovation drives improvements in productivity, and higher levels of productivity lead to higher levels of prosperity. But how does innovation take place? In the

Industrial

Economy

of

our

Grandfathers,

innovation emerged from largely closed systems.

Companies

carefully

guarded

their

intellectual

property.

They had little incentive to share ideas beyond their corporate boundaries. Corporations invested in large internal R&D operations and expected thee labs to keep generating new flows of promising ideas.

In the last decades of the 21st century, the explosion of the Internet -- our first interactive mass medium -eroded this system of closed innovation. Information now

flows

more

freely

across

organizational

boundaries. Innovative activity is far more dispersed.

Ideas bubble up in all types of organizations, large and small. Maintaining closed innovation simply cuts people off from the flow of new ideas. In addition, as knowledge workers become more mobile, it is increasingly difficult for companies to control the intellectual property these workers generate. Finally, the growth of venture capital has enabled smaller firms to capitalize on their innovations. Companies can commercialize their ideas outside the orbit of large scale corporations and their R&D labs.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------shape internal innovation decisions. With open innovation the generation and commercialization of

An alternative model, open innovation, is now

new ideas takes place in networks, as corporate

reshaping how

boundaries become more porous.

companies guide new

ideas to

market. In open innovation, companies make use of ideas from wherever they find them. Open innovation

Regional prosperity emerges from the formation of

inherently leads to more flexible, networked business

these networks and the flow of productive investment

models.

Companies

partner

with

outsiders

to

leverage their expertise. At the same time, outsiders -suppliers, competitors, universities, customers -- help

through

them.

Innovating

regions

master

the

techniques and tools to build prosperity through open innovation.

HOW

REGIONS

MOVE

TOWARD

OPEN

critical to regional transformation: is the initiative

INNOVATION: THE FOUR HORIZONS

replicable? Is the initiative scalable? Finally, is the

-------------------------------------------------------------Developing innovative regions is an organic process

initiative sustainable?

of growth and development, in which a region

Horizon One.-- During the initial phase, regions learn the importance of developing and managing a new narrative that points the region toward assets,

collaboration.

and

transformation

through

Regions learn about the importance

of creating intentional “civic spaces� in which they can engage in continuous complex thinking. Regions also learn about the strategic value of civility.

Horizon Two.-- In the next horizon, regions learn about the value of networks and how thinking in networks is different

from

organizations.

thinking

within

hierarchical

At this stage, regions learn to map

their assets strategically in a way that enables them to define new opportunities by connecting these assets. Regions also learn about new tools that enable

them

to

understand

their

networks by

exploring both business and occupational clusters.

Horizon Three.-- In this horizon, regions learn about how to guide networks strategically using the new discipline and simple rules of strategic doing. At this stage, regions also learn how to guide their strategy using new strategy maps and metrics. at this stage, regions typically develop their first strategic action plan

and

encounter

the challenge of regional

governance.

Horizon Four.-- During this phase, regions use open networks and

new

perfect their ability to use metrics in order to learn what works and to keep their initiatives on track.

passes through a series of clear horizons.

opportunities

At this stage, regions also

habits of strategy to bring

successful pilot initiatives to scale across a region.

Regions move to build new initiatives within a handful of strategic focus areas. They learn how to evaluate each initiative by answering three questions that are

To build the power of open innovation within their region, regional leaders need to move through each of these horizons. Moving through the horizons involves a series of guided workshop exercises and continuous practice in new habits of collaboration, analysis and strategy.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contacts REGIONERATE

Primary Intermediary Linda Fowler / CEO

Web and Electronic Communications: www.REGIONERATE.com lindmariefowler@gmail.com