 Bios
by Richard Watson
A Problem Shared Is a Problem Solved
On the rise of open source innovation
Not so long ago, companies created departments to create innovation. But the result was often that innovation was turned into a state secret. The only people who knew what was going on -- and therefore the only people who could really contribute -- were the Chosen Ones inside the innovation department. Not surprisingly, this approach limits both the quantity and quality of ideas so companies have started to search for new ways of developing new ideas.
One new idea is distributed or open source innovation in which customers (or anyone else for that matter) are the co-producers of the products and services they consume.
Open source software development began when one smart individual realized that he wasn't half as smart as all the other people he knew if he put them together. The open source movement worked in software because the original motive was altruistic -- the end product was given away for free -- and people thought they were on the side of David fighting a mighty Goliath (or Bill, as most people know him).
This is networked innovation made possible by the Internet. Ideas (or problems) are made freely available to anyone that cares to look at them. The result is smart software with the bugs ironed out in record time.
INNOVATION GUIDES
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Hit Man (Part 1)
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Tony Soprano is back (finally). Six Feet Under is tops (now). And Chris Albrecht is smiling (really). The head of HBO is the most original mind in television. Here's his program for innovation. Polly LaBarre
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Failure Is Glorious
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Alberto Alessi transformed his family`s ho-hum housewares business into a trendsetting design giant. His secret: walking the borderline between genius and failure. Ian Wylie
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How Intel Puts Innovation Inside
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Everybody worships at the altar of innovation. But it takes a company such as Intel to distill the very essence of innovation and turn it into a set of learnable, repeatable practices. George Anders
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Lilly`s R&D Prescription
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How does pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly accelerate the pace while reducing the cost of innovation? By corralling scientists around the world in a Web-based system of eR&D. Bill Breen
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Mr. Patent
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Marvin Johnson can`t seem to stop innovating. The plainspoken scientist from Phillips Petroleum has 212 patents to his name. Here are the surprising secrets of his creative success. Alison Overholt
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Green Giant
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The next force for business transformation won`t be digital, it will be horticultural. That`s the disruptive idea behind the awe-inspiring Eden Project. Ian Wylie
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The Road to Recovery
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This collection of dispatches from around the world offers a detailed map for companies and their leaders on the road to recovery. Linda Tischler
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Can TiVo Go Prime Time?
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TiVo Inc. has what every young company dreams of: smart executives, a killer product, famous (and fanatical) customers, a huge potential market. Scott Kirsner
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Size is Not a Strategy
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The faster big business cleans up its ethical mess, the sooner we can address the real crisis of capitalism. Giant companies dominate the landscape -- from media to medicine, banking to broadband. Keith H. Hammonds
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Fresh Start 2002: Weird Ideas That Work
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Do you need a fresh start on creativity? Stanford professor Robert Sutton is a unique voice with an urgent message about how to generate and capitalize on new ideas. Polly LaBarre
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INNOVATION FORUM
POLL POSITION
Do you think open source ideas could benefit your business and work? RELATED RESOURCES
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Open Source Business Conference
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The only event that provides an educational forum for business leaders, lawyers, and venture capitalists focusing on the opportunities and challenges that open source technology presents.
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Open Source as a Business Strategy
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Why on earth would I allocate scarce financial resources to a project where my competitor would get to use the same code, for free?
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