Upskilling and reskilling of teams has been a hot topic of conversation in my world recently. Company leaders are looking for the right tools to utilize in an ambitious effort to drive business now and be ready to lead the pack after we get through this crisis. I can’t think of a better time for companies to build momentum by leaning in to open innovation. However, for many this seems like a daunting task.
One common question I get regarding open innovation is: where do I start? Well, the team at the Laboratory for Innovation Sciences at Harvard (LISH) led by General Manager Jin Paik and Assistant Director Steven Randazzo spearheaded an ambitious effort and have developed a simple, yet valuable tool that certainly looks like a solid first step to help people get started.
The recently launched a crowdsourcing platform search tool that resides on the LISH Innovation Science Guide website which evolved with support from Schmidt Futures. Users can do a simple four-step search query based on the type of problem to be solved such as software, design or idea development and then define the scope of work. I encourage you to give it a try.
What I love about this is that It is not intended to be a commercial product and for now will not have a ranking system or customer review feature. It is free for those wanting to learn more about open innovation and free for the open talent solution platforms to list their company. The sole intent of the tool is to help people figure out what platforms might potentially be the solution to their problem.
It’s a strange time right now, but why not try something new? While the rest of the world seems to be baking bread during this lockdown, you could be making moves to take your company to the next level.
This is just a beginning of what is a much needed and important tool for open innovation.
