Thinking Outside the Company’s Box

One of the oldest barriers to innovation is “Not Invented Here,” a persistent bias of even the most creative people toward their own creations and against those of people who work for other companies. And the problem of N.I.H. isn’t limited to business; it can also infect the military and government research agencies.

To help counteract N.I.H., large corporations are increasingly promoting technology alliances with rivals, as well as the concept of “open innovation,” to draw on a wider circle of big brains — not on their payroll — to work on core technical problems. These efforts arise from the recognition that no single innovator or team, no matter how loyal to an employer or successful in the market, has a monopoly on wisdom.

Newlogic has always supported this growing trend, helping clients realize that access to an idea is more important than ownership. It is part of our market focus, creating success criteria based on external, customer-centric, metrics. Customers don't care how many patents a company has, they care about how well the product they're considering to purchase.

via: NYT