7 Practical Books on Open Innovation
Are you ready to learn more about open innovation? We love sharing these blog posts with you, but sometimes you need more information than can fit on one web page. If you want to be more prepared to take the next step with your innovation initiative, these books on open innovation will help you get started. We’ve contacted some of the best thought leaders in open innovation on the web, and have come back with these recommendations for books on open innovation:
This is a solid book on open innovation by Stefan Lindegaard. The book is a good starting point of small and medium sized businesses that want to find out how to use social technologies to collaborate with the larger ecosystem in their industry as well as outside of it. Each chapter ends with key take-aways, to help make it a more actionable resource for you.
The best part? It’s free! Just visit 15inno.com to download.
Recommended by: Jorge Barba. Jorge is an influential innovation blogger and innovation insurgent- helping you find the best opportunities to turn into action.
2. A Guide to Open Innovation and Crowdsourcing
I recommend “A guide to Open Innovation and Crowdsourcing”, edited by Paul Sloane. It covers a wide range of topics in open innovation, each chapter written by leading experts in the field. It is informative and easy to use as a reference.
Recommended by: Kevin McFarthing. Kevin is the founder of Innovation Fixer. Through his blog and consultancy works he helps people and organisations innovate better.
“The Innovation Expedition” is in the top 5 innovation books on Amazon. It has some wonderful reviews there. It’s a very visual book and written in plain language which makes it very suited for beginners in innovation.
Recommended by: Gijs van Wulfen. Gijs is founder of the FORTH innovation method which helps organisations to jump start innovation. He is a well respected speaker and blogger on open innovation
Using Your Brain to Win is all about prompting the brain to think differently to drive new ways of working, doing and creating.
Using Your Brain to Win explores why parts of the brain are not well suited for today’s hyper-paced world, how that leads us to miss obvious opportunities and threats to our businesses, and why we often make flawed decisions based on fantasy rather than fact. You’ll learn how to:
- Overcome the brain’s built-in blind spots that get in the way of your success
- Let go of outdated ways of thinking and working that keep you stuck in the past
- Let and keep your organization focused on winning
- Slow down in order to go fast
A fast, fun, and filled with takeaways read, Using Your Brain to Win will show you how to consistently achieve the results your organization needs to win!
_Recommended by: Holly G. Green. _Holly is CEO of The Human Factor, Inc. A former president of The Ken Blanchard Companies and LumMed, Inc. she combines leading neurological research with hands-on leadership experience to create the tools, techniques, and competencies companies need to win in today’s hyper-paced markets.
5. Open Innovation for Small Companies
Not so much a book as a really long blog post, this is a great primer for small businesses looking to enter the world of open innovation.
Recommendation by: Jeffrey Baumgartner. Jeffrey is not your typical corporate innovation consultant. Jeffrey is an artist who found his way into consulting and blogging on open innovation for businesses.
6. Crowdstorm
This book provides some great practical tips based on real world examples. The authors highlight how to use open innovation to create unlimited brainstorming and creative potential. A nice overview of the entire process of idea competitions and open innovation initiatives.
_Recommended by: Christian Kreutz._Christian has been an innovation consultant for 8 years, and is the founder of WE THINQ and CrissCrossed.
If you’ve ever wondered about the stories behind some of this decades greatest innovations, this is an entertaining and informative book. With interviews from the founders of Gmail, Yahoo, Apple, Paypal, and more you get a look into the chaos and adrenaline that comes along with innovation.
Recommended by: Kayla Kurin. That’s me! An innovation blogger, micro-entrepreneur, and social media nerd.
I hope you enjoy these books on open innovation! Do you have anything else to add to the list? Let us know in the comments and we will add it to the post!
