Stefan Lindegaard

You have to love a guy who walks his own talk.

Stefan Lindegaard (@lindegaard) is a well-known advocate for Open Innovation. I’ve been following him on Twitter for ages and have read several of his well written articles. We’ve actually met In Real Life at the Front End of Innovation conference in Berlin.

Lindegaard has made his new book, Making Open Innovation Work available free to anyone who wants it. I’d call that open, and, an innovative way to market his expertise. He’s invited people like me (i.e. other gadflies in the innovation space) to help him distribute by letting people know. I’m happy to do this because it’s great content. So, below you’ll see some links to where you can download the book free, or, if you are kind, go to Amazon and pay for it.

It’s a timely book. Open Innovation is a buzz word/phrase these days — and that almost is the kiss of death for actual adoption of open innovation concepts. But it’s not a fad, it’s a trend. If you’ve read A.G. Laffley’s book on how P&G used open innovation concepts (The Game Changer) to propel their success of the last 10 years you’ll not need much convincing. Still, open innovation is easier to talk about than to do, and that’s what Lindeegaard’s new book addresses.

Making Open Innovation Work is more about the “how” as the title would indicate, and with special emphasis on how smaller companies can work with large ones. It’s a good slant for a new book on the topic because there has been relatively little published on that important dynamic. How a small company does open innovation is very different from how a large one would. Relationships between market nimble small players with something interesting to offer and the larger 800 pound gorilla players who could maximize that something interesting for mutual benefit — are fraught with potential pitfalls. So, if you don’t want to step into a trap, this is a very helpful book. Also, the first book I’ve read that looks at the “how” from a small players perspective.

So, check it out, free here:

Or, pay for it on Amazon.

*****

PS: Speaking of books — Jack’s Notebook, a business novel about creative problem solving, is available on Amazon. I’m not giving it away free, but if you’re a reviewer, a college professor, a teacher, or in corporate training, please get in touch with me.

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