Mindset: We are bigger and better than you. Unfortunately, some companies still have this attitude even when they look into external collaboration opportunities. It does not help so drop it and find each other on equal terms.

Infrastructure: Some companies do not understand that a strong innovation culture requires a strong networking culture. There is no networking strategy, no process, no training of the employees and most importantly, the employees are not given the time to develop relationships.

Resources: This ties into the above issue on infrastructure. It takes an investment – especially with regards to allocating the proper time – in order to build strong relationship building capabilities.

Outreach: Since you have initiated some open innovation efforts, you most likely understand that you can’t do everything by yourself. This should also apply to building your internal process. You might not need to engage external service providers such as NineSigma (singled out because of their nice little OI Scorecard tool), but you need to know who they are and how they could help you expand your network.

Communication: This builds on my first point. Do you speak the same “language” as those you are trying to build a relationship with? We often forget that we see things differently leading us to have different views and even a different vocabulary on many things.

This is a discussion starter. Let me know what you think and what you can add.

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