Novozymes successfully implemented an online idea crowdsourcing platform called COLIN to boost innovation. Over 1000 employees from across the organization contributed ideas, with 75% being active users. COLIN was adopted rapidly due to strategic alignment, simplicity, familiarity with the innovation process, and the company's culture being open to new ideas. Diversity in contributors led to higher quality ideas, showing the value of diverse perspectives. While diversity has costs, it also has benefits for innovation that make it worthwhile for companies to pursue.

1. BOOSTING INNOVATION BY
COLLABORATIVE ONLINE IDEATIONS
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Frank Hatzack
Business Innovation
Novozymes
fhat@novozymes.com
@frankhatzack
Presented at
IATI Biomed
Tel Aviv
June 11th, 2013

2. ABOUT NOVOZYMES
World leader in
- Industrial enzymes
- Microorganisms
- Biopharmaceutical indgredients
Bio-solutions for
- Detergents
- Biofuels
- Food & feed
- Crops
Employees:
Turnover:
Patents:
Listed:
 6000 worldwide
 $ 2 billion
> 6000
NZYB.

3. THE STORY IN A NUTSHELL
2011
Need for new growth bets
leads to first COLIN
2012
Fast adoption across the
organisation
2013
COLIN = standard process
Why was COLIN succesful?
Why was adoption fast?
What did we learn here?

4. RAPID ADOPTION ACROSS THE
ORGANIZATION
438
75%
319
LEGEND
users
%active
ideas
62
76%
38
=PUSH
=PULL
76
70%
48
145
75%
222
112
80%
75
14
83%
29
58
91%
42
59
95%
26
TOTALS
1009 users
75% active users
871 ideas
100% R&D
Q4
2011
Q1
45
84%
39
Q2
Q3
2012
Q4

5. FACTORS OF SUCCESS
Strategic alignment
Timing
Mobilization
SIMPLICTIY
Robustness
Familiarity
Crowd diversity
Company culture
Capacity to absorb
ESTABLISHED SKILLS

7. FANCY SOME GAMIFICATION?
Gamification level needs to resonate with culture

8. INNOVATION PROCESS & SKILLS
SCOPE
MOBILIZE
CROWD
ONLINE
IDEATON
2 weeks
New steps & skills
SCREEN
MATURE
PITCH
ANCHOR
1 month
Existing innovation process & skills
= ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY

9. DIMENSIONS OF CROWD MOBILIZATION
FACE-TO-FACE
TELEPRESENCE
SOCIAL LAYER

10. New Teams
Strategic Beacons
New Opportunities
OUTCOMES
Image sources
Beacon:www.konstantinou.nl
Think Big: www.bobbotsford.com
A-team: http://springboard.com

11. Value of diversity
DIVERSITY
MATTERS!
Optimization
Cost
of diversity
of diversity

12. DIVERSITY CORRELATED WITH IDEA RANKING
Diversity dimensions: seniority, tenure, rank, site
Statistical method: Fisher’s exact test

13. EVERY COMPANY HAS A
HIDDEN DREAM TEAM
…a long-tail case story
Frank Hatzack and Maria Carlsen
@frankhatzack, @MaCarlsen

14. HISTORIC RECORD OF IDEA POSTING IN THE ’ALWAYS OPEN
IDEA BOX’
35 idea web curve
no. of posted ideas
30
25
20
15
10
Long tail group: 23 inventors (I – AE) accounted for 46 (30%) of
the idea-web ideas in question
5
0
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
inventors
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z AA AB AC AD AE

15. ON-LINE CAMPAIGN OBSERVATIONS:
The ‘long tail group’ outperformed the ‘high activity group’ by
producing more top-category ideas
‘THE BANG IS IN THE TAIL!’
35
idea web curve
30
no. of posted ideas
25
x Top category idea (x= no. of top category ideas posted)
Winning idea
1
20
15
2
10
1
1
5
1
1
2
1
1
1
0
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
1
1
Q
R
1
1
V
W
1
1
1
P
campaign curve
1
inventors
S
T
U
X
Y
1
1
1
Z AA AB AC AD AE

16. How we rewarded winners in our culture…
THANKS

17. MOBILIZATION =
INTELLECTUALLY
COMPELLING
+
EMOTIONALLY
ENGAGING
*with reference to
Michael Newman

18. COST OF ON-LINE DIVERSITY …
…plus
the vendor’s fee!

19. COMPANY CULTURE
PEOPLE
VALUES
NURSING
CONTINUITY
SENSITIVITY

20. 1ST LESSON : IT IS ABOUT PEOPLE, NOT SOFTWARE
"IF YOU WANT TO BUILD A SHIP,
DON'T DRUM UP PEOPLE TO
COLLECT WOOD AND DON'T
ASSIGN THEM TASKS AND
WORK,
BUT RATHER TEACH THEM TO
LONG FOR THE ENDLESS
IMMENSITY OF THE SEA."
ANTOINE DE SAINT EXUPÉRY

21. GET REAL ABOUT
YOUR CULTURE!
…intensively discussed at

22. THE THEORY BEHIND DIVERSITY &
INNOVATION
OPTIMAL
COGNITIVE
DISTANCE
&
ABSORBATIVE
CAPACITY
Nooteboom et al. (2007) in:
Research Policy, vol 30, issue 7,
pp 1016–1034

23. FAST ADAPTATION – WHY?
1.Successful first movers have many followers
2.A tool & process gap was filled
3.CULTURE

24. COMPANY CULTURE IS CRITICAL FOR
MOBILIZED DIVERSITY
INNOVATION
CROWD
composition MOBILIZATION
external
culture
extrinsic
COMPANY
motivators CULTURE

25. OR IN OTHER WORDS…
CULTURE EATS
STRATEGY FOR
BREAKFAST!
Intensively discussed during:

26. …and a paper accepted in

27. MOBILIZING THE CROWD
Open Letter from our CSO Per Falholt

28. COST OF DIVERSITY – CLASSIC IMAGES