I am thrilled to announce that as of July 1st, I will become the “Chief Innovation Evangelist” for InnoCentive.
If you are not aware, InnoCentive is an incredible company that is changing the world. They are leaders in the Open Innovation space. If you have a problem you want to solve, you can post the challenge on their website, and their network of 160,000 solvers will work to find a solution. Although it started off as a tool to accelerate R&D for a pharmaceutical company, it has expanded into solving all types of problems ranging from corporate challenges to social issues.
InnoCentive is incentive-based innovation. The person who provides the solution gets a monetary reward that is established up front. For example, if someone can find a biomarker for ALS, they will get $1 million.
There are some amazing success stories. One well-publicized challenge was the removal of oil that remained trapped after the Exxon Valdez accident back in 1989. A solver applied his knowledge of the cement industry to the challenge and won $20,000…and solved a problem that perplexed scientists for two decades. Watch the video…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGaLUTpfxxo[/youtube]I’ll discuss more about my specific role over the coming weeks. To give you a clue…my corporate title is “VP Strategic Consulting.”
I am thrilled to be part of an organization that is changing the world, one challenge at a time.
P.S. I will continue to write books and give speeches in addition to my InnoCentive work.
Susanne says:
Stephen- What a great fit for a true innovator! I continue to be inspired by you and look forward to hearing more!
Paul Hobcraft says:
Well it seems a fitting role for one of the best evangelists around. Not so sure I like the title they/ you have settled upon.
Something like VP- open thinking or synergist would be better
Still you have always made ‘it’ happen.
Cheers
Paul
Business Genome says:
Great to hear that you are moving to InnoCentive! We recently attended the “Incentive 2 Innovate” conference in New York, where InnoCentive was one of the lead speakers at the conference. It’s clear that global collaboration is the wave of the future, replacing the older model of research and development. We’ll look forward to hearing more about your new role!
Dan Keldsen says:
Stephen – Congratulations on this new role, I know you’ve been involved in InnoCentive for quite some time, great to kick it up a notch!
InnoCentive and Open Innovation illustrate one of the keys of TRIZ which is nicely accessible to all – someone, somewhere, has solved this problem. Why not look out of the box (of an industry, profession, company, country, etc.)?
Cheers,
Dan
Gareth says:
Sounds great! I look forward to hearing more. When will you be evangelizing in Scandinavia???
Cheers
Gareth
Fran Goldstein says:
On behalf of all your fans at NSA NE, CONGRATULATIONS Steve! We are truely happy and excited for you. Looking forward to learning more about your role and how we can support you. YOU GO! 🙂
Stefan Lindegaard says:
Stephen, congratulations on your new challenge. I look forward to hear more about this.
Stefan
Ken Cohn, M.D. says:
Congratulations on your new position; sounds like a great fit for your abundant talents
Adi says:
Innocentive are a fantastic company. Congratulations on the appointment Stephen.
Cliff says:
excellent! I’ve always admired innocentive. it’s one of the inspirations for my website.
Stephen Shapiro says:
Thank you again everyone for the kind words. Yes, InnoCentive is a special company. The people here are amazingly kind, collaborative, and talented. And the work they are doing is fascinating and valuable to both companies and the world at large.
David Newman Marketing Speaker says:
Steve,
Oh mannnnn… I WANT TO BE YOU!! How cool is that to find a company that is, essentially, your professional soul mate.
A calm harbor, a bully pulpit, cool friends to collaborate and walk through walls with (and for), plus doing work you love and (I’m guessing here) earning what makes you happy.
Did I already say I WANT TO BE YOU?!?
Congrats on what sounds like a perfect match.
— David