Steal with pride and share with passion

Is stealing the right thing to do?

Of course, it is not! No matter if we speak about ideas/concepts (which is nothing less than industry espionage) or tangible goods. This article promotes that parties agreeing to information-exchange about problems and solutions can make it a win-win situation for both.

There is the famous saying “let’s not reinvent the wheel” when resolving problems. While this is true, it is often misinterpreted. Replicating a wheel and using it on a different vehicle is rarely going to work.

Any concept/idea is a solution to a particular problem. Even if problems resemble, they are never the same, and consequently, the right treatment is different too.

Supposed a solution for a problem is just copied, but the problem and the considerations when developing the resolution have not entirely been understood. In that case, it will (at best) not be as effective as in the environment from where it was obtained. Real improvements come from understanding problems and finding the right solutions. Another one's solution can just be the trigger for own ideas.

Pure observation tells only a small part of the story. So, the starting point of such a process should be the question, “What you are doing here seems to be a quite effective solution for a problem that we are having too – can you please explain me the problem you experienced and the process you have developed to tackle it”.

One party shouldn’t feel uneasy about letting business partners see and understand - in a healthy relationship, the payback of this investment will be coming soon. If one party is opening up, the other party is going to reach a full understanding.

The party that obtained this useful information can gauge in which areas the challenges are the same and where a modification of the resolution is necessary. Praising the original solution which triggered the innovation is equally important as celebrating the ccreative modification of the solution to satisfy the own needs. Sharing this refined solution where it was first invented can potentially trigger further innovations and so on.

Up until now, this might seem a bit fluffy, just explaining how to approach collaborative innovation. However, there is as well a strong and tangible business case behind it. When concepts for the end-user are designed (and shared), the own solution will be leveraged by being used in other places. A quite obvious example of monetary benefits is that buying costs for standardized components will go down. Supply Chain Management can and shall facility such concepts.

Solutions benefit from scale. So, there is, in most cases, hardly any benefit in being protective. Supposed business partners generate information in a standardized form and make it available through a shared platform; it becomes more likely that a solution takes off (and becomes economically viable). The more transparent information is being presented, the higher the probability of creating a benefit. This is, by the way, how academics work – they share concepts and invite others to comment and criticize.

So, the presented concept can be applied but is not limited to: