Hello !

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In times of significant remote work and the need to adapt and innovate, company challenges, hackathons, or open innovation programs bring tremendous benefits. They could help in diverse contexts like access and pricing, innovation management, learning and development, or digital health and business development functions.

Unfortunately, many companies have failed to design and run these programs properly, contributing to "innovation theater" (activities that look good but yield no substantial results).

So today, I will share my tips on fixing it so the time invested will have an impact.

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Get comfortable for your 5 minutes of sparks to hack.

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✨ Spark

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✏ Diversity of the setup - Definition

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These events could (and should😉) happen across various teams, not just innovation departments. Here are three examples:

1. A 30-day challenge within your team to motivate employees to use generative AI or improve recycling habits.
2. A 5-day hackathon within one business unit, engaging key customers like a manufacturing company and a university.
3. A 6-month open innovation program with a consortium of 20 players, involving startups and academic partners.

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Their goals could be very different like :

• Build capabilities within teams
• Fuel your business with new ideas
• Raise awareness and shift mindsets
• Scout for mature startups to partner with
• Create strong internal and external networks

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Here are the teams I coach and where such programs would help :

Educate your affiliate on the changes due to EUHTA (the new Europen rule that will start Janyura 2025 with a European Health Technology Assessment Dossier) and its impact.

Start a community of innovation ambassadors in each of the regions (Asia, Europe, US&Canada and Brazil)

Build a pipeline of mature startups in a new disease you are entering

So you see, their goals could be very different, and so are their setup:

• Size: within big to small companies, large (100 attendees) to reduced scope (a team of 8 people)
• Focus: from internal to external focus
• Fonctions: could be led by commercial to HR, market access to business development ...

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✏ Main mistakes and success factors

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Unfortunately, many teams fail to bring lasting impact. Here are the 5 biggest pitfalls I see 😓:

1—Treat it as a one-time event: It’s tempting to focus on the buzz of the event, but what matters is its long-term impact.

2 - Lack of clear goals and outcomes.

3 - Misallocation of resources: A common mistake is spending most of the budget upfront, rather than spreading it out over time to keep the momentum (the most common mistake).

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4 - Lack of a consistent methodology: no clear framework guiding the program from start to finish.

5- Taking it too seriously, lacking fun and engagement.

Now, let's see how to fix it.

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✨ Hack

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✏ Reduce scope to allocate resources better

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When planning, reduce the scope to prioritize depth over breadth.

For example, you can reduce the number of teams or the topics to address. You can also move to an online event to save budget.

It helps to start with the end in mind. Designing your program based on the impact you want and working backward will help you better allocate resources.

✏ Consistent methodology and appropriate tools

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This is where the discipline is critical 😅. We must provide teams a framework to guide them through the program journey.

To improve the capabilities or quality of projects, you should have a defined toolbox and journey for the teams to follow.

For example, I support open innovation programs funded by the Swiss government. Here is feedback from one of the leads.

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If your goal is to build more connections, provide your team with simple software to keep track of new contacts (a light CRM .- community relationship manager).

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✏ Accountability in exchange for employability

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As tough as it can be, the participants' accountability is essential.

Accountability to do the work, commit to dedicate time, and report outcomes with agreed-upon metrics. I see that if participants understand they will learn skills, and more connections that will benefit their career and employability, they will better commit.

So make sure to explain how it will help them!

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✏ Bring fun (seriously)

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Last but not least. The part I love the most is bringing fun and games into the work. This helps to make the accountability part I explained above more attractive.

As Dave Gray say, "The creation of play-driven experiences in work isn't just fun; it's essential for collaboration and innovation.”

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See you in two weeks. Keep the spark alive, and be intentional :).

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Hit reply to let me know if you liked this edition or if you tried these tips. I respond to every person who writes to me!

See you in two weeks. Keep the spark alive, and be intentional :)