Facilitating the Innovation Ecosystem Design

I do like to capture thoughts within Mind Maps. I am never sure if they work for others as the map maker does see things in his or her own way. In the end, it is seeing the other person getting it, that light bulb moment.

I have a group of Ecosystem Mind maps but I thought I’d share this one here to trigger further the thinking that needs to go into building an Innovation Ecosystem. Does it work for you? To be honest I am not sure if it conveys as much as I would like, to reflect on differences when you come to working in innovation ecosystem designs .

To get groups to think more openly about considering innovation in a more ecosystem approach to design and interaction I like to often refer to my mind maps to trigger discussions.

Sometimes it is mine, and mine alone, and I simply talk around it without showing the map, other times I show the map. The problem when you show maps, everyone works through it in their own unique way, however hard you try to get them to work through it in the way you want them too.

I have found mind maps are increasingly highly personal and it can take twice as long to explain something when you show the map to someone else. I think to put the mind map into a powerpoint “stages” it accordingly but it takes away the total map effect.

The key for me in the map shown below is to view considerations differently when you are thinking innovation ecosystems. There are your strategic considerations, there are tactical considerations and then there are value building considerations.

It is when you have these a little more firmly in your mind you have to repeat these different considerations for those other parties that are looking to be within the same innovation ecosystem. They can produce, seemingly, very different aims but it is working around this map you begin to see common goals or objectives.

Partners come into a collaborative ecosystem for different reasons and equally are looking for their own distinct outcomes, they can achieve in partnering with you. You might offer the product, they the service, the logistics, the linkages into technology designed into your innovation, etc., etc. Does the map make any sense to begin to structure thinking around innovation ecosystems?

I know I need to begin a version two fairly soo,n as there is a lot of other parts of this map that are missing to build a complete ecosystem approach. Presently these are ‘captured’ on separate ecosystem mind maps that help me in any preparation or referencing. The problem when you map them they become too complicated and “dense” that you cannot convey all the “connected parts” in an easy, quick way to grasp.

I need to think how to handle this but in the meantime, I just wanted to share my current (earlier version) as something to trigger your thoughts about considering innovation within a more ecosystem way of thinking. I hope you can read it, sorry but I think you will have to squint away on mobiles.

I need to change to a different approach to mapping complexity or linked parts. Any suggestion for me?