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The Profound Importance of Challenges (Part 1 of 4)

book cover

by Alph Bingham and Dwayne Spradlin

This blog is the second installation of a four part series: ”The Profound Importance of Challenges,” by Dwayne Spradlin and Alph Bingham, authors of The Open Innovation Marketplace, published in 2011 by FT Press.

To read the other posts in this series, click on the links below:

The Profound Importance of Challenges: The Fundamental Unit of Problem Solving (Part 2 of 4) by Alph Bingham

The Profound Importance of Challenges: A Better Way to Organize and Distribute Work (Part 3 of 4) by Dwayne Spradlin

The Profound Importance of Challenges: A Powerful Strategy Tool (Part 4 of 4) by Dwayne Spradlin

Clearly the notion of a challenge as a tremendously powerful and versatile tool for innovation is gaining credibility quickly.  We explored this idea in depth in our book “The Open Innovation Marketplace: Creating Value in the Challenge Driven Enterprise” published this year by FT Press.  Below and over the next few weeks we share some of the discussion on Challenges from our book and would love to have your thoughts and feedback.  Enjoy!

What Is a Challenge?

Dictionary.com defines a “challenge” as “a summons to engage in any contest” or as “a job or undertaking that is stimulating to one engaged in it.” However, it is much more. Well-constructed “Challenges” are an astonishingly powerful and uniquely effective tool for focusing the energies of multitudes of creative, inventive, talented people on the important problems facing organizations, nations, and the planet on which we live.

The Challenge is core to InnoCentive’s business, and its power has been on display now for several years. We see early, though isolated, glimpses of this approach throughout history well before InnoCentive’s founding. Striking examples of its use range from the Longitude Prize offered by British Parliament in the 1700s to the Ortiz Prize that induced Charles Lindbergh to cross the Atlantic. It has been shown to have broad and general applicability.

Challenge Browser

InnoCentive has more experience with Challenges than any organization in the world and provides an intriguing sampling of the potential of Challenges in areas as diverse as business entrepreneurship, life sciences, mathematics, and manufacturing.

Challenges can deliver breakthrough strategies or highly technical solutions and apply to every business function and every type of problem, large and small, strategic and tactical.

But Why Does It Work?

We first began to understand the Challenge as a powerful business tool a few short years ago. It was at this time that a number of key concepts were beginning to converge, namely that a Challenge exhibits three important properties. The Challenge is:

  • The fundamental unit of problem solving;
  • A better way to organize (and distribute) work;  and
  • A powerful strategy tool.

Over the next few weeks, we will explore each of these three properties in more depth.

Bingham and Spradlin LR BLOG

Warm regards,
Dwayne Spradlin and Alph Bingham

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  • martin schweiger

    Achieve my philosophy, which aims to All, I want to like this
    : convey
    see in this contribution the trial to suggest a new Theory and Philosophie of invention and sozial life.
    First, everyone knows or can get it in life to feel that people’s capabilities in various fields is different. In a normal classroom, two to three star pupil but also very poor, only two or three students, is the vast majority of “normal” gifted. This situation is described by the Gaussian distribution, the so-called bell curve,
    I am appalled that this has already been denied basic science related to the current intellectual and political debates and raised to postulate that everyone can learn everything.
    Of course, learning and any kind of training if necessary on the spiritual or physical area is necessary and useful.
    But we should not second, which was confirmed by the life of truth, overlooked or ignored, that not everyone can be world champion!
    This is the core of the problems of our time and a declaration of war against all forms of dogmatism. Many managers and heads of institutions to see that for every problem somewhere and at some point is a better solution. You keep it ourselves for the World Champion. Who in his area of responsibility does not understand all the employees involved in finding solutions will fail at some point, especially in regard by his colleagues.
    This simple fact is ignored by commercial providers, in particular so-called inventor of seminars, where methods are cited by inventors personalities, such as the so-called Edison principle. Only with an inventor seminar will not move much. Only with the involvement of all
    Employees to achieve substantial results. Without his able mechanic could not have realized the Edison phonograph. I
    can judge very well. I myself had in my professional life the good fortune of being able to draw on some of these clever mechanic.
    In the area of the creative process I’ve learned from these two fundamental truths of the income deduction that the fastest and most original ideas can be obtained if as many carriers are involved in the idea of ideas. Now the technical possibilities are given to organize finding ideas world wide via the Internet. This trend, which is already well in the technical field by many companies, such as, for example, by the American firm pushed successfully to determine the future social, scientific and cultural progress and the basis of a new form of coexistence and be a new social order.
    InnoCentive, like others too, is on the right track!
    One should never be ignored, the idea that the recovery has top priority support.
    You are now able to present the vast knowledge to use (crowds), and build networks that allow an interdisciplinary cooperation can be realized.
    They should be accorded a prominent social position.
    If I would have to assume the role as a management consultant, I would ask first, then as deputy in the operational hierarchy problem is solved. I would ask then, secondly, to take the idea that social position in the carrier companies.
    Answering these questions is a reflection of the innovative level of the enterprises and institutions and highlights the main cause of failure situations.
    I believe this because of the current developments (here in Germany), do not say any more.
    MORE: Martin Schweiger, ideas, truth and freedom, Publisher: Meidenbauer, Martin (,) Munich, 04 12th 2009, ISBN: 978-3-89975-820-7 http://www.avm-verlag.de