A Conversation with Chris Meyer

Part I: Open Innovation and Enterprise 2.0: Adaptive Organizations
(Running time: 10:28)

Chris Meyer asserts that "diversity, rapid recombination and selective pressure are three prerequisites for effective innovation." Through parallels in biology, Chris tells us that the "rules of evolution apply to the rules of innovation." He cites successes such as Proctor & Gamble and Innocentive. The most effective companies, "open their boundaries" and "believe in a positive sum game where speed of execution wins, not secrecy." Leaders can make their organizations more adaptable by making their "boundaries more permeable," "valuing the intangibles more highly," and enabling diversity "that provides you difference in perspective where the ability to keep up with change comes from." Chris concludes by encouraging leaders "to cultivate the fringe" and to "find new ways to look at a problem."