Decouple Innovation and the Workforce With Open Innovation 

Innovation is vital for staying competitive in any business environment. Yet even as companies prioritize innovation to survive in rapidly changing markets, their intellectual capital faces growing risks due to three key trends:

3 Trends Disrupting Innovation in Business

1. Layoffs

In 2024, over 5,700 U.S. companies announced mass layoffs, surpassing the 5,400 companies that did so in 2023, according to Business Insider. While the technology sector continued to experience significant job cuts, industries such as finance, retail, healthcare, and manufacturing also faced substantial reductions.

Each departure risks taking hard-won insights and experience out the door, often without a plan in place to preserve them.

2. Job Hopping

The median number of years that wage and salary workers had been with their current employer was 3.9 years in January 2024, down from 4.1 years in January 2022 and the lowest since January 2002, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 In today’s market, where high performers frequently change jobs for better pay, schedule control, or career growth, companies struggle to maintain core expertise over time.

3. The Independent Economy

Nearly 73 million Americans now work independently either full- or part-time, according to our State of Independence report. While this offers greater agility, it means fewer people are sticking around long enough to build or retain organizational knowledge.

Independent professionals bring fresh perspectives, but without long-term connection to the business, they rarely contribute to sustained innovation.

The Roadblock Keeping Companies From Innovation Success

These trends create skill and knowledge gaps that slow innovation and delay growth. Companies may have bold ambitions but lack the right people or insights to move them forward.

To overcome this, companies must decouple innovation from workforce continuity. That means building systems to support innovation—even as teams shift, roles change, and talent becomes more fluid.

A Better Approach: Open Innovation

Traditional innovation was often limited to small internal teams to protect company IP. Open innovation flips that model by inviting contributions from external talent. Rather than keeping ideas in-house, companies engage students, industry experts, customers, and other outsiders who bring fresh thinking.

Key benefits of open innovation include:

• Filling skill gaps with on-demand expertise
• Generating diverse ideas from global contributors
• Freeing internal teams to focus on execution
• Boosting ROI
• Involving customers directly in product development

Importantly, companies retain full ownership of intellectual property—preserving value while expanding creative input.

To make open innovation work, treat it as a long-term business strategy, not a one-time experiment.

Learn More: What We Mean By Open Innovation: A Guide to Collaborative Innovation Models

How to Start Your Open Innovation Efforts

1. Find the Right Platform

Select a platform aligned with your goals. Options range from niche tools (e.g., software-specific) to comprehensive platforms like MindSumo. Look for platforms that support structured challenges, feedback collection, and measurable outcomes.

2. Start With a Pilot Project

Test open innovation through a focused initiative. Start small but solve a real business problem that generates actionable insights. Organizations that begin with pilots report stronger buy-in and better results.

3. Learn and Improve

After your pilot, document what worked—and what didn’t. Teams that take time to reflect see more sustainable success in future projects. Early refinement strengthens internal support and builds a case for broader adoption.

4. Create a Standard Process

Develop repeatable guidelines and train teams to scale efforts across departments.
Organizations with defined open innovation processes typically report better collaboration and more productivity.

See: Innovation on a Budget: Smart Strategies for Any Company

Final Thoughts on Business Innovation From MindSumo

Open innovation gives companies a way to keep moving forward, even as teams evolve and roles change.

Bringing in fresh ideas from outside contributors means you’re not stuck relying solely on your internal staff. It’s a faster, more flexible way to tap into the skills and insights you need, without sticking to traditional hiring.

When companies stop thinking of innovation as something only full-time employees can drive, they open the door to greater agility, smarter solutions, and more sustainable growth.

For more information on open innovation, visit mindsumo.com.