Idea ownership factors for consideration

Factors for consideration for different idea ownership approaches

The following are some different factors worth considering for comparing the different idea ownership approaches. The scoring for each area will range from 1 (bad) to 5 (excellent).

Clarity of vision complexity

• Description - The idea ownership approach will influence how the vision for an idea is determined and maintained over time.

• Why it’s important - This clarity around vision will influence what outcomes are prioritised from the different contributors involved in executing an idea. A higher clarity in vision can help with increasing alignment on what contributors are executing.

• Scoring questions - How easy would it be for a clear vision to be set and maintained? How will that vision get updated over time as the environment and external factors change? Who is involved in the decision making for setting the overall direction?

• Scoring - Low complexity is good (Score - 5). High complexity is bad (Score - 1).

Governance decision complexity

• Description - An idea will need governance to determine what direction to take, how the idea gets executed, and who is involved in the operation of that idea over time.

• Why it’s important - Making the right decisions to execute an idea will highly influence the potential impact of the contribution efforts made. The speed of decision making can be an important factor that influences the execution speed and how easy it is for voters to make informed decisions is another important factor that will influence what gets executed and how it gets measured for generating any impact.

• Scoring questions - How many people are involved in the decision making for executing an idea? How difficult is it for those voters to be well informed when making decisions? How long might it take for decisions to be made and how fast can the voters respond to a changing environment?

• Scoring - Low complexity is good (Score - 5). High complexity is bad (Score - 1).

Change of leadership flexibility

• Description - The idea ownership approach will influence how easy it is for the community to change the leadership involved in executing an idea.

• Why it’s important - Leadership can play a vital role in the execution of complex ideas however the community may prefer different leadership as the requirements and environment change. Some ideas also might not require leadership for a period of time due to the maturity of the solution that has been executed.

• Scoring questions - How easy is it to change the leadership involved in the execution and operation of an idea? How can a community support new leadership when it makes sense to do so? What steps would be required to execute that change?

• Scoring - Higher flexibility is good (Score - 5). Lower flexibility is bad (Score - 1).

Contributor participation flexibility

• Description - Idea ownership will influence how easy it is for different contributors to participate and help with the execution of an idea.

• Why it’s important - Ecosystems will benefit from competent and skilled contributors being able to participate in supporting important ideas which can help with creating impact for an ecosystem. The ownership approach may enable or prevent people from being able to contribute.

• Scoring questions - How difficult is it for a contributor to help with the execution of an idea? Do contributors need permission to contribute?

• Scoring - High flexibility is good (Score - 5). Low flexibility is bad (Score - 1).

Openness of execution outcomes risks

• Description - Idea ownership can influence the likelihood of whether all of the contribution outcomes are provided freely to the community such as open sourcing the code and processes or sharing any operational insights.

• Why it’s important - Making the contribution outcomes from executing an idea freely available means that other communities should be able to easily take those outcomes and iterate upon them to make further improvements. It also means that the ecosystem would be able to more quickly learn about how that idea can be better executed and what problems and opportunities might exist for future contribution efforts.

• Scoring questions - Why might the voters for governance decisions decide to not make contribution outcomes freely available? What amount of competition does the idea ownership approach often lead to?

• Scoring - Low openness risk is good (Score - 5). High openness risk is bad (Score - 1).