Comments on: Not Invented Here

By: Greg Zimmerman

Greg Zimmerman — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:32:24 +0000

The gap between what is occurring within an organization and the awareness or recognition of that activity or result is a common organizational issue, one that only gets bigger as organization size increases. A friend who works for a major multi-national spent the better part of 2 years building & managing a search tool that, in addition to finding existing applicable research outside the company, helped scientists within the company find relevant (or even duplicate) research from teams elsewhere in the organization that could help them shorten the product development cycle, solve problems, or innovate new products.

I think this is where some type of social network or knowledge mining tool can come in handy. For example, Google requires their staff to maintain a profile of projects & ideas they’ve worked on or are currently investigating. When an individual decides to take on a new project, their first step is to search the internal profile space for similar work, then begin collaborating with the folks who can contribute something of value to the effort.

It boils down to personal responsibility. If it’s important to you or your organization, stand up and ask the question: Have we already started looking into this and who should we talk with to learn more?

By: Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog » Management Improvement Carnival #67

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:10:06 +0000

[...] Not Invented Here by Nicole Radziwill – “when a NIH culture is observed, perhaps the resources and opportunities that are available to a group or an organization that could use them are truly invisible.” [...]

By: Nicole Radziwill

Nicole Radziwill — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:45:33 +0000

Hi John – I agree with you… the software developers who are the most competent *do not* have this issue, and are singularly focused on high quality results. Unless there is reinforcement within a team (managers + developers), continually encouraging one another to be aware of outside opportunities, there can be a risk of slipping into NIH mentality as a group. The key to me is… you have to pay attention to this process, and be committed to continuous learning (like you note).

By: John Hunter

John Hunter — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:15:41 +0000

I actual find software developers the least likely to fall into this problem. They (in my experience) understand the benefit of learning. And in learning you take from the successes of others to allow faster success. There is no desire to not use calculus since it is outside knowledge. I find it hard to understand how a software developer can be any good at their job if they are not constantly learning and taking from ideas not invented by them. It is also required for managers but I see so many managers act that way that I can see how they can survive (the competition is not that great).

The focus on results (and critical analysis of why results are not better) is one thing I love about working with good software developers.