We live in a world of interconnected Ecosystems. Businesses have been actively working in their own connected ecosystems to suit their own business needs. That needs to change. We need to open up our thinking to collaborative ecosystems.

Let’s briefly examine why and what I have been working on as my focus for some time—the need for interconnected business ecosystems. They are highly valuable and very relevant today in dealing with complexity. They are interlinked in different ecosystems to generate greater returns and resolve complexity and challenges that need co-creation and cooperation.

Why it is Valuable:

1. Addresses complexity: In today’s VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world, traditional linear business models often fall short. Ecosystems allow organizations to leverage collective capabilities to tackle complex challenges.
2. Fosters innovation: By promoting open collaboration and co-creation across diverse entities, ecosystems can drive higher rates of innovation that individual organizations may struggle to achieve.
3. Builds resilience: Emphasizing adaptability, continuous learning, and dynamic resilience helps organizations stay agile and resilient in the face of disruptive forces.
4. Enables shared value: Ecosystems allow participants to create, scale and share value in ways that compound benefits for all involved rather than operating in silos.
5. Future-proofing: Embracing the mindset and capabilities outlined in the hierarchy can help organizations stay ahead of the curve and future-proof their strategies.

Why Ecosystems are Important Today:

1. Exponential technological change: The rapid pace of technological disruptions makes it difficult for any single entity to effectively manage the level of rapid development needed to keep pace with today’s world alone.
2. Global interconnectedness: Business challenges and opportunities are increasingly interlinked across geographic and industry boundaries, requiring collaboration.
3. Sustainability pressures: Environmental and social demands necessitate pooling resources/capabilities to develop sustainable business models collaboratively.
4. Shifting consumer expectations: Consumers expect seamless integrated experiences, which ecosystems are better positioned to deliver through complementary offerings.
5. Access to capabilities: Ecosystems provide access to a broader pool of specialized capabilities, knowledge and resources that are distributed across networks.

I am building a framework of interconnected Ecosystems that consists of four layers:

1. Innovation Ecosystems – The foundational layer focused on fostering open collaboration, co-creation and shared challenges to drive continuous innovation and creativity.
2. Business Ecosystems – This layer emphasizes strategic cooperation, interconnected solutions and cooperative strategies between businesses to achieve sustainable growth and competitive advantage.
3. Dynamic Ecosystems – These are centred on adaptability, resilience, continuous learning, and building dynamic capabilities to navigate complexity and sustain excellence amidst change.
4. Enterprise Ecosystems—The apex layer is focused on achieving collective prosperity and sustained excellence through collaborative efforts across enterprises and integrative leadership.

Each layer is interconnected and contributes to the overall success of the collaborative ecosystem. The progression reflects a journey from establishing an innovative, collaborative foundation to reaching dynamic collaboration through business and multiple enterprises working to unlock collective prosperity.

The unique value proposition includes increased value from collaborative solutions, unlocking untapped potential through co-creation, a paradigm shift in innovation management, strategic ecosystem design, driving sustained growth and impact, creating collaborative value across businesses, resilience and adaptability to thrive in volatility, and structured approaches for navigating daily complexity.

On this site, you will see a comprehensive build-up of this in a series of posts—the summary is here and a growing number of supporting posts on my core innovating posting site.

We do need to elevate our thinking to deal with growing complexity and tough challenges. Building out an “interconnected” binds the diverse ecosystems that each business already operates within into one that is cohesive and mutually reinforcing for a more collaborative growth engine that gives sustaining value and impact for the future.