We have done the Open Innovation Game with about 100 master students Strategic Management of Tilburg University. It was a great experience for the students who, in an intense and fast manner, got exposed to essential elements of real-life cooperation. This helps them in our course Strategic Consultancy in which the students learn and experience what it is to be a strategy consultant. Margot and her team led the game full of passion, well balanced with humor and strict timing. The students were enthusiastic about learning from real-life situations.

Thanks a lot Margot for playing your Open-Innovation-Game with us.

We would like to thank Red Bluejay for organizing the Open Innovation Game for our Upstream Gas Consortium (UGC). We asked Margot for a very various group of technical people from the oil and gas sector and she managed this very professionally. Her enthusiastic way of playing the game was contagious. The game is interactive and teaches you during the game, the principles of open innovation. It provided us and our consortium members more insight of how to innovate in building an open innovation partnership.

The Open Innovation Game is well thought out. Humor combined with a business approach gives a good result. At an early stage, the game shows the different interests of the players. Simultaneously, it immediately offers a view on possible solutions to bridge these differences. Playing the game delivered strengthening and enrichment of the insights and important principles for the establishment of a partnership based on this innovation model.

At EuroPartners (department of Philips Research) we played the Open-I-Game with an experienced team of specialists in R&D Public Funding projects. Despite the fact that we already apply the open innovation concept for a long time a number of eye-openers occur to us. It was remarkable to notice how fast people grew into their role in the game. By playing we experienced the pre-occupied opinions we all have with respect to other parties. In the interactive game it became clear that the focus should not be only at the wins we could have from the consortium, but that it should also be clear what other partners could gain from us. Thinking a priori about what you want to bring and what you want to achieve and realizing that every partner strives for an individual win are essential elements not only in the game but also in real practical cases. Margot guided us through a real experience, we learned a lot and had fun. Well done.

In preparation for the innovation project "Fieldlab Smartbase" of the Ministry of Defense, we played the Open Innovation Game together with all the different parties and interests. In a playful way you learn what innovation means in the "triple helix". You also learn what you may encounter when you enter a joint development project. Whether it is about IP, finances, reputation, availability of infrastructure, project leadership, or the combination of large parties with small parties: Everything is covered.
You will become aware that in Open Innovation you are dealing with all these different interests. The Game adds to the realization that you need to be careful with the various interests of the participating parties, but also that various interests do not need to be showstoppers for achieving joint innovation.The pleasant and casual, yet businesslike atmosphere which is created by the team, makes the game reflect the sometimes harsh reality. The Open Innovation Game is an excellent tool to bring parties with seemingly conflicting interests together for joint innovation!

We played the Open Innovation Game to learn how our global clients might benefit from the action learning model that this game offers. Even though Ninesigma has been the leader in the open innovation space for over 14 years, I was truly amazed to see the dynamic of this serious and seriously fun game. The participants learned through the interaction what it is like to be ‘in the shoes’ of the specific organization they represented in the game. The game really brought home the win-win thinking that is required to make any collaboration work. The game taught participants in a fun way how to think about their contribution in a partnership and about what they would be looking for in the other partners. Margot did a fantastic job guiding us through the experience and made the game a high energy and high humor experience.

Playing the Open Innovation Game as part of our program 'Leadership in the Brainport region Eindhoven’, gave our group a hands-on, practical insight in the meaning of Open Innovation in real life. This game really demonstrates what the famous 'Triple Helix’ collaboration stands for. The positive side, but also the complexity to create the right environment. The game was very much appreciated by our group and seen as a valuable contribution within the context of our leadership program.

The concept of open innovation was new to our company, but the open innovation game made it come alive. The game shows both the potential of open innovation as well as the complexity of reaching an agreement with multiple partners. In combination with the workshop on how to create an innovative culture, Hendrix Genetics has taken a serious step in embedding innovation into its organization. Margot has showed to be an excellent game master, entertaining and always in control. (The Open Innovation Game scored a 3.4 on a scale of 1 to 4 (8.5 on a scale of 1 to 10) with Hendrix Genetics' Senior Management Forum of 65 international participants.)

Would you like to find out if open innovation is something for your company? Are you wondering where and how to start? The Open Innovation Game provides valuable insights that can guide you in your decision process. More than a book or a lecture, this game provides an interactive hands-on experience in which you learn from interacting with others in a simulated open innovation world.

Your host, Margot, throws in her secret magic potion - rumour has it its key ingredients are knowledge and wit - that makes the game come to life. As a pioneer and former HR Director of Holst Centre she can tap into a vast number of real-life cases and anecdotes that complement the game play.

Highly recommended.

We organized the Open Innovation Game for a group of innovative startup and rapid growth companies that are part of our EYnovation community. It provided us and the participants great insight and an almost real life experience in building an open innovation partnership. We’ve received many enthusiastic responses from the participants citing that they’ve had an interesting and fun evening which sparked new ideas and knowledge that can be applied in business immediately. The game was facilitated by Margot in a very interactive and inspiring way with the right mix of humor and seriousness.

On April 17th, 2013, the Red Bluejay Foundation has given a Masterclass “Open Innovation” for an international group of visitors, consisting of professors and lecturers of universities from Russia, Ukraine, Israel and Poland. The participants have experienced this Masterclass as highly educational and entertaining. It is therefore that the participants have valued this Masterclass with the high score of 9 (out of 10).
Mrs Margot Nijkamp-Diesfeldt had thoroughly prepared the masterclass, always in close collaboration with yours truly. 

As the coordinator of this (14-day) EU train-the-trainer programme “Ecommis” I am most satisfied about the collaboration with the Open Innovation Academy, in the person of Margot Nijkamp-Diesfeldt, and highly recommend it.

We chose to play the Open Innovation Game in the context of a consortium workshop for the Initial Training Network (ITN) of the EU Marie Curie Program: “Investigating Speech Processing In Realistic Environments” which was hosted by Philips Research in Eindhoven. The game was an excellent addition to presentations on industry-related topics of this workshop, like IP and the role of open innovation as seen from the industry. With the great majority of participants working in an academic environment in a variety of European countries, and many of them being PhD students, the game introduced a range of topics outside of the daily routine for many of us. The playful, and sometime hilarious, introduction to the different roles for the participants by Margot raised the phantasy and actions of the participants to unknown heights, bringing in very local elements (the small English family enterprise), but also timely additions, like a Nobel prize laureate as strong asset for one of the academic partners (it was the week of the Nobel prize announcements). This is a really user-centred way of creating understanding of a concept, or attitude, which was no longer abstract once we had reached the end of the game.

At Brainport Development we played the Open-I-Game with an international consortium of project partners, mainly public policy officials. Within this project consortium we develop and improve policy measures conducive to open innovation in Europe. By playing the Open-I-Game we managed to cross the bridge from “talking and hearing about open innovation” towards “learn how open innovation starts and works in practice”. Taken from real-life experiences at Holst Centre Margot has created a very interesting, well-moderated and conceivable case for all participants. In the interactive role play participants could experience themselves how different stakeholders take position in the process towards a new open innovation consortium, as well as their various interests, agendas and strategies.  Along the way it became clear that the road towards an open innovation consortium is not as straightforward as one may expect. The game was a real ‘eye-opener’ to all participants.

Playing the Open Innovation Game was an eye-opening experience to me. Although I am familiar with interdisciplinary working, the Open Innovation Game was very inspiring and educational. More precisely, the Open-I-Game simulates adequately working together on complex issues in a context of trust, shared responsibilities and highly qualified competences. 
Therefore, I recommend the Open-I-Game to anyone who takes innovation in a multicontextual environment seriously. 
Besides that, Margot Nijkamp, has created the game with the right blend of humour, playfulness and seriousness. Margot leads the game highly interactive, with a lot of expertise and hospitality. 
She shows how innovation can be facilitated these days.

Within Salomo, an education organisation with 17 schools, we have organised our own internal education track for our school principals. The purpose is to come to further development of the school as well as the personal perspective by learning from and with each other. We share our knowledge, experience and inspire one another to collaborate on the innovation of education.
Playing the Open Innovation Game at Red Bluejay fitted seamlessly with this goal. Throughout the game – very well guided by Margot Nijkamp & team – we education people were submerged in a sector that is not on our daily focus or knowledge. We were challenged to get into a fictitious setting – which quickly gave us a “real life” feeling - with a number of important roles: companies, institutes and organisations with each their own knowledge and their own goals & motives. The purpose was to come to ground-breaking innovation that would bring the whole sector forwards by a big leap. Soon it became clear that only through collaboration and sharing this goal could be reached. In a very natural way questions popped up, like: what can we contribute, what can we gain, what is our specific strength or weakness. Which trump cards do we hold – which do we disclose and which do we keep to ourselves? All questions that address how our school boards are progressing in their own development and that of their schools. It was a vivid, educational program, that flew by and which opened up to us the unsuspected talents of a strategist and a ‘sales manager’. And all of this in the stimulating environment of the Philips Boardroom.

Innovating is challenging and consciously collaborating: sharing knowledge is worth the effort. With this confirmation and inspiration we headed back to our own region.

Playing the open innovatie game, actively and soulfully moderated by Margot Nijkamp-Diesfeldt is a valuable learning experience. A wonderfully developed game with a huge challenge to start working with and open up to the principles of open innovation. In a few hours' time you share knowledge and experience with each other and afterwards open innovation is no longer just a term, it has become an instrument to you - independent of your background. Margot and her team members facilitate the game with lots of enthusiasm and solid knowledge. The surprising ending and the vast experience of Margot in setting up the Holst Centre will have this open innovation game in your memory and system for a long time. An unforgettable "must-do" for everybody who is open to "open innovation". Margot and Red Bluejay, I'm looking forward to our future collaboration.

As part of the Libre Programm of the Eindhoven Academy I participated in the Open Innovation Game. It gave me and my fellow participants a very good insight in the true meaning of Open Innovation. What are the boundaries, limitations, and possibilities that Open Innovation brings

along. The guidance of Margot and the help and feedback her crew gave where energetic and valuable. I truly recommend the programm to everyone who wants innovation to be succesfull and above all effective.

The Open Innovation Game is a real experience! In the game you will "experience" how cooperation "feels" with and between people. Combined with the warm and human approach of the OIA team, you will get hold off something you do not want to let go. Success is achieved by people for people, and that's what it all about at the OIA. Exceptional!

We played  the game with around 65 3rd year students of our bachelor International Marketing Management. The students enjoyed the game tremendously as it gave them a taste of what goes on in real life. It fired their imaginations and inspired them to try alternative negotiations and collaborations. Afterwards they confided in me that they had enjoyed this way of learning much more than they had expected.

“We at Oopen advies & interim played the Open-I-Game during our winter course in December. The objective was to spend a day with professionals and learning from each other, and this is truly what we did! Margot Nijkamp-Diesfeldt, with her enthusiastic and witty approach, really opened our eyes to the dynamics that the open innovation process can contain.  The genius but simple set up of the Open-I-Game led to interesting discussions and revealing insights. 
We at Oopen are very enthusiastic about the Open-I-Game as it really represents what we stand for: 
“Through co-creation with open and constructive dialogue you can really be successful” Therefore, we are actively looking for opportunities to introduce our customers to the possibilities that playing this game will give them. 
We’d like to thank Red Bluejay and especially Margot for letting us experience this wonderful game.”

"I have seldom had such an in-depth and pleasant experience as the Open Innovation Game, which showed me where my hidden talents lie to collaborate by daring to share. It is an unusually creative piece of social innovation. This tool deserves a medal!"

"During an innovation event, which I co-organized, Margot played a short version of the Open Innovation Game for all attendees. The game was not only fun, but at the same time an excellent hands-on demonstration of open innovation in practice. Very positive reaction by all participants. Highly recommended!"

You are in a room full of not-so-well-known people and have to create your path to success. Time is limited, collaborations are forged, opportunities are taken or lost …

The open innovation game is a strong personal experience. Not a static course, but a concise real world experience. Benefits of open innovation and important stumbling blocks are encountered. As a seasoned open innovation person Margot Nijkamp swiftly guides the audience through different stages.

A first class experience.

Keeping the attention of students for over 4 hours is a challenge, but the Open Innovation Academy nailed it with their immersive Open Innovation Game. The students were perfectly guided by Rick Wielens and Susanne Franken in playing their role for an open innovation challenge to find a cure for Alzheimer. As students put it “I could actually feel the dilemma’s in working together”. After playing the game the students were also provided with a lecture about real life two cases in which open innovation was applied, which closed the learning circle perfectly. Now the students have some contextual experience to comprehend the concepts form the literature about Open Innovation.

"With our organization ICT Brabant we have played the Open Innovation Game. Our host was Margot Nijkamp-Diesfeldt. Margot introduced the Open Innovation Game TM. She led us through an active experience of open innovation, through a workshop where all the participants played a part in creating a strategic collaboration based on win-win goals. That may sound abstract, but the game is so clear in its set-up, that these complex processes were very intuitively interpreted by the players. Our conclusion, therefore, is: in order to take part in open innovation, it is important  to learn about the drivers of the organizations and the people. We wish to thank Margot for offering us a most educational workshop with many eye-openers!"

"In my role as consultant and researcher I have a particular interest in open innovation and specifically the human interaction in this process. I have been able to play the Open Innovation Game twice, both times learning something new about the complexity of the process and the importance of human interaction. In my opinion the Open Innovation Game enables professionals to gain a deeper insight in the elements of open innovation. In both its strengths and weaknesses, which I think you need to know both before you can bring it in to practice. Furthermore I have to say that Margot is an amazing game host who knows to transfer a clear message about complex interactions. A real eye opener!"