It’s uncontested that open source communities have been at the center of innovation for decades, enabling and accelerating innovation through distributed developers’ contributions. What’s also become clear over time is that the outcomes of the open-source development model are anchored in ways of working and unsaid cultural principles and practices that enable these communities to thrive. 

Red Hat, the leader in open-source, has boiled down the underpinnings of open source innovation in five principles that make up what we call open culture: transparency, collaboration, adaptability, community, and inclusivity. These principles — a bedrock to Red Hat’s innovative model for decades — have never been put to the test more than in the current climate when remote work has become the norm, and leaders rely on high-performing remote teams to continue to deliver tangible business outcomes and innovation. Business goals may need to be adapted in the current climate, but initiatives, milestones, and initiatives don’t disappear. Working in an agile manner is critical.

Red Hat Open Innovation Labs was born out of an ask from customers to help accelerate innovation by really understanding — through practice — how open source communities operate. Today’s climate of remote work doesn’t change that mandate; it only enhances it and makes the Open Innovation Labs mission truer to the reality of open source communities. 

Red Hat Open Innovation Labs has developed a virtual residency to meet the needs of our customers and organizations — where the focus is to extend the great work of traditional engagements to that of a virtual environment. I’ve provided a few examples to show the virtual implications of that extension: 

  • Information radiation has never been more important in a virtual setting. Teams will still “walk the walls” together to ensure informational transparency and collaborate face-to-face individually and as a group, all through video conferencing tools.
  • Sprint planning, daily standups, reviews, retrospectives, and many more virtual sessions can be recorded and replayed to wider audiences to increase learning and adoption of practices.
  • Driving collaboration, a shared sense of alignment, and an immersive experience can build a virtually connected community focused on delivering increments as a team. Red Hat Open Innovation Labs teams are even hosting virtual movie nights and pizza parties to promote team-building and togetherness.

In this ever-changing and unpredictable global environment, innovation remains the key to keeping your business ahead of the competition. The Red Hat Open Innovation Labs virtual residency is one way we continue to help organizations come together and foster the same sense of innovation that’s come out of open source communities for decades.

Ready to go virtual with Red Hat Open Innovation Labs? Find out more at red.ht/labs.

 

 

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About the author

Tim Beattie is Global Head of Product and a Senior Principal Engagement Lead for Red Hat Open Innovation Labs. His career in product delivery spans 20 years as an agile and lean transformation coach - a continuous delivery & design thinking advocate who brings people together to build meaningful products and services whilst transitioning large corporates towards business agility. 

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