From Problem Solvers to Solution Seekers: Dismantling Knowledge Boundaries at NASA

Abstract

Innovation scholars have long been modeling and arguing about the optimal way to organize for the production of scientific and technological innovation. Until recently, the prevailing consensus among various streams of theoretical and empirical literature has been that innovation does and should take place within the boundaries of the firm. However, recently a new model, usually named “open” or “peer production” innovation, is challenging the permeability itself of these boundaries. According to this model, knowledge work should transcend the traditional professional and knowledge boundaries, and instead be conducted in the “open”, by anyone who chooses to contribute. This study is a longitudinal in depth field study of how R&D professionals permeate their boundaries. In an open innovation experiment at NASA, R&D professionals experimented with posting their strategic R&D challenges on open innovation online platforms and communities. This experiment resulted in an important scientific breakthrough in unprecedented speed. However, challenging the permeability of professionals’ knowledge boundaries, posed a challenge on their professional identity. This paper describes the reactions of these professionals and finds that professional identity refocusing work- the ability to change, reconstruct and re-narrate one’s professional identity-is critical for permeating professional’s knowledge boundaries and shifting the locus of innovation. I discuss the contributions and implications of these findings on organizing for scientific and technological innovation, knowledge boundaries and professional identity.