Sometimes, tho', the inventors of the platforms are not prepared for ideas that are different than their own, so there is some level of fear that can sometimes impede a project from reaching a successful outcome. Leaders who would like to use ideation platforms must consider the human component and must be willing to accept a free-er forum for dialog than what they might otherwise be used to.

Off the cuff, perhaps the biggest difference is not between governments and private sector organizations, but between collaboration and transparency. Ideation is about collaboration, not just the visibility of data and processes.

Some major problems: unclear agenda in asking for ideas, so the results were not in sync with the goals of the program; no methodology or staff to process the ideas in a meaningful way; no methodology for combining and evolving similar or nascent ideas into useful strategies; no adequate mechanism inside the organization for connecting useful strategies to the people/authority needed to implement them; little respect within the operational parts of the organization for the entire program.

As a result, the programs became more of an empty marketing effort; even as marketing, they could become problematic because people expected their ideas to be listened to, so lack of progress was embarrassing.

Nevertheless, I still feel that ideation platforms and programs can be extremely valuable and a fundamental advance in innovation. The challenge is perhaps much more on the organizational side in terms of how to deal with ideas in general. And that's a longer discussion!