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The Idea-Driven Organization
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The Idea-Driven Organization

Unlocking the Power in Bottom-Up Ideas

Alan G. Robinson and Dean M. Schroeder
Berrett-Koehler, 2014
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8

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Recommendation

Most organizations fail to use their most valuable resource – the insight of their “front-line employees.” Consultants Alan G. Robinson and Dean M. Schroeder provide a managerial wake-up call in this report. They explain that most usable ideas come from front-line, customer-facing employees. To become more innovative, firms need idea-generation systems – yet implementing those ideas is a challenge to entrenched corporate culture. The authors illustrate their thesis with case studies showing how organizations, most notably in “services, manufacturing, health care and government,” benefit from establishing idea-generation systems. getAbstract recommends their advice to corporate consultants, government agency directors, entrepreneurs and any executive who wants to build a culture of innovation.

Summary

Your Most Valuable Resource

Most organizations neglect their most valuable resource: the insight of their “front-line employees.” However, “idea-driven” companies listen to their workforce, a source of their most innovative solutions. Becoming idea driven is challenging, and the transformation takes time, perhaps six months for a small firm and up to two years for a large corporation.

With steady effort since the mid-1990s, the CEO of Brasilata has transformed this Brazilian company into an idea-driven organization. Brasilata is in an industry most analysts consider mature and not very glamorous: It makes steel cans. Yet, annually, its “nearly 1,000 ‘inventors’ (front-line employees) come up with some 150,000 ideas, 90% of which are implemented.” If approved by a manager, and the idea costs less than 100 Brazilian reals to implement, employees can put improvement ideas into practice. A manager’s director can approve suggestions that cost less than 5,000 reals. Ideas that cost more go to the CEO for approval. Workers directly enact “about 70% of ideas,” while “implementation teams” apply about 20%. The staff members at the firm’s four facilities support the idea system...

About the Authors

Consultants and best-selling authors Alan G. Robinson and Dean M. Schroeder wrote Ideas Are Free: How the Idea Revolution Is Liberating People and Transforming Organizations.

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