The vast majority of businesses manage to put to use an incredibly small fraction of the ideas generated by people who work in the business. For most businesses, the number of ideas implemented per employee is terribly low, less than 10 a year, and for many the number is closer to zero. So much for tapping into the natural creativity of the workforce.
Why does this happen? Why would we pass this opportunity up? Why would we let those hundreds of good ideas die on the vine?
Why would we not want to grow our revenue, lower our costs and thrill our customers?
Why would we not selfishly grab every idea that would make our business more successful?
Why would we not want our people to feel respected and creative and successful?
The answer is simple. We do want all those things. But, we cannot see how it is possible to dramatically increase the implementation of ideas – certainly not the level where in excess of 100 ideas are implemented per employee per year.
The collision between a less-than-half-baked idea and a busy boss creates a guaranteed deadend. After a few of those collisions and it’s not hard to understand why employees disengage. Why bother when your boss is your latest brilliant ideas as a bother.
That said, ideas are the lifeblood of improvement. Companies that will survive and prosper understand that the responsibility to fix problems and improve processes must belong to the people who do the work. Everyone needs the skill to solve process problems.
Effective companies use a common approach to problem solving (such as a 7-Step Method), an approach everyone in the organization understands well. The method not only develops the skills to think through ideas, but it also transfers the skills, knowledge and authority to see the solution through to success.
Experienced managers show doubt in their faces when they hear it said that employees have good ideas. Often, the suggestions for improvement workers offer their bosses are not well reasoned or fully developed—and some are just plain stupid. Employees are just not that smart. Continue reading »
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