5 Tips: Zen and the Art of Idea Management System Maintenance

Motorbike in a low angle shotAre you getting the most out of your idea management system?

Just like a high-performance vehicle requires tune-ups, it is important to revisit your innovation process for regular maintenance. Follow these five steps to ensure your system continues to run like new. Click on each post for even more info!

1. Educate Your Employees 

Do your employees understand how to submit ideas? Clarify any confusing details; you don’t want lack of education to impede the system’s progress.

2. Encourage a Culture of Innovation

Make innovation a natural part of the work environment.

3. Don’t Rely on Rewards

Part of maintaining a culture of innovation means you don’t need to rely on extrinsic motivators to keep the ideas coming.

4. Implement Co-creation

Open up the idea management system to your customers. Use them as a front-line resource for your market’s current needs.

5. Prioritize Ideas

What are you looking to improve? Choose which ideas to implement based on necessity, not the most votes or rank.

If you find employee engagement lagging or idea submission declining, use this guide to refresh your system. Implementing these steps ensures your idea management framework will remain in peak condition for years to come.

4 Roles that Fire Up Your Innovation Management Process

http://us.fotolia.com/id/65467511Super Bowl XLIX is coming up this Sunday. The Seahawks and the Patriots – and all successful football teams – have one main feature in common: each player has a well-defined role.

Teams pursuing innovation will also benefit from well-defined roles. In the book Employee Driven Quality, the authors identify four roles necessary to fire up your innovation management process. [Read more…]

What is Better for Innovation? Small Ideas vs. Big Ideas

Bigger and brighter ideaDo you want your employees to come up with a “breakthrough” idea, one that will be a game-changer for your organization?

It probably won’t immediately come in the form of just one big idea. Ideas focused on solving day-to-day workplace complications make up the first steps of large-scale innovation. [Read more…]

How Kraft Foods Continuously Innovates with an Idea Management System

Hot Homemade Chocolate PuddingWhat is co-creation, and how can it improve innovation in your organization?

Kraft Foods innovates using “co-creation” with their customers, which involves an ongoing dialogue between the two about what improvements Kraft can make. This practice has led to new ideas, packaging guidance, and insights into cooking habits. So, how does it work?

[Read more…]

Top Reasons Why Innovation Fails – Part 2

Puzzle lightWhy do innovation initiatives fail? This Fast Company article lists six reasons your organization may be experiencing setbacks.

In our first blog post, we explored reason #1, i.e. how lacking a formal framework can hinder successful innovation. In this blog post, I’ll dive in to reason #2: Not tying initiatives to overall company strategy.

[Read more…]