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There's no shortage of experts willing to tell you, for a fee, what it is that will make
your employees generate more and better ideas. Be careful. It's a lot easier than you
think. I say, if you just listen to your people and start putting
their ideas into practice, you'll do just fine.
But if you really feel you need advice, let me tell you how one
major corporation set out to make every employee an idea generator, and blew it.
This international concern created an elaborate system. They promised that every idea
would be considered, evaluated, and acted upon immediately. Forms were printed, task force
leaders were named, and every office staged its own creative pep rally where the program
was introduced.
What went wrong? At the pep rally, it was announced that the best ideas would be rewarded.
Not a bad idea. But someone asked, "What's the reward?" The head cheerleader took the question as an affront, and snapped back
something about attitude.
As the employees left the pep rally, they were heard grumbling, "As if we don't have
enough to do. Now they want us to do their job, too." So the person who asked,
"What's the reward?" wrote out and submitted the first idea. It read in part,
"Let's define the reward more clearly, so that people know what they're working
for."
Contrary to the program's first promise, the submission was ignored.
Now you know what not to do.
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