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James A. Schwarz, in his new book, The A to Z of Idea Management for Organizational Improvement and Innovation, points out that you can’t just bolt an idea system onto a corporate culture that is closed to new ideas. It requires a complete transformation of the corporate culture.

James A. Schwarz, in his new book, The A to Z of Idea Management for Organizational Improvement and Innovation, points out that you can’t just bolt an idea system onto a corporate culture that is closed to new ideas. It requires a complete transformation of the corporate culture – to recognize the value of ideas, to realize that your employees are the source of some of the best ideas, and to appropriately recognize them for their contributions.

“The path to creating a fully functioning idea system is not an easy one. It requires a complete culture change to thge belief that the workforce does not want to improve the organization while recognizing them appropriately for doing so. Overnight results are not possible. This engagement takes a big commitment by the organization to involve and listen to the entire working community, acting on their inputs in a timely manner and recognizing employees for providing that input.

Many organizations start up an… employee idea process but do not really commit – so when ideas flood in, the people that need to review them do nothing. Complex rules are created about what is an acceptable or unacceptable idea – leading employees to give up before they even develop an idea. Even worse, people managing the program may have no champion or support from leadership to make the idea process successful.”

This new book, due to be released in early May, offers a practical framework for implementing idea systems in organizations. It outlines the elements of a successful idea system, provides tips on how to implement one, provides suggestions on handling the tricky issues of recognition and compensation, details some metrics you need to have in place to be successful, and more.