Bidiversity

This article was inspired by a post on Inc.com

In a time when the buzz is all about crowdsourcing – getting customers and the Twitterverse to come up with new ideas, most companies are ignoring their most inexpensive and efficient source of innovation: their own employees. Perhaps your customers can create great products, but chances are, there are people working for you that have real insight and can get to the good ideas more quickly as well as discount the ones that might not work.

1. Let Every Employee Play Designer.

Take the crowdsourcing idea and apply it internally. Imagine the creative input you could get by spending an afternoon designing and producing prototypes for new products. By making employees feel a part of the idea-creation process new pipelines of product development can be created.

2. Provide Lots of Free Time to Think.

“The five last bastions of thinking are the car, the john, the shower, the church or synagogue, and the gym,” Joey Reiman, CEO of BrightHouse, told Inc.’s Leigh Buchanan. Note the absence of office from that roster. So, to allow for that crucial “think time,” in addition to nearly five weeks’ vacation, BrightHouse’s 18 staff members get five “Your Days,” in which they are encouraged to visit a spot conducive to reflection and let their neurons rip.

3. Use New Software to Round Up Staff Ideas.

What happens when your employees are too shy to pipe up?  Consider using an online survey tool to allow employees to review their peers idea submissions – and set a prize. Give your employees a forum that encourages everyone to share.

4. Encourage Risk-Taking.

Related to our story yesterday about how Facebook prefer the ‘seek forgiveness rather than ask permission’ form of innovation, this is an important cultural factor in innovating. Try mandating a day to try something that’s never been done before, if it goes wrong, then learn from the mistake. If it it goes right, then adapt.

5. Reward Million-Dollar Ideas.

Employees that are creative and that have good ideas have two choices. They can give their ideas to your business to help you make money, or increasingly, they can set out on their own. Even given the Global Financial Crisis, access to capital is easier than ever and many ideas can be set up in parrallel to exsiting work. The only way an employee is going to give you a million dollar idea is if you reward them. Consider equity in the business!