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Ideas Are Free

By Steven Miyao

Engaged employees are typically happy; their enthusiastic spirit can be infectious and in turn motivate the organization to perform better.

kasina prides itself on a culture of self governance. We aim to empower everyone to make their own decisions and we encourage our employees to ensure that they enjoy the work they do. We understand that in order for this to fully materialize, everyone needs to be able to contribute ideas. A collaborative atmosphere should lead to a pleasant and rewarding work environment, which will attract and retain better employees who deliver better overall performance.

An open environment is easy in theory, but not as easy to delivery in every day practice. Most people are so busy with their day to day tasks that it has been difficult to ensure that everyone contributes ideas on a regular basis. Ideally, we'd like to receive regular input on how we can improve what we do and translate those ideas into working models for achieving industry leadership. Most firms in the industry would agree that they struggle with the same issue, and many acknowledge that this problem leads to lower overall performance.

I recently read "Ideas Are Free" by Alan G. Robinson and Dean M. Schroeder, which provides a great guide on how to implement a culture that encourages and uses ideas throughout the organization. I learned the following key points from the book:

- Small ideas are the primary tool for organizational learning
- Small ideas provide far more sustainable competitive advantage than big ones, because unlike big ideas, they tend to remain proprietary.
- An organization can get all the ideas it wants without offering rewards. Most people already have lots of ideas, want to share them, and would be thrilled to see them used. The best reward is to see their ideas used.
- Eight Step Idea Process:
o Ideas need to be encouraged
o Submitting ideas needs to be simple.
o Evaluation of ideas needs to be quick and effective.
o Feedback needs to be timely, constructive and effective.
o Implementation needs to be rapid and smooth.
o Ideas need to be reviewed for additional potential.
o People need to be recognized and success is celebrated.
o The idea system performance is measured, reviewed, and improved.

There is a strong link between culture and the flow of employee ideas. This is why incorporating an idea system is the key to improving a corporate culture.