Ideas Are Free: How the Idea Revolution is Liberating People and Transforming Organizations

The fact is, because they're the ones actually doing the day-to-day work front-line employees see a great many problems and opportunities that their managers don't. But most organizations do very poorly at tapping into this extraordinary potential source of revenue-enhancing, savings-generating ideas. Ideas Are Free sets out a roadmap for totally integrating ideas and idea management into the way companies are structured and operate. Alan Robinson and Dean Schroeder draw on their ten years experience with more than three hundred organizations in fifteen countries to show precisely how to design a system to take advantage of this virtually free, perpetually renewing font of innovation. Robinson and Schroeder deal with two fundamental principles of managing ideas that are highly counterintuitive - the importance of going after small ideas rather than big ones, and the problems with the most common reward schemes and how to avoid them. They describe how to make ideas part of everyone's job, and how to set up and run an effective process for handling ideas-how to take a good idea system and make it great. And they show how good idea systems have a profound impact on an organization's culture. At the end of each chapter they provide "Guerrilla Tactics for the Idea Revolutionary", actions to promote ideas that any manager can take on his or her own authority, and that require little or no resources.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments CHAPTER 1 THE IDEA REVOLUTION What’s in an Idea? How Ideas Drive a Culture of High Performance The Need for Managerial Humility Why Organizations Never Run Out of Improvement Opportunities Overview of the Book’s Main Points Conclusion CHAPTER 2 THE POWER OF SMALL IDEAS Excellence Depends on Small Ideas Small Ideas and Rapid Organizational Learning Sustainable Competitive Advantage How Small Ideas Lead to Big Ones The True Currency of Managing Ideas Key Points CHAPTER 3 THE PITFALLS OF REWARDS Some Inconvenient Evidence Why Do People Step Forward with Ideas? The Invisible Costs of Rewards Reward Systems That Work Key Points CHAPTER 4 MAKING IDEAS EVERYONE’S JOB “It’s Not Your Job to Think” Making Ideas Part of Employees’ Work Making Ideas Part of the Work of Supervisors Making Ideas Part of the Work of Middle Managers Making Ideas Part of the Work of Senior Leaders Making Ideas Part of the Organization’s Work Key Points CHAPTER 5 PUTTING THE PROCESS IN PLACE Characteristic 1: Ideas Are Encouraged and Welcomed Characteristic 2: Submitting Ideas Is Simple Characteristic 3: Evaluation of Ideas Is Quick and Effective Characteristic 4: Feedback Is Timely, Constructive, and Informative Characteristic 5: Implementation Is Rapid and Smooth Characteristic 6: Ideas Are Reviewed for Additional Potential Characteristic 7: People Are Recognized, and Success Is Celebrated Characteristic 8: Idea System Performance Is Measured, Reviewed, and Improved Key Points CHAPTER 6 FOCUSING ON WHAT MATTERS MOST Choosing What to Focus On Making Focus a Way of Life Key Points CHAPTER 7 GETTING MORE AND BETTER IDEAS How People Come Up with Ideas Idea Activators How to Broaden Employees’ Perspectives Improving Alertness to Problems and Opportunities Key Points CHAPTER 8 LIBERATION AND TRANSFORMATION Ideas and Attitudes Ideas and Respect, Trust, and Involvement Ideas and Interpersonal Relations How Ideas Counter Learned Helplessness Ideas and a High-Performance Culture Parting Thoughts Key Points Notes Index About the Authors

About the Author :
Alan G. Robinson is coauthor of the bestseller Corporate Creativity and teaches at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts. Dean M. Schroeder is currently the Herbert and Agnes Schulz Professor at the College of Business Administration at Valparaiso University.

Review :
“In [this] groundbreaking book.... Robinson and Schroeder have a message for today’s overburdened, stressed-out managers and supervisors: the solution to your problems is closer than you realize—it lies within the people who work for you.” —The American Management Association (AMA) “One of the thirty best business books of the year.” —Soundview Executive Book Summaries “Ideas Are Free is the definitive book on getting—and applying— business-transforming ideas from frontline employees.” —Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) “Ideas Are Free shows how a good idea has no bounds and how pursuing such ideas is the essence of everyone’s job today. Robinson and Schroeder outline a workable plan for tapping into this unlimited re- source and harnessing its potential.” —Bob Nelson, PhD, bestselling author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees and 1001 Ways to Take Initiative at Work “Ideas Are Free is a must-read for every manager. Robinson and Schroeder provide an invaluable blueprint of how to unlock one of the great assets that is frequently untapped in business—employee ideas.” —Richard A. Goldstein, Chairman and CEO, International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc. “This is the quintessential book on how to foster and leverage free ideas from employees. It’s a must-read for any project manager responsible for delivering programs designed to increase sales, increase productivity, increase customer satisfaction, and increase company employee morale. Read it today. Use it tomorrow.” —Brand Autopsy “Ideas Are Free is a refreshingly insightful book that managers at all levels should read. It spells out how to take advantage of your most valuable asset—the combined intellectual capital of all of your people.” —Donald V. Fites, Former Chairman and CEO, Caterpillar, Inc. “Ideas Are Free sets out a roadmap for totally integrating ideas and idea management into the way companies are structured and operate. Robinson and Schroeder show how to take advantage of this virtually free, perpetually renewing font of innovation.” —Society of Manufacturing Engineers “Wherever you sit in the hierarchy, read Ideas Are Free to seize powerful ideas about potential gains for your organization’s progress and prosperity.” —Lead Well Institute “Ideas Are Free does a terrific job of capturing the extraordinary benefits of effective ‘idea generation processes’ that unleash the total people power of any organization that strives for excellence.” —Tom Malone, President and COO, Milliken & Company (Winner of both the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the European Quality Award) “You have an opportunity to make major improvements in your business by following the basic guidelines set forth in this book. I rate this book 51⁄2 stars, a first in this category. It’s that powerful. (Only the Bible and the Constitution receive 6 stars.)” —Paul Tulenko, PhD, Syndicated Small Business Columnist, Scripps- Howard “Throw out employee suggestion boxes (they don’t work – and never have). Think twice about dangling monetary rewards to workers whose ideas save the company money (the pitfalls are numerous; moreover, it’s not necessary). These are just two of the surprising yet well- documented messages in Ideas Are Free...” —American Way, American Airlines’ in-flight magazine