Published Success Magazine, August 10, 2009

When generating new business ideas, should I reach out to all associates to utilize my entire talent pool?

Good ideas can come from anywhere—sometimes from the people you least expect. If you want passionate, committed people who are excited to contribute to your vision, enroll them in the process of generating ideas. Not only will they feel they have a stake in the company direction, they will also be creatively energized as they share and refine ideas.

Be certain to give clear guidelines for submitting suggestions from the beginning. Be specific about what you are looking for and why. Everyone has an opinion about how business should be run, so ask for specific feedback about what could be even better. And remind them to be solution-focused. Everyone will have suggestions to share, so respect each one and honor the contributors while communicating that not every suggestion will be immediately (or ever!) implemented.

Your team will be especially eager to share great insights when you offer rewards and incentives for the implemented idea that generates the greatest results for the company. Once all ideas are collected, remind everyone that there is a time and place for idea generation and a time and place for implementing those ideas. So once you’ve decided on a direction, commit to it and archive the other ideas for possible future use. Have the core team filter through and distill all ideas into the most effective ones for final consideration. Then make the final decision in accordance with the organization’s values, purpose and mission.

Fresh ideas keep an organization actively moving forward!