The Problem with Asking for “Better” Ideas

I was talking to my colleague, Sonja, today and we were trying to figure out why we don’t like it when senior leadership complains that they have enough ideas, but they still need “better” ideas.

Putting aside the fact that oftentimes, executives can’t articulate what they mean exactly when they say “better,” we think that what really troubles us about this statement is that it passes the buck for innovation onto others and fundamentally misunderstands that innovation programs have a few different jobs at an organization beyond capturing great, ready-to-go ideas.

If you think all you need are better ideas in your innovation group, make sure that you’re seeing to these other innovation responsibilities, as well:

Investing In Your People. This means time, training, and listening. Ask yourself what percentage of your workforce has been trained in innovation and creativity. Have you taken the opportunity to conduct a design thinking workshop, perhaps? Have you given them the time and the freedom to get curious beyond the bounds of their own role? Some companies will even gain a snapshot of the innovation skills within their workforce and use that to direct what sorts of aptitudes to develop in hiring or training for the coming year. It’s amazing how much “better” the ideas in your program become when your team is educated, fluid, and excited about innovation.

Idea Nurture. Sonja reminded me that a lot of innovation work is actually about getting beyond “bad” ideas. Innovation programs are nurseries for concepts that might start out as fragments. Leaders need to find ways to ask the right questions, build connections between other fragments and turn fledgling concepts into full-blown products and offerings. Sometimes building out or connecting ideas is all it takes to find the next new disruptive movement.

Trend Watching. Even fragments and “bad” ideas will tell you a lot about what people care about. That information could drive the future of your business and tell you where you need to start assigning future efforts. Is everyone complaining that they have to fill out the same information in multiple places? Maybe you should start planning for a composable enterprise where all your software talks to one another. Is everyone talking about a competitor’s NEST integration? Maybe it’s time to start looking at how the internet of things plays into your business model.

Look Again. Finally, are you SURE that you need better ideas? Do you think you always know a good idea when you see it? Art and business lore is positively littered with geniuses and their ideas that were passed over by others… until they weren’t and then that changed everything. Don’t forget to take a second look at “bad ideas” and share those ideas with lots of other people to gain diversity of response and opinion. You might be surprised at what rises to the top on round two…

Also, if by “better” you mean “disruptive…” Well that’s like a whole other season of X-Files… but if you want an overview of what constitutes a disruptive idea, you can download our infographic on the subject.

This article was originally published on LinkedIn here.