Listen to your staff, grow your company

Great article in the NYT yesterday about creativity and innovation in the workplace.  The idea is to create a culture where everyone in the organization is encouraged to think of ways to improve things-- make customers happier, deliver services at a lower cost, outflank the competition-- all that good stuff.

Tim O'Riley of O'Riley Media sums it up nicely:

"[create an ] Architecture of participation. That is...make it easy, interesting and rewarding for a wide range of contributors to offer ideas, solve problems and improve products..."

Yes, you could put a suggestion box on the wall in the lunchroom.  Or you could send an email to everyone in the firm asking for their ideas...

..but don't expect any results.  Proper execution of this (and most) good ideas requires a little planning, effort and persistence.  A mass-email won't foster a new culture in your business, but a simple plan just might.

Take a look at the the full article (free login required)