Seriously.  If you are at or near the top of the food chain in your organization, this is one of those perplexing questions that can have you staring at the ceiling at two in the morning, asking yourself, "Yeah, how do insights and ideas turn into actions in our business?"  and "Who is really responsible for new ideas here?" 

This is a particularly bothersome issue if you are thinking in terms of strategy and wanting to make certain that profound insights and ideas gained in the market are turned into actions that create value for your stakeholders. 

We’ve all seen various incarnations of the attempt to routinize new idea capture.  The ubiquitous "Suggestion Box" approach is one informal style.  Jot down a thought, stuff it in a box and someone somewhere decides the idea’s fate.  Unfortunately, Suggestion Boxes are lint-traps for all issues, and if you’re lucky, a good idea might show up in line right behind "we need a larger variety of granola bars in the vending machine," and " more children’s games at the annual picnic."

Another approach to capturing new ideas is to define a process, develop forms and establish a person or group responsible for idea capture, evaluation and recommendation. A client that I worked with on strategy formulation was concerned about refreshing the program with new ideas and they established a formal process and the supporting forms for ideas to funnel through.  This firm is small enough (for now) that it is unlikely that ideas will go unheard, but they are planning ahead.  Given their circumstances this is a good start.  It certainly sends a message to employees that new ideas are welcome and will be taken seriously.

In many organizations, especially those in the tech spaces, new ideas are largely the domain of Product Management, Marketing and even Development professionals.  Product Management and Marketing traditionally are responsible to the firm for identifying needs, developing requirements and creating investment plans.  A well-attuned Product Manager can truly be priceless to a firm’s idea development process, and good supporting "marketing systems’ can facilitate the development of an idea into an important revenue-generating offering.  This is good, table-stakes management.

The Prolific Idea Factories I’ve Observed All Have Healthy Leadership Cultures

The firms that I’ve observed that seem to constantly have an idea-pool full of choices and a relentless focus on turning ideas into actions are those that also appear to have healthy leadership cultures.  The leaders in these organizations recognize that their principal role is to support and encourage versus police and penalize.  Experimentation is encouraged, risk-taking expected and failure met with a focus on identifying and applying lessons learned.  Of course, success is highly regarded and celebrated, and the legends that define the firm’s history and are regularly retold tend to be about individuals and teams that had the courage to turn a thought or insight into something that momentarily revolutionized the firm.

The leaders in these "idea factories" also intuitively grasp the concept that they are responsible for creating an effective working environment where toxicity is minimized and respect for others is a core part of the value system.  A related characteristic includes a communications culture where people can raise and debate tough issues without fear of repercussion.

The bottom-line:

As a leader, you should be critically concerned about where ideas come from and how they go from insights to actions.  This process of value creation is fundamental to a firm’s growth and at its core it is a very organic process.   And like any other organic process, create the right environment and things tend to flourish.  Take a close look at your leadership culture and the working environment that it has created, and if it looks, feels and smells like one that supports an idea factory, then go ahead and close your eyes and get a good night’s sleep.  For now.