While the idea that human’s only use 10% of their has been proven to be a myth, there is certainly evidence that many companies are not using anywhere close to 100% of their collective employee brainpower.
What are the signs that the cumulative brainpower of the employee base is not being fully utilized?
Execs dream up the features and assign to teams to deliver
The product development org focuses on delivery vs impact
People have big ideas but aren’t sure how to get traction
In my recent conversation with Aaron Smith, we talked about what this situation looks and feels like inside an organization:
You just get this feeling of optimism when you know that it’s a marketplace of great ideas
We then talked about the various rituals companies utilize to create a marketplace of ideas, such as hackathons.
But the challenge with hackathons is that it’s not a sustained part of the normal operating rituals of a product development organization. So how do you bottle up that energy but use it to get actual results? One idea we talk about from our Amazon days is the concept of “multiple paths to yes”, because you have to create checks and balances against the hierarchical nature of most organizations.
And if folks can see a “path to production”, the innovation flywheel can get going without the need for constant intervention.
Over the course of the discussion, Aaron and I also dive into a variety of other angles based on a recent article he published:
the role of managers and executives in steering, guiding and stalling innovation
the 10-week DAGathon concept Aaron introduced at GrubHub to spur ideas
customer experience loops as a way for leaders to stay close to the end-user
