Dark Ditch or Smart Pitch

Fear erodes innovation and creativity. Forced choices are only good for getting people to work, not for expecting them to think radically. And without radical thoughts and dissensions without fear, innovation is a distant dream.
An environment that is tempered with fear always stops people for expressing and even if they know that their organization is going the wrong way, they simply keep quiet because they are unsure of the consequences. In an effort to stop their 'boss' falling in a ditch, they may be hurried into the same ditch for speaking their mind. How can one expect people to think creatively in such choked-up environments.
In Microsoft corporation two employees actually wrote memo to Bill Gates telling him that he was wrong on going-on with the strategy of set-top boxes and satellite TV and that the company should instead invest in Internet, which is going to be the next big thing. Bill Gates later called for a meeting and revised the entire strategy. In how many organizations such environments can prevail? Voluntary involvement is at the heart of engagement.
But then, every company has a choice whether to be the Microsoft, Google, Apple of the world or to be a back-office Sweatshop. So choose your way but if you choose the latter then for god's sake stop chanting innovation just because you heard that from somewhere else.

What an Idea!

Microsoft has launched an internal drive, called Garage, asking its staff to come out with unique ideas that could make life of women easier and simpler.  Employees have been encouraged under this initiative to develop mobile apps exclusively for women. Teams, each comprising 2-3 employees, comes out with ideas that could be converted later into solutions – both standalone and those that could be intertwined into the enterprise applications. Shopping App, Immunization Tracker (that helps smart mothers keep track of their kid’s vaccination schedule) are some of the new apps on the horizon.

Engagement of employee through formation of ideation and innovation drives in the organization is one of the best forms of engagement. The sense of fulfillment and of contributing much more then one’s own work in a creative way has far-reaching consequences, both for the employee and the organization. Google developed many of its classic products, like Google News, in the same way. At a time when some companies in US are attracting new employees by encouraging them to become entrepreneurs and also proposing to fund their projects in future, innovation-involvement may be a good way to engage with the employees.

The catch is however that if culture of innovation does not prevail in a company, such engagement is next to impossible.