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Weekly UpdatesEXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Sure, everyone wants to hit one out of the park with a solution that is so elegant, so profound that it stuns by virtue of its brilliance. But really, how often does that happen? And when it does, how long before the competitor picks up on it? There are many more benefits to be gained by gathering and implementing small ideas.
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Several years ago, we gave a talk to a group of business leaders about managing ideas. As we began to discuss the importance of small ideas, the CEO of a well-known computer equipment maker bluntly interrupted us.
"I think I speak for all of us when I ask you to talk about what we can do to get big ideas--the kind of blockbuster innovations that transform the terms of competition. That's what we're really interested in," he said.
Who doesn't love big, dramatic ideas? In fact, the bigger and sexier the ideas, the more we're drawn to them. So it's not surprising that when business leaders such as that well-meaning CEO think about promoting ideas, they envision going after the home runs--the super-sized breakthroughs that promise fame and fortune. Yet in their eagerness to strike gold, they aim for the wrong thing and overlook what will help them most--the small idea gems.
We recently completed one of the most extensive studies ever undertaken of best practice in managing employee ideas. We visited more than 150 companies in 17 countries. These organizations ranged in size from small family businesses to large multinational corporations. We compared the best idea systems in the world--those implementing 20, 50 and even 100 ideas per employee per year--with medium- and low-performing systems. The purpose was to document what works to promote idea generation, what doesn't, and why. One of the most surprising findings of the Ideas Are Free study was how high-performing companies focused on small ideas while low-performing companies tended to go after big ones.
Sustaining a competitive advantage
One of the most counterintuitive facts about small ideas is that they can actually provide a business with more sustainable competitive advantages than big ideas.
A few years ago, we were asked to help a well-known German automaker improve its idea system.
"It's so hard in our business today," a manager told us. "We're always looking for the next big idea, especially to cut costs. But before we can completely implement one idea, we are already behind and need to look for the next one. We work long hours, with no breathing space whatsoever. We're exhausted."
It became clear that despite their tireless efforts, managers couldn't seem to create much advantage that was sustainable. Major improvements were quickly countered by other automakers, evaporating any early advantages.
The problem, we soon discovered, was managers' belief that big ideas were the only way to get ahead. They were limiting their own success.
The bigger the ideas, the more likely competitors will copy or counter them. If new ideas affect the company's products or services, they're directly visible and often widely advertised. And even if they involve behind-the-scenes improvements--say, to a major system or process--they're often copied just as quickly. That's because big, internal initiatives typically require outside sources, such as suppliers, contractors, and consultants, who sell their products and services to other companies, too.
So no matter how hard our German colleagues worked to come up with big, cost-cutting ideas, they couldn't seem to develop a sustainable competitive advantage. While big ideas were essential to keeping up with the competition, they weren't sufficient for staying ahead.
Small ideas, on the other hand, are much less likely to migrate to competitors--and even if they do, they're often too specific to be useful. Consider what happened not long ago at the Vidette Times, a regional newspaper in Indiana.
Due to a supplier's strike, the pressroom ran out of newsprint late one night. Fortunately, a press operator was prepared with a backup plan--one he hoped he would not be forced to use. While the presses required newsprint rolls 45 inches in diameter, he managed to borrow some 47-inch rolls from a sister operation earlier that day.
The press operator's plan was to unroll thousands of feet of newsprint manually from the 47-inch rolls until they fit on the press--a real feat since each roll weighs several tons. He and a co-worker took the first roll to a press on a forklift truck. To their astonishment, the larger roll snugly slid into place! The press manufacturer's specification had been too conservative.
The discovery went on to save the newspaper thousands of dollars every year. It meant fewer roll changes and running far fewer setup copies to get the ink flowing after each change. Fewer roll changes also shaved a substantial amount of time off each night's press run.
A more important point, however, is that when the idea came up, the Vidette Times was in the midst of an intense circulation war with its biggest competitor. Had the newspaper come up with a new marketing or editorial idea, its archrival would have been in the know immediately. But how would the competitor learn about the switch to 47-inch rolls? Plus, even if it did get wind of the idea, it would be of no benefit since the rival had a different printing press.
Because most small ideas remain proprietary, large numbers of them can accumulate into a big, competitive advantage that is sustainable. That edge often means the difference between success and failure.
Consider Milliken & Co., a global fabric and specialty chemicals company It competes against textile manufacturers that operate in some of the poorest countries in the world, manufacturers that pay their workers less than one-twentieth of what Milliken pays. Many of the company's U.S. counterparts are struggling or have even gone out of business. Not Milliken.
Since textiles are a mature industry, every competitor has access to the same technology and equipment. So Milliken competes by out-managing its overseas rivals. The company's "Opportunity for Improvement" system brings in some 7,000 ideas from workers every day. Because most ideas are small, they're difficult or even impossible for competitors to copy. They amass into superior performance that Milliken has sustained for several decades.
Achieving performance excellence
Small ideas, besides remaining proprietary, enable organizations to pay extraordinary attention to detail. Excellence means getting the details right in all aspects of the business, from quality to service. Beyond a certain level, it's simply impossible to improve performance without getting lots of small ideas.
Consider Grapevine Canyon Ranch, a resort in the high desert of southeastern Arizona overlooking the former homelands of the great Apache chiefs Cochise and Geronimo. Guests come from all over the world to take pleasure in the unspoiled beauty of this historic desert. While they want an authentic experience, they also expect exceptional service. Because Grapevine pays extraordinary attention to every detail--thanks to hundreds of ideas from its workers--the resort delivers.
Every two weeks, Grapevine's owner, Eve Searle, has a meeting with all employees. Each one is expected to show up with one idea, no matter how small, that will improve some aspect of the ranch's operation. Some of the ideas have included:
* Put instructions and labels on the circuit breakers in the cook shack.
* Provide alcohol-free sparkling cider for non-drinkers on special occasions.
* Offer in-season fruit as a dessert alternative.
* Place a receptacle for cigarette butts by the swing.
* Paint the outdoor water faucets green and red to differentiate between drinking water and yard water.
* Install a kick plate on the door into the kitchen.
* Change the brochure directions for guests arriving from Ironwood.
* Put a step stool in the tour van.
* Have maintenance prevent the soap caddies in each shower from falling.
* Relocate the speed-limit sign so it won't be obstructed by the mesquite bush.
It's infeasible to achieve excellence in performance without such attention to detail. And it's workers, not managers, who most often spot the little things that add up to big success.
Small ideas lead to big things
Remember that well-intentioned CEO of the computer equipment company who was interested only in big ideas? Another reason he was so misguided is that even if all he had wanted were big ideas, the best way to get these is to pay attention to small ideas. Most big ideas start off small. Small ideas are the germs of bigger ones.
That's because big problems and opportunities frequently manifest themselves through a host of smaller signs or symptoms, each one of which might be seen by different people in different places at different times. So what might seem to be a small idea could in fact be addressing a single facet of a much larger issue.
Consider a small idea from a worker at Monrovia, one of the country's largest wholesale nurseries.
Much of the work at Monrovia involves transplanting plants into increasingly larger pots to support their growth--a process known as canning. The soil, which is specially formulated for each kind of plant, is kept in huge piles outside the canning shed.
Whenever it rained, the canning job became extremely unpleasant. The soil contained a healthy dose of manure, which, when wet, turns acidic and noxious. Not only did the wet soil smell awful, it collected under workers' fingernails and irritated their skin. Moreover, it was very heavy, sticky, and acidic, causing workers' hands to hurt in a few short hours.
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