Advancing Innovation

CHAPTER 7Business Challenges

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

—General George Patton

Whereas the open submission channel provided no limitations as to what employees could submit, this channel should be very prescriptive in approach. Creating a business challenge channel simply formalizes the way in which you ask employees or teams of employees to solve business problems. Yes, employees should be solving problems and business challenges every day, and they do. But many times, some of these problems cross divisions or departments, have multiple implications, or require multiple people to solve or implement a solution. They can also simply be a problem that needs to be solved quickly, and you want to ideate solutions quickly to improve the business.

Don’t underestimate the competitive spirit of employees and the fun and creativity that can be unleashed when you have a contest or challenge for them to engage. Consider General Patton’s quote above: Give people a problem to solve, and stand back and let them solve it. You may get spectacular results! I’ve seen the results of this channel firsthand. It can be contagious in driving more employees to solve problems!

SUGGESTIONS FOR ESTABLISHING A BUSINESS CHALLENGE CHANNEL

Setting up a business challenge channel is fairly straightforward. Pose a business problem to employees. Supply them with parameters and data associated with the problem. Then stand back and ...