Idea Management and the Olympic Theme
Welcome to Vancouver: Citius, altius, fortius
The 'faster, higher, stronger' mantra of olympic competition is unforgiving. Not 'may be ready' or 'could be ready' .... no, the operative words are 'must be ready to perform'!
The challenge has always been there to improve ... our skills, our attitude, our service delivery system, our portfolio of offerings. Time makes yersterday's management skills insufficient for tomorrow's success. The uncertain future requires leadership, and so we must look 'upwards and onwards' to find ways of developing these new skills.
Yet today this mantra of the olympic games is seriously being questioned in light of all the doping scandals. These lofty goals are being hotly discussed and debated, especially in sports clubs around the world.
The 'faster, higher, stronger' mantra was created with the commercialization of sports and the rescinding of the required amateur status of olympic athletes in 1981. The actual motto was: participation is more important than winning! The youth of the world shall gather. The olympic charter states: Decry any form of discrimination; instead promote respect, fair play, friendship and solidarity.
The original olympic ideal contained an holistic view in the understanding of mankind. The paralympic sports demonstrate that principle very well. Order, consequences, fairness, performance and fun ... body, mind and soul in harmony. Striving for performance is good, but it must be shown in a responsible fashion. Fairness, cultural understanding, goal readiness, promotion of cultural exchange ... these values need to be back in the spotlight. The olympic games are not 'world championships' .... they are something special and this needs to be stressed again.
It is easy to say and write such words, but I must be honest and confess my split feelings here. The bar must always be set high and not everyone will be able to jump over it. Examples must always be the peak performers, whether in sports or business.
And what, dear readers, does this have to do with PiT-Stop?
Higher, faster, stronger means:
- more ideas (suggestion rate)
- from more employees (participation rate)
- with greater potential (implementation rate)
- and more monetary benefits (benefits rate)
All PiT-Stop weeks show clearly and demonstrably that the 4 above-mentioned important key indicators are not only exceeded, but that the following targets are also met:
- 3 ideas per employee per 20 minute interview
- 100% participation
- $100,000 to $200,000 benefit potential per interview day
- 50% of the ideas have implementation dates set
- immediate problem solving through facilitated teamwork
... ROI ... the Hard Facts
At the same time, the so-called Soft Facts are also achieved:
- employee involvement and engagement
- qualification, recognition and team competence
- effective coaching
- joy of innovation
- facilitator certification
PiT-Stop also talks to the original olympic ideals that value people:
- being respected and taken seriously
- everyone takes part
- all problems are important
- dialogue where the problems occur
In summary:
- people, process, profits
- transforming ideas into reality ... innovation can come from anywhere
- a dollar saved is worth 10 dollars earned
PiT-Stop closes the knowledge - doing gap !
Bernie Sander
President, IT Innovation Transfer Inc.
bsander@innovationtransfer.com
www.innovationtransfer.com
www.pit-stop24.com
© IT Innovation Transfer Inc. 2010
Bio:
Bernie Sander is an international consultant, author and workshop leader. He lives in Ottawa, Canada and travels the world working with Fortune 500 organizations. He has international expertise in suggestion system design and implementation, continuous improvement processes, group facilitation and problem solving, strategic planning, recognition architectures and idea management processes. He is President of his own consulting firm, Innovation Transfer, serves on the education faculty of several international organizations and is author of the books, "A Wake-Up Call for Idea Champions" , “On Idea Management” and “PiT-Stop – Problem Finding and Problem Solving in Teams”, all best practice thinking in the field of managing employee ideas. Bernie served as a past President of the North American Employee Involvement Association and speaks at many international conferences annually.