A worker in one of Europe's largest wireless communication companies stumbled across an error in his company's billing software, fixed it, and saved the company some $26 million per year. A secretary at Grapevine Canyon Ranch proposed a simple change to the company's website that brought the site to the top of search engine listings. A guard at the Massachusetts Department of Correction saved the prison system $56,000 a year by suggesting the use of digital cameras instead of film to process new inmates. From simple ideas for saving time, effort, and money, to entirely new ways of doing business, front-line employees see a great many opportunities in their day-to-day work that their managers don't. Drawing on extensive research and experience in more than 300 organizations around the world-and including numerous illustrative examples-Alan Robinson and Dean Schroeder show precisely how to take advantage of the virtually free, perpetually renewable resource of employee ideas. Ideas Are Free shows managers how to tap all the ideas their employees have and gain significant advantage over their competitors.
"Ideas Are Free is a refreshingly insightful book that managers at all levels should read". -Donald V. Fites, former CEO, Caterpillar, Inc. "Ideas Are Free [is] a clear and concise prescription for turning an organization into an idea machine. ... it will inspire any manager who believes, as I do, that only the innovative thrive!" -Jeff Taylor, Founder and Chief Monster, Monster.com "Ideas Are Free shows how a good idea has no bounds and how pursuing such ideas is the essence of everyone's job today. Robinson and Schroeder outline a workable plan for tapping into this unlimited resource and harnessing its potential. Believe it: Small ideas can yield big results!" -Bob Nelson, Ph.D., bestselling author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees and 1001 Ways to Take Initiative at Work