The Idea-Driven Organization: Unlocking the Power in Bottom-Up Ideas
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Overview
"Examples from all over the world make it fun to read . . . convincingly demonstrate[s] the power of incorporating frontline thinking into your organization." —Marshall Goldsmith, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Triggers
Too many organizations overlook, or even suppress, their single most powerful source of growth and innovation—and it’s right under their noses. The frontline employees who interact directly with your customers, make your products, and provide your services have unparalleled insights into where problems exist and what improvements and new offerings would have the most impact.
In this follow-up to their bestseller Ideas Are Free, Alan G. Robinson and Dean M. Schroeder show how to align every part of an organization around generating and implementing employee ideas and offer dozens of examples of what a tremendous competitive advantage this can offer—not just for revenue but for worker retention. Their advice enables leaders to build organizations capable of implementing twenty, fifty, or even a hundred ideas per employee per year.
Citing organizations from around the world, they explain what’s needed to put together a management team that embraces grassroots ideas and describe the strategies, policies, and practices that enable them. They detail exactly how high-performing idea processes work and how to design one for your organization.
There’s pressure today to do more with less. But cutting wages and benefits and pushing people to work harder with fewer resources can go only so far. Ironically, the best solution resides with the very people who’ve been bearing the brunt of these measures. With this book, you can unleash a constant stream of great ideas that will strengthen every facet of your organization.
“As leaders, we need to create an environment that effectively draws employee ideas out and empowers implementation. The Idea-Driven Organization provides a practical map on how to get there.” —Jeff Nagel, CEO, NBTY Inc.
“Robinson and Schroeder . . . show us how the ideas generated by the knowledge and creativity of frontline employees can help any organization, large or small, public or private, become more efficient, more productive, more innovative. I say let the revolution begin!” —Stan Rosenberg, Massachusetts Senate Majority Leader
“All outcomes measures are influenced by one critical factor: the number of employee ideas implemented by the frontline employees themselves. Alan Robinson and Dean Schroeder present research findings in many companies and industries that clearly confirm this but also explain how great leaders make it happen.” —John Toussaint, former CEO, ThedaCare
“The idea-driven organization is one that steadfastly listens to its people to ensure the organization remains safe, responsible, productive, and continuously improving. Robinson and Schroeder provide an insightful guide for leaders who are vested in engaging the minds of their frontline employees.” —Kevin S. Crutchfield, Chairman and CEO, Alpha Natural Resources
“No one has captured the rationale and how-tos for achieving business results through frontline involvement as elegantly and convincingly as Schroeder and Robinson have. Learning how to unleash the significant power of ideas is quite possibly the most important leadership skill needed today.” —Karen Martin, author of The Outstanding Organization
“The Idea-Driven Organization does not focus on some consultant-created magic formula but offers practical concepts for promoting employee ideas that you can read and implement on your own. This book is indispensable for any leader who wants to truly engage his or her employees.” —Corey Rosen, PhD, founder and former Executive Director, National Center for Employee Ownership
“An exciting book that makes a compelling case for a simple but very powerful concept—business leaders who learn how to leverage the know-how and ideas of their frontline people will have a major winning edge because most of their competitors either don’t get it or don’t know how to do it.” —Lee Bolman, coauthor of Reframing Organizations
“We’re at the end of the age of being able to do more with less based on tired old management models and thinking. To thrive in the new era, organizations will need to be idea driven. Fortunately, Robinson and Schroeder have written a must-read guide for leaders looking to make this transformation.” —Chip R. Bell, coauthor of Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service
"Required reading in an increasingly globalized and competitive world." —Dean Cycon, founder and CEO, Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee Company
“Robinson and Schroeder have learned from experience the power of people at the front line of the organization actively identifying and solving problems. Building on their previous book, Ideas Are Free, they tell us how to create an environment to encourage the free flow of ideas to become a high performing organization.” —Jeffrey K. Liker, PhD, Professor, University of Michigan
“The authors lay out a superb blueprint, with lots of tools and examples, for creating an idea-driven organization. This is one of those rare must-read books.” —John Spence, author of Awesomely Simple
- Title: The Idea-Driven Organization: Unlocking the Power in Bottom-Up Ideas
- Authors: Alan Robinson, Dean M Schroeder
- Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Pages: 212
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781626561250, 9781523088706, 1523088702, 1626561257
- Resource ID: LLS:9781626561250
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2026-05-10T00:54:42Z
Alan G. Robinson is professor of operations and information management at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Robinson has advised more than 300 companies in twenty-five countries, including the Federal Reserve Bank, General Electric, Kraft, the government of Singapore, IKEA, the US Navy, the Washington Post, and Heineken..
Dean M. Schroeder is the Herbert and Agnes Schulz Professor of Management at Valparaiso University and has taught at the University of Massachusetts, St. Petersburg Technical University in Russia, and ALBA in Greece.