Blog Archives

Still looking to learn and grow on your innovation and improvement journey in 2025? Although we’re already blasting off into Q2, here are 9 handpicked innovation conferences still happening in 2025 to help you and your team more effectively harness employee creativity and build more robust internal innovation ecosystems. 2025 Innovators Summit (5/2025, Chicago) The 2025 Innovators Summit in Chicago is designed for professionals seeking to accelerate their organization’s innovation

The most common reason that companies we talk to don’t move forward with an employee ideas program is centered around “we have other critical projects and priorities” to implement over the next 6 – 12 months.  What this really means 90% of the time is that leadership perceives the ROI of these other projects and initiatives to be higher than implementing an employee ideas program. Today, we’re sharing several heavy-hitting

One of the most common issues that comes from running Hackathons, Innovation Challenges, or crowdsourcing ideas is that there are more ideas that potentially have a positive ROI than you can possibly pursue. But what if you could increase your organization’s capacity to validate and test new ideas and ultimately better prioritize the ones with the most promise? Meet Adobe’s Kickbox Program – An initiative that was designed to democratize

Challenges 20% Time Encountered As Google Scaled and Went Public  Although Google’s 20% Time Program produced massive ROI for the organization, it was never a formalized policy that was included in employee handbooks or actual company documentation.  As the company scaled and went public, quarterly earnings and a short-term focus started to conflict with the cultural mindset and norms of allowing employees 20% of their time to work on side

ROI is how you justify your programs existence, yet only 39% of organizations actually track their programs impact.

Toyota is the poster child for employee idea programs—you could say they were one of the pioneers who brought the practice mainstream, launching their system in 1951 as a core part of the “Kaizen” movement. Their employee suggestion program, formally called the “Creative Idea Suggestion System”, has been highly effective in driving both cost savings and cultural engagement. Over the decades, it has generated billions of dollars in value and

Since an employee ideas program is a large scale initiative that potentially involves every member of your organization, there are many senior stakeholders that you need to get and maintain buy-in from. This can be great, but oftentimes needing to incorporate feedback from so many different people causes unintended consequences that set your program up for failure in the long-term. Here are the six most common mistakes we see organizations

At Ideawake, one of the most common questions we get from customers and leads is whether to include incentives for participation in their employee idea programs.  Although our response is always a resounding “yes,” from a best practice perspective, only ~50% of the organizations we work with elect to include incentives. This is for a variety of reasons, but they normally fall into one of three categories:  Although these are

In the ever-evolving landscape of business, the concept of continuous improvement has emerged as a cornerstone of success for companies across industries. At its core, continuous improvement is a philosophy that encourages organizations to constantly evaluate and refine their processes, products, and services to enhance efficiency, quality, and innovation. However, implementing and sustaining a culture of continuous improvement requires more than just good intentions – it demands effective tools and

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, innovation isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a necessity for survival. Companies that fail to innovate risk falling behind their competitors and missing out on opportunities for growth. But in a world where time is of the essence, how can organizations foster innovation efficiently and effectively? The answer lies in embracing technology-driven solutions like online suggestion boxes, with Ideawake’s Idea Management Software leading the charge.