Page 39 - Free the Idea Monkey

THE WORKPLACE GETS BETTER

Think about the last truly spectacular idea person that left your

organization. Remember what they said when they left? If your expe-

rience is the same as mine, they said something like, “I have this really

exciting opportunity to work on (widgets) Personal Payoff
that I just can’t pass up.” If you lead an

innovative department or company, your Innovation is typically
job is to attract and retain Idea Monkeys on the radar of the CEO.
because you will notice a meaningful dif- So, to mix a metaphor,
ference the moment they are gone. if you want to be under
the spotlight, take on a
How do you keep them? major innovation initia-
Research tells us that working on: tive. It will bring out the
A. something meaningful, best in you and get you
B. in a lower stress environment, immediately rewarded
C. with a reward system that makes for performance.

sense, are all keys to attracting and

retaining the best employees. These three

criteria for A-Player employee attraction

and retention are quite obviously linked

through innovation. So being innova-

tion-focused naturally drives a better

culture while attracting and keeping

brilliant, creative minds engaged. Here’s

how: successful innovation is intrinsically meaningful. Said differ-

ently, you have to be solving a significant need in order to have new

product (or service) success. The happiest employees want to work

on something meaningful. They naturally gravitate toward innova-

tion assignments.

You can smell a culture. Walk into any office and, in seconds,

you will know whether something fun or insidious is cooking. That’s

why I am always thrilled when people Hmm...
say, “This feels like a really fun place to Innovation is the
work,” within the first few minutes of a highest indicator
tour. (The fact that they are taking the of future profitability.
tour on a Segway might have something

to do with it.)

24 MEET THE IDEA MONKEY