Crushing dreams

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It's spooky how you can read my mind: I was thinking last night about suggestion programs and their failures to get ideas implemented. I've lived through 2 major pushes so far, and they both suffered from similar maladies. Here are the typical process steps:

Step 1: Company runs through tough times and upper management sends out the "cry for help" - "Send in your suggestions!".
Step 2: Tepid response only brings suggestions that are front-burner issues (passionate tech. leaders respond first).
Step 3: Certain suggestions are adopted (in principle) and the workers are given cudos (including ca$h and notoriety).
Step 4: Now popular suggestion program gets an avelanche of submissions (usually from less-qualified workers doing the "me-too").
Step 5: New processes (*JAWS) and personnel are assigned to handle the mountain of (questionable) suggestions.
Step 6: With a mountain of suggestions to wade through and rising costs for managing it, management changes tack. NOW the WORKER is made responsible for implementation of his/her suggestions.
Step 7: Participation plunges to new lows - and management is relieved that less work is forthcomming.
Step 8: What suggestion program?

*JAWS is the misperception that creating a (boring-@ss) website is ALL you need to do for wide dissemination of data to the masses. Kind of a fire-and-forget communications protocol. Just Another Web Site . . .; Posted by: Roger Ramjet Posted on: 01/18/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use