Some questions I have going through my head today:
- How should an organization reward innovation?
- Should there be a direct compensation for implementing innovative ideas, or should any rewards be indirect?
- Should an organization reward innovation, or just make it part of normal work expectations?
Here are some ideas I found about this on the web:
- An article at Innovation Excellence about how different types of rewards (intrinsic vs. extrinsic) create different types of motivation.
- A NYT article from a couple years ago discussing rewarding outcomes instead of funding development--a little different than what I am talking about.
- Some lessons learned from startups are at Inc.
This is something my day job struggles with. They are pushing innovation hard in an effort to stay relevant and increase sales. However, there is little incentive to innovate. The few new products I built for them have languished and, as a result, I lost my motivation to feed them any more innovative ideas.
I guess that shows how I want to be rewarded for innovation. I want management to embrace and use my innovation. Don't ignore it. Help it grow.