Category: From the Book

Overview:
These posts translate the core concepts from Ideas to Action: Unlock your organization’s hidden genius to ignite innovation and accelerate results into practical guidance leaders can apply immediately. The focus is simple: how to activate employee-powered innovation without slowing execution or creating “engagement theater.”

What you’ll learn from these book inspired blog posts:

How to move from collecting ideas to turning ideas into measurable results
Leadership behaviors that shift people from participation to ownership
Why speed and simplicity matter at the frontlines
Common leadership missteps that quietly kill employee-powered innovation
How to run focused sprints using the Ideas-to-Action Process™ that produce real outcomes without bureaucracy

Start with the posts that explain the Ideas-to-Action Process™ and the leadership moves that make it work.

Overwhelmed by Transformation? Start Small, Start Now, Start with Your People

Feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of a major change? Learn how clearing the clutter at my newly acquired lakefront cabin—both literally and metaphorically—reinforced a powerful leadership lesson about starting where the energy is, and empowering effective action.

More is More: An Undefeated Season and the Power of Starting Where the Energy Is

What does an undefeated college football team have to do with employee-powered innovation? Discover the surprising connection and a powerful leadership lesson from Coach McPhee.

Don’t Start with Complexity: The Simple Secret to Employee-Powered Innovation

Want to unlock continuous improvement and ignite innovation? Forget complex systems as the starting point. Discover the power of “Starting Where the Energy Is,” a surprisingly simple principle for tapping into your employees’ existing knowledge and passion.

A Leader’s Leap of Faith: Why Steve Preston Believes in the Power of Employee Ideas

In a world increasingly focused on automation and top-down control, where frontline workers are increasingly devalued, former SBA Administrator and current Goodwill CEO Steve Preston champions a different approach: effectively empowering frontline employees. Discover why he believes a “leap of faith” in your workforce is essential for success.

The Lake, the Leap, and the Lesson: Why Trusting Potential Matters

During the pandemic, I faced a leap-of-faith decision: buying a lake property sight unseen. This personal experience reminded me of a powerful lesson about leadership outlined in my book, Ideas to Action. Discover the connection between a ramshackle cabin and employee-powered innovation.

The Sweet Spot of Change: Where Top-Down Direction Meets Bottom-Up Empowerment

Are top-down mandates and endless surveys failing to drive real change? Discover how to achieve the sweet spot of change by combining
clear leadership direction with employee-powered innovation.

Stop the Change Initiative Treadmill by Unlocking Your Most Underutilized Asset

Discover how to tap into your employees’ knowledge and empower them to drive innovation and accelerate results with the new book, Ideas to Action.