The management of ideas is, in many organisations, large and small, a huge untapped or poorly underutilised resource. Yet ideas are the prime source of improvement and innovation.

Employees see problems and opportunities every day in their immediate work areas that their managers do not. They know better than anyone all the ways to improve their workplaces and get rid of waste, however they are rarely asked. When employees are not given the opportunity to be heard and the time to implement their ideas, they lose faith in management and are thus not fully engaged in their work.

The foundation of a good idea system is based on the realisation that there is far more capability/capacity in our people than is actually being harnessed. The essence of the Lean Philosophy is developing within each employee an improvement seeking and waste elimination mindset. If everyone even improved their job 0.1% every day that adds up to almost a 25% improvement per employee year on year. That equates to a colossal competitive advantage over time and competitors cannot copy these compounded small improvements.