WorldWide Drilling Resource

The Un-Comfort Zone II by Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. Bottom-Up Innovation Starts with Top-Down Commitment A few weeks ago, my son shared a story with me that was just the sort of case study I was seeking for an article on bottom-up innovation. As it turned out, Contributing Writer Britt Storkson related the same toothpaste factory story on page 39 of the January 2018 issue of WWDR . The conclusion to the story was obvious: If the company had consulted the factory line workers first, they could have saved millions of dollars. A consultant’s motivation may be to make more money from a complex solution. A commonsense solution, a low-tech “simple solution” is more likely to come from someone who is closer to the problem on a daily basis. The question is, how do companies go about getting ideas from their everyday employees? First, I want to note I diligently sought the origin of the story and the name of the toothpaste company, but all I could dig up was Snopes reporting it as a legend. Nevertheless, it still depicts realism because there are many stories like it. Sometimes the downline suggestion or idea is appreciated, but many times it isn’t. Here’s one reported on Reddit.com in 2014 by kaosChild: “I worked at an aluminum products company while I was a stu- dent, on part of a machine production line. The machines jam fairly frequently and, in order to stop it on this particular day, I found a way to [fasten] a 4"x4" piece of cardboard to a belt that made the machine run perfectly. My supervisor came after several hours and got mad at me when she saw the mod (modification) and took it out. The machine promptly went back to jamming every three minutes, but policy was that people can't do that sort of thing. I understand some people might come up with bad mod ideas, but when the machine jams, it spits out aluminum shards that do occasionally end up in the product. My production went down, my quality went down, the amount of unjamming I had to do went up.” Here are two stories where the ideas were valued: the Swan Vesta match company was looking for a way to save money, when a frontline employee suggested they remove the striker strip from one side of the matchbox. The idea was implemented and millions of dollars were saved. At the El Cortez hotel in San Diego, originally built in the 1920s, a bellboy during the 1950s suggested they add an elevator to the outside of the building. The idea was applied and the hotel built the world’s first glass- walled exterior elevator which immediately became a sensational attraction. Unfortunately at many companies, ideas and suggestions get shot down, ignored, or worse - punished! Yet those same companies claim they want new ideas to improve the bottom-line. In today’s competitive world marketplace, all companies need new ideas. The solution is creating a culture of innovation. For a culture of innovation to succeed, employees - all down the line - must believe the company appreciates their intelli- gence, resourcefulness, and creativity. They also must believe the company wants and values their ideas. Without these factors, a company will not be able to generate the stream of ideas they need to stay competitive. There also needs to be a system for suggesting ideas, along with a system for testing and implementing them. The system needs to acknowledge and reward those suggestions - even if they are not accepted or utilized. Employees are motivated to contribute their insights if they see their ideas are taken serious- ly. If they are not, then the flow of ideas will stop. People naturally seek out ways to save time and materials, as well as other efficiencies, and if encouraged, they will share these observations with man- agement. Toyota is a good example of a com- pany with a successful culture of innova- tion. The average Toyota employee makes over 100 improvement suggestions every year. With thousands of employees, it adds up to millions of ideas, which has made Toyota one of the most successful automobile manufacturers in the world. Amazon rewards its employees for an idea - even if it fails - if they have put time and effort into developing the idea. Wilson cont’d on page 20. 12 MARCH 2018 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®