by Annette
20. April 2007
Wired Magazine (April 07) recently mentioned Southwest Airlines' new 'on-line watercooler'. This is an employee blog that is widely read throughout the company. When the CEO announced a new strategy of eliminating the first come, first seated approach to boarding, employees across the company contributed to the site to voice their opinion.
Creating a culture of innovation isn't easy. But one of the driving principles behind creating change is creating personal investment. When management is upfront and honest, when employees feel their ideas are heard and their creative contributions recognized, you've got a recipe for success.
The famous psychologist Rollo May in his book, The Courage to Create, talks about the fact that creative contribution is not the just the icing on the cake of life, it is the entireity of life. Providing that environment for employees to contribute is the engine of innovation.
