"I believe in being an innovator."
- Walt Disney
I've often quoted Walt Disney in presentations because his vision and passion for innovation resulted in entertainment experiences the world had never seen. And over half a century later the company he founded continues to deliver those experiences today.
Years ago I attended a seminar at Walt Disney World, and the cast member presenting asked the audience "how many of you are creative and have big ideas." We all froze, and no one raised their hand – perhaps we were all a bit intimidated by our surroundings.
I'm smiling looking back at the moment because the reality is we all have a big idea or two. Ideas can pop into our heads at practically any time. The bigger obstacle most organizations face is how help their teams "run an idea up the flagpole" so it has visibility to the right people at the right time. Employees of companies using Jive SBS have been easily sharing ideas for years because our solution has such powerful collaboration capabilities.
The other obstacle organizations face is how to capture ideas and feedback from the people who "write the check:" their customers. Every day customers share their opinions about products and services online, sometimes with the growing-in-popularity #fail on Twitter. They expect companies to listen, and they expect visibility into what actually happened with their feedback. In many cases, however, customers find themselves screaming into an echo chamber. Annoyed customers and missed opportunities don’t lead to big ideas and breakthrough experiences.
Today, we launched Jive Ideation to bridge between the natural innovation capabilities of Jive SBS with the ideas swimming around in conceivably your best untapped resource – the people who use your products every day. Jive Ideation helps you tap the power of crowd-sourcing and social networks to identify and nurture the best ideas for bigger outcomes.
Isobar interactive agency Molecular Inc. has been at the forefront of the ideation effort for years, helping its clients use crowd-sourcing to drive innovation efforts. We previewed Jive Ideation with Brett Borgeson, Engagement Director at Molecular who had this to say:
"These days, big brands are looking for ways to connect more directly with their customers, making the brand experience as intimate as possible. For brands reaching a mass audience, this is no small feat. Jive’s Ideation offering gives brands an efficient and powerful way to provide this kind of interaction with customers, allowing them an easy way to influence a company’s direction, or future product offering."
Innovation is a process, not an end game. Capturing your customers' (and employees') ideas will help send your current process into exciting new directions. To quote Disney again:
"Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world."
Jive Ideation is an awesome example of customer feedback expanding our imagination for extending Jive Social Business Software. To learn more on our latest big idea, check out our webcast, Jive Ideation: Make Your Enterprise a Powerhouse of Innovation, hosted by Adam Mertz, Jive Product Marketing Manager.
