'Ideas are flowing much faster now than they ever used to.'
-- Pradeep Sindhu, Founder, Juniper Networks

This snippet from a FAST COMPANY interview got me thinking that one good metric for corporate innovation is fairly simple to measure: I call it IDEA FLOW.

Here's how to measure it - right now!

Answer these 8 questions:

1. How many ideas have come across your desk in the last 30 days from anywhere in your organization?

2. How quickly did you respond to them with either:
   a. feedback
   b. discussion
   c. implementation

3. How many ideas did you personally contribute anywhere else in the organization?

4. How many got one of the three responses in question 2 above?

5. Where do most of the ideas that are ACTED UPON come from in your organization?

6. What formal or informal structures are in place to harvest, encourage, and reward business ideas - even crazy or offbeat ones?

7. Are managers rewarded for not only the ideas they come up with, but others' ideas that they credit, promote and implement?

8. What is the path of the typical IDEA FLOW in your organization? Are there many stops along the way or is there a streamlined process?

Do you remember the public TV cartoon on "How a Bill Becomes a Law?" - connect that to "How Do Ideas Become Profit?"

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David Newman is a marketing speaker and marketing coach who works with professionals who want to do a better job of marketing so they get more leads, better prospects, and bigger sales.