To reap the bounty of good ideas from a large number of people and become more innovative, Electrolux held a 72-hour fest or ‘jam’ of innovation in October of last year.
In conversation
In addition to being the first time Electrolux invited its entire workforce to participate in new idea generation, iJam was a feat of technological achievement, as thousands logged on online to share in the massive interconnected conversation.
Participation and enthusiasm amongst top management was key to spreading the word to all employees about the iJam opportunity. The first iJam topic was ‘culinary enjoyment.’ Over 7,000 people logged on to the site at some point during the 72-hour marathon, unleashing a blizzard of ideas – more than 3,500 – on possible future Electrolux products and services.
Over 7,000 people logged on during the 72-hour marathon, unleashing a blizzard of 3,500 ideas on possible future Electrolux products and services.
Sustainability front and center
A strong sustainability theme ran through the entries. Ten thousand comments on the ideas and 20,000 votes from employees led to a list of Top 20 iJam ideas. Amongst the top twenty was a communal shared kitchen for developing nations; a re-use program for appliances; and an innovative food waste collection device from Brazil that generates both compost and electricity.
After a further session of voting and review by Electrolux innovation coaches, the list of promising innovations was narrowed to ten.
From ideas to innovation
In December 2012, a ‘Dragon’s Den’ of Electrolux top management debated the merits of the ten finalists and chose three for further development. The top three winners received an elegant reception in their honor with top corporate management present. Even more importantly, the three top ideas – to remain under wraps for the time being – will now go through the Group’s ‘innovation activation’ process, including building a business case.
Electrolux plans to further this crowd-sourced approach to idea generation and innovation with future events already in the works for this year and in 2014.
In addition, iLab opened its doors, a physical space at headquarters to facilitate new ideas; a ‘virtual’ ideas box is opening for North American operations, and an open platform for employee community feedback is also being developed.