We asked fellow author Brian Klapper to put a D&I lens on his recently published book The Q-Loop.
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Let’s consider those finicky and elusive sparks that ignite the many new products, services, refinements, and enhancements that we as consumers enjoy and
demand at an increasing pace. These temperamental ideas are what give rise to the great actions, products, and services of our day, yet they are so often extinguished before ever being given a chance.

Drawn on a napkin, hashed out over the 14th hole, or devised while eating junk food late at night in a dorm room during senior year of college, organizations
are founded on a rich deposit of great ideas—and flourish because of new ones. Quite simply, if a company doesn’t recognize the need for a constant infusion of
creative thinking and fresh strategic concepts, then that company most certainly won’t be willing to take the necessary steps toward lasting change. Good, bad,
brilliant, even god-awful, ideas propel a business to new heights. They distinguish an organization from the competition, delight customers, and reward stockholders.
Without them, organizations languish.

In fact, a recent survey suggests that more than a third of CFOs believe that a lack of new ideas is the greatest barrier to their company becoming more innovative. Compare that to fewer than a quarter blaming it on too much bureaucracy, a fifth saying it’s because people are too busy, and less than a tenth saying it’s ineffective leadership.

In a Forbes Insights report, “Fostering Innovation Through a Diverse Workforce,” 85% of survey respondents agreed a diverse and inclusive workforce brings the different perspectives a company needs to drive innovation. 97% of the companies surveyed had formal diversity and inclusion strategies in place, viewing it as a competitive advantage that helps capture new clients, and adds to the potential for adding consumers in emerging markets.

You may wish to ask yourself the following…

• Do you believe that idea generation is important to future growth?
• How many measures do you have that focus explicitly on idea generation (versus optimization)?
• Can you say as much about your company’s idea-generation ability as you can about your company’s operating efficiency?
• Does you company believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce helps drive innovative thinking?
• Does your company consider diversity when it forms its idea-generation teams?
• Does your company have any personal performance metrics related to idea generation?
• Does your organization systematically benchmark other companies on creativity and idea generation?
• Do you know how to build a quick, low-cost experiment to test a promising idea?
• Does your company regularly build rapid pilots prior to full implementation?

If the answer to many of these questions is “no” then you company is likely not an innovative as it could be. The approach we use is a disciplined approach that
connects ideation with innovation to accelerate transformational change. We call it the Q-Loop. The Q-Loop enlists a diverse group of frontline employees for
developing ideas, creating solutions, and implementing initiatives. Because the solutions come from those responsible for implementation, organizations can trust
that all solutions are truly achievable, sustainable, and “right” for the organization. When employees own an idea or solution, they take ownership of the results as well, leading not only to company-wide buy-in, but also to more successful initiatives.

The ideas are generated from the bottom of the organization – those closest the customer – and are then brought up through the organization to senior
management for shaping, resource allocation, and inclusion into their strategic planning process. Once accepted by management, the ideas are brought back
down around the loop back to the lower levels and frontline for implementation. The solutions are then sent out of the loop into the rest of the organization for
enterprise-wide rollout. This process takes the form of a “Q,” hence the name “Q-Loop.”