What To Do When Your Boss Won't Support Your Great Ideas

Frustrated that your company seems to squash you down every time you try to do something innovative at work? You’re probably not imagining that being too creative goes against the party line.

A recent Accenture survey “Corporate Innovation is Within Reach: Nurturing and Enabling an Entrepreneurial Culture,” underlines just how hard it is for people to develop new ideas in a corporate environment, other than in companies like Google and 3M that have gone all out to nurture innovation.

Accenture wrote its report on the survey as a kind of wakeup call for big companies: If they don’t encourage innovation, they are at risk of driving their most innovative employees out the door and losing their edge to foreign competition.

What I saw in it was a compelling argument to ditch corporate America if what you really desire to do is innovate. You’re just going to end up seething in frustration at your desk everyday, while the action happens at other, more nimble companies.

For its survey, Accenture polled 600 corporate workers and 200 “corporate decision makers” — as well as 200 self-employed people.

Most of  findings suggest that corporate environments are squelching grounds for the innovative. Among the corporate employees:

• 53% said their company does not support ideas from people at all levels of the workforce
• 77% say that new ideas are rewarded only when they are implemented and proved to work
• 36% say they are too busy doing their job to pursue new ideas
• 27% have avoided pursuing an idea within their company because they think there may be negative consequences
• While 49% believe that management support for new ideas is important, only 20 percent say that such support exists
• 42% believe that tolerance for failure is important to support innovation, but only 12% believe their company is does a good job of providing this
• More 51% say their company has a timeline of 6 months or less to decide if a new idea has been successful, but 76% say that this period should realistically be stretched to about a year.
• The lack of support is driving some of the most innovative employees to leave and start a business. Among the self employed folks:
• 93% pursued an entrepreneurial idea within their previous company — and 98% believed those ideas were successful
• 57% said their company was not supportive of the results
• 30% said they started a business so they could develop their own ideas, without having to work on other projects
• 52% said having full control of their business was the best aspect of being self-employed.

I should point out that there was some good news in the survey:

• 52% of those surveyed had pursued an entrepreneurial idea within their company — and 72% had it implemented
• Companies have gotten better in supporting entrepreneurialism than five years ago, according to 53% of respondents

69% of the decision makers said that an entrepreneurial attitude is important among individuals in a corporate environment.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Still, Accenture’s advice to big organizations that want to foster innovation underlines the realities that work against those with a more entrepreneurial attitude at every turn.

As the report puts it, “A good place to start would be to help employees learn how to generate the right ideas. A resounding 98% of those whose ideas have been implemented believe their ideas have been successful. In reality, a good portion of employee-generated ideas just aren’t good enough in management’s view. And sometimes these ideas might be less relevant. For instance, they may be too internally focused to support a client’s external needs.”

The consultancy’s advice is to work with employees to help them focus their ideas so they are better aligned with a company’s strategic goals and should provide training to help them focus on the ideas that have the best chance of success. Accenture goes on to recommend that once a company commits to an idea, “companies must create a safety net to identify missteps and help employees get back on track when they falter.”

While this approach may make the idea of supporting innovation palatable to big-company operations teams who don’t want any money to be spent on a single idea that goes nowhere, it doesn’t address the fact that in companies that are actually entrepreneurial, this isn’t how innovation takes place. There is risk involved. There’s no way to take that out of the equation. That’s part of the reason entrepreneurship can be so exciting. It takes people–and companies–to the edge.

Having interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs every year for more than 15 years, I can’t recall a single entrepreneur ever telling me that he or she was trying to encourage the company’s employees to learn how to generate the “right” ideas. Entrepreneurs understand that there’s an inherent value in experimenting and that even ideas that go nowhere now may bring about learning that sparks the company’s greatest innovation. They don’t see tinkering as wasteful or wrong. They love to break rules–and they like to work with people who think the same way.

While great entrepreneurs generally have strategic goals, they’re not worried about keeping everyone on their teams in lockstep with them. They recognize that some of the company’s best ideas may come from someone who doesn’t think in the same way as everyone else–and aren’t worried about creating a safety net to save employees or the company from the messiness of trying a new project that ends up sputtering. If a project turns out to be a dud, everyone moves onto the next thing.

Of course, entrepreneurial companies typically don’t have to account for every dollar spent to shareholders who do not want to see a company’s employees playing around with their money–the very pressure that keeps big companies from being creative. Corporate workers clearly get this: The survey found that the top two benchmarks they cited for a new innovation to be successful were that it contributes to the bottom line and makes the company more efficient.

Here is my recommendation to giant companies that want to encourage innovation: Cut the CEO’s salary in half. Put that money in an R&D fund, overseen by a board of seasoned entrepreneurs and investors from outside of the company. Ask employees who have an idea for a new product line or service to write business plans and pitch their ideas to this board. Give the employees who come up with the ideas that get approved the majority of the equity–so they have an incentive to focus on ideas that will pay off, just as entrepreneurs do–and reserve the rest of the equity for the company, with a very small portion for the board, as compensation for vetting all of the plans. The blockbuster ideas will have a big payoff for the company even if it is a minority investor.

Meanwhile, if you are a corporate employee who wants to act on your great ideas, here’s an idea. Instead of getting depressed after your boss says no to your next brainstorm, channel your creative energy into finding a job at a company where entrepreneurial thinking is part of the culture–or team up with some other creative colleagues and start your own business. You’re not likely to get a chance to do something ground breaking at a corporation that wants everyone to focus on the “right” ideas.

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Nexus 7 Tablet 32GB:The best Android tablet gets even better

                     

The good: The Nexus 7’s razor-sharp full-HD screen, silky smooth performance, long battery life, meager weight, and affordable price make it the best tablet value on the market.

The bad: The back is missing the soft grippy texture of the original, screen colors lack accuracy, and there's no microSD support. Android 4.3 has few useful interface improvements.

The bottom line: Thanks to its stellar performance and affordable price, the Nexus 7 is the Android tablet to get.

Pound for pound, the Nexus 7 is the best small tablet you can buy. It houses a ridiculously sharp, bright screen, its gaming performance is second only to the fourth-generation iPad, and as a Google-branded tablet it will always see the latest version of Android before any other tablet brand.

Also, at $230 (for 16GB), it's still an affordable tablet with one of the highest values in the market, despite a $30 price hike over the previous generation. The $270 32GB Wi-Fi model and $350 4G LTE version are even better values, especially compared with similar configurations of the iPad Mini.

Yes, it's not as cheap as some of the top small tablets from 2012, its screen isn't as big as the iPad Mini's, and Android 4.3 lacks a few useful UI features Samsung plugged into its Galaxy Tab 3. However, those are only nitpicks considering the Nexus 7's sharp-as-nails screen and blazingly fast performance. Despite its imperfections, it's the first small tablet I'd recommend and is the current best tablet value around.

Design
At 0.64 pound, the Nexus 7 is the lightest tablet yet, and with a 4.5-inch width when held in portrait orientation, it's probably the easiest to fit in one hand. It's an extremely simple design, black in color, and it honestly lacks much in the way of panache. It's a harsher tablet compared with the original, and I miss the 2012 Nexus 7's soft, much more inviting feel.

The smooth matte finish of the tablet's back isn't as comfortable or as grippy as the soft leathery back of the 2012 Nexus 7. Also, the new tablet's corners aren't as pleasantly rounded and the Micro-USB port on the bottom edge sticks out just enough to be distracting when held in landscape mode

This hopefully gives you an idea of the texture difference between                                       the old and new Nexus 7.

Along the right edge are an easy-to-find power/sleep button and volume rocker, and there's a headphone jack on the top edge. A front-facing camera sits on the top bezel toward the right corner, and the rear camera rests behind on the backside, nestled deep in the left corner. Also on the back are two sets of speaker grilles, one near the top and another on the bottom, next to the Micro-USB port.

Software features
The Nexus 7 ships with the very latest version of Android (4.3), and to be quite honest, the OS isn't much different from the previous incarnation (4.2.2). At least not obviously so. For a detailed look at the updated OS' features, check out our Android 4.3 review.

The notable new features are Multi-User Restricted Profiles, OpenGL ES 3.0 support, and Bluetooth Smart. User profiles were introduced with Android 4.2, and the latest version allows you to add a kid-friendly profile that the primary profile controls. The restricted profile will only have access to apps deemed acceptable and will have no access to the Play store. It's an ideal solution for families wanting to share a single tablet; however, Google leaves the decision of implementing it up to the developer.

OpenGL ES 3.0 improves polygonal graphics performance and allows the tablet to better handles effects like lens flares, shadows, and other shader effects. With Bluetooth Smart, the Nexus 7 can connect to a newer generation of Bluetooth devices as well as transmit metadata like song titles.

I'm a huge fan of close-up pics of tablet buttons. Actually, I'm not, but I liked this particular pic so much, I married it. That's also not true.

The tablet supports SlimPort, which allows you to use the Micro-USB port as an HDMI port via a $30 adapter, but there is no physical HDMI port on the Nexus 7.

NFC support returns, and we also get wireless charging, which according to Google will allow any Qi-compatible charger to fill the Nexus 7's battery. And that does indeed appear to be the case, as the Nokia Lumia DT-900 wireless charger worked without issue; however, the actual charging speed was painfully slow compared to a wired charge.

Performance
First things first, the Nexus 7's screen is incredibly sharp and text is particularly fine and easy to read. You may not fully appreciate its high pixel density immediately, but when looking at it next to almost any other tablet screen, the Nexus 7 clearly comes out on top. It's also one of the brightest tablet displays I've ever seen. Colors are more accurate and fuller compared with the 2012 Nexus 7 and the contrast ratio is noticeably higher. Viewing angles are wide and images appear to have a fuller, more corporeal integrity.

Behold the beauty of the Nexus 7's razor-sharp screen.

A serious pusher of polygons
Next to the fourth-generation iPad, the Nexus 7 is the fastest tablet I've seen at running polygonal games. Real Racing 3 and N.O.V.A. 3 looked particularly impressive with smooth frame rates and sharp graphics with minimal aliasing on edges; however, like on many other Android tablets, Real Racing 3 loses its rearview mirror feature on the Nexus 7.

The best-performing small tablet for gaming. 'Nuff said. Well, I actually do say more in the paragraph below.

Riptide GP2 is an incredibly impressive game with lots of customizable graphical effects options and even with its effects tuned to maximum, the Nexus 7 delivered smooth gameplay at more than 30 frames per second that many times looked to approach and hit a full 60fps. This easily and consistently bested the Nexus 10 in its presentation.

Oh, tablet cameras. Will you ever provide any real value?
The Nexus 7 continues the tablet trend of placing mediocre shooters on their bodies. Both the 1.2-megapixel front camera and 5-megapixel back camera make faces look greenish and sickly in pics, and while each picks up a bit more fine detail than most tablet cameras, shadows look dithered and blurry.

The dual speakers are above average quality for a tablet, but don't get as loud or sound as full as the 2012 Kindle Fire HD's, which are still the best tablet speakers in the market. They're not bad by any means, but they will do nothing to change your perspective on tablet speakers. I used 'The Avengers' from the Play store to test the surrounds sound. The effect is convincing, but to be honest, prefer using earbuds when watching movies and TV shows on tablets.

Yet, there are still alternatives
As good as the Nexus 7 is, it may not be for everyone as different users have varied tablet needs.

The original Nexus is now available for as low as $150.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

The 2012 version of the Nexus 7 is still a great tablet supported by the latest version of Android and starts now at $150 (at Walmart). The Nook HD is $130 (though it's being phased out), and the 2012 Kindle Fire HD, which features better speakers despite Google touting the Nexus 7's surround sound setup, is the best choice for Amazon Prime users and still starts at $30 less.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 has a more comfortable design, it's screen handles colors more accurately and vibrantly, it includes storage expansion, and some of its UI interface conveniences surpass even what Google's been able to implement so far. However, the Tab 3 will cost you $70 more at starting prices. The new Nexus 7 trumps the iPad Mini's screen in every way aside from size and has faster gaming performance, but the Mini still has access to many more apps and most major game releases debut on iOS first, although simultaneous releases are becoming more common.

Conclusion
The Nexus 7 (2013) easily supplants the original model as the small tablet of choice. It may not be quite as comfortable to hold, but its heavily increased performance, razor-sharp screen, additional features, and all that Android 4.3 brings in tow more than make up for a harder, less grippy back.

At $230, it's more expensive than the top 7-inch tablets from 2012, but it's also much better-performing. In addition, it's cheaper than both the 8-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 and the iPad Mini and yes, performs better than either, despite the former's better handling of onscreen colors.

While it doesn't obliterate the competition, the Nexus 7 has enough improvements to earn the small-tablet crown and is the next best choice to the full-size iPad.

Follow Me On Twitter: https://twitter.com/arjunsantosh

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Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, dies aged 95

Nelson Mandela's death was announced on South African TV by current president Jacob Zuma. Photograph: Getty Images

Nelson Mandela, the towering figure of Africa's struggle for freedom and a hero to millions around the world, has died at the age of 95.

South Africa's first black president died in the company of his family at home in Johannesburg after years of declining health that had caused him to withdraw from public life.

The news was announced to the country by the current president, Jacob Zuma, who in a sombre televised address said Mandela had "departed" around 8.50pm local time and was at peace.

"This is the moment of our deepest sorrow," Zuma said. "Our nation has lost its greatest son … What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves.

"Fellow South Africans, Nelson Mandela brought us together and it is together that we will bid him farewell."

Zuma announced that Mandela would receive a state funeral and ordered that flags fly at half-mast.

Early on Friday morning Archbishop Desmond Tutu led a memorial service in Capetown where he called for South Africa to become as a nation what Mandela had been as a man.

Mandela's two youngest daughters were at the premiere of the biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom in London last night. They received the news of their father's death during the screening in Leicester Square and immediately left the cinema.

Barack Obama led tributes from world leaders, referring to Mandela by his clan name – Madiba. The US president said: "Through his fierce dignity and unbending will to sacrifice his own freedom for the freedom of others, Madiba transformed South Africa – and moved all of us.

"His journey from a prisoner to a president embodied the promise that human beings – and countries – can change for the better. His commitment to transfer power and reconcile with those who jailed him set an example that all humanity should aspire to, whether in the lives of nations or our own personal lives."

David Cameron said: "A great light has gone out in the world" and described Mandela as "a hero of our time".

FW de Klerk – the South African president who freed Mandela, shared the Nobel peace prize with him and paved the way for him to become South Africa's first post-apartheid head of state – said the news was deeply saddening for South Africa and the world.

"He lived reconciliation. He was a great unifier," De Klerk said.

Throughout Thursday night and into Friday morning people gathered in the streets of South Africa to celebrate Mandela's life.

In Soweto people gathered to sing and dance near the house where he once lived. They formed a circle in the middle of Vilakazi Street and sang songs from the anti-apartheid struggle. Some people were draped in South African flags and the green, yellow and black colours of Mandela's party, the African National Congress.

"We have not seen Mandela in the place where he is, in the place where he is kept," they sang, a lyric anti-apartheid protesters had sung during Mandela's long incarceration.

Several hundred people took part in lively commemorations outside Mandela's final home in the Houghton neighbourhood of Johannesburg. A man blew on a vuvuzela horn and people made impromptu shrines with national flags, candles, flowers and photographs.

Mandela was taken to hospital in June with a recurring lung infection and slipped into a critical condition, but returned home in September where his bedroom was converted into an intensive care unit.

His death sends South Africa deep into mourning and self-reflection, nearly 20 years after he led the country from racial apartheid to inclusive democracy.

But his passing will also be keenly felt by people around the world who revered Mandela as one of history's last great statesmen, and a moral paragon comparable with Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

It was a transcendent act of forgiveness after spending 27 years in prison, 18 of them on Robben Island, that will assure his place in history. With South Africa facing possible civil war, Mandela sought reconciliation with the white minority to build a new democracy.

He led the African National Congress to victory in the country's first multiracial election in 1994. Unlike other African liberation leaders who cling to power, such as Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, he then voluntarily stepped down after one term.

South Africans hold a candle outside the house of former South African president Nelson Mandela following his death in Johannesburg. Photograph: Alexander Joe

Mandela was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1993.

At his inauguration a year later, the new president said: "Never, never, and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another … the sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement. Let freedom reign. God bless Africa!"

Born Rolihlahla Dalibhunga in a small village in the Eastern Cape on 18 July 1918, Mandela was given his English name, Nelson, by a teacher at his school.

He joined the ANC in 1943 and became a co-founder of its youth league. In 1952, he started South Africa's first black law firm with his partner, Oliver Tambo.

Mandela was a charming, charismatic figure with a passion for boxing and an eye for women. He once said: "I can't help it if the ladies take note of me. I am not going to protest."

He married his first wife, Evelyn Mase, in 1944. They were divorced in 1957 after having three children. In 1958, he married Winnie Madikizela, who later campaigned to free her husband from jail and became a key figure in the struggle.

When the ANC was banned in 1960, Mandela went underground. After the Sharpeville massacre, in which 69 black protesters were shot dead by police, he took the difficult decision to launch an armed struggle. He was arrested and eventually charged with sabotage and attempting to overthrow the government.

Conducting his own defence in the Rivonia trial in 1964, he said: "I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.

"It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

He escaped the death penalty but was sentenced to life in prison, a huge blow to the ANC that had to regroup to continue the struggle. But unrest grew in townships and international pressure on the apartheid regime slowly tightened.

Finally, in 1990, FW de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC and Mandela was released from prison amid scenes of jubilation witnessed around the world.

In 1992, Mandela divorced Winnie after she was convicted on charges of kidnapping and accessory to assault.

His presidency rode a wave of tremendous global goodwill but was not without its difficulties. After leaving frontline politics in 1999, he admitted he should have moved sooner against the spread of HIV/Aids in South Africa.

His son died from an Aids-related illness. On his 80th birthday, Mandela married Graça Machel, the widow of the former president of Mozambique. It was his third marriage. In total, he had six children, of whom three daughters survive: Pumla Makaziwe (Maki), Zenani and Zindziswa (Zindzi). He has 17 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who headed the truth and reconciliation committee after the fall of apartheid, said: "He transcended race and class in his personal actions, through his warmth and through his willingness to listen and to emphasise with others. And he restored others' faith in Africa and Africans."

Mandela was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2001 and retired from public life to be with his family and enjoy some "quiet reflection". But he remained a beloved and venerated figure, with countless buildings, streets and squares named after him. His every move was scrutinised and his health was a constant source of media speculation.

Mandela continued to make occasional appearances at ANC events and attended the inauguration of the current president, Jacob Zuma. His 91st birthday was marked by the first annual "Mandela Day" in his honour.

He was last seen in public at the final of the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg, a tournament he had helped bring to South Africa for the first time. Early in 2011, he was taken to hospital in a health scare but he recovered and was visited by Michelle Obama and her daughters a few months later.

In January 2012, he was notably missing from the ANC's centenary celebrations due to his frail condition. With other giants of the movement such as Tambo and Walter Sisulu having gone before Mandela, the defining chapter of Africa's oldest liberation movement is now closed.

In Tough Times, Abandon Your Employees

 

Henry Blodget's excellent piece on short-term greed got me thinking about a very basic question: do companies owe their employees loyalty when the economy gets tough?

For some time, I've been appalled that major companies are simultaneously laying off employees and reporting record profits. The picture differs depending on where you live and work, but that's a fairly common trend.

Contrast, for example, CNNMoney's report at the beginning of this year, Hey Wall Street, Get Ready for More Layoffs with John Cassidy's July 16 story, which starts like this:

What do these large dollar numbers have in common: $6.5 billion, $5.5 billion, $4.2 billion, and $1.9 billion? They represent the latest quarterly net profits made by too-big-to-fail banks—in order, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs.

Now imagine that your company has been growing quickly, and that the culture of the company is to expect employees to step up when challenges and opportunities emerge. If there is an important pitch coming up, you are expected to stay late or work over the weekend. If there is an important order to fill, you are expected to work until the order gets filled.

You work hard. You step up. You are a hard-working and loyal employee. You recruit your friends to come work at your company; you put your personal reputation on the line.

Then the economy hits a rough patch. The company lets you go; two months later, they announce record profits.

Is that the right way to do business?

I understand that companies are not charities, and that they can't exist forever paying out more in wages than they earn in revenues.

But it strikes me as horribly short-sighted for a company to simultaneously report record profits and fire loyal employees. But some will argue that companies are here to make money for their investors, and that such moves are entirely warranted.

That's why I'm calling on companies that employ this strategy to make it obvious. I suggest they band together under the banner, "Profits before People". In fact, to make this easier, I've created a few simple ads they could run to attract more investors.

I'm not trying to be cute or clever. If this is an intelligent and proper strategy, why shouldn't companies formally declare that they follow it?