The suggestion box sounds like a very old approach to the challenge of high involvement innovation - how to engage the majority of people in an organization in the innovation agenda. It conjures images of dusty boxes tucked away in the corner into which people have long since given up posting ideas.
But its successors - collaboration platforms for innovation - carry out essentially the same task. The difference is that they do so in highly interactive fashion, and act not only as a place to capture ideas but also to develop, shape and implement them. They represent a powerful tool in the innovation armoury - although, as this podcast suggests, their effective implementation requires much more than just technology.
