Our own articles

We begin: why innovate from within

Every large company holds more ideas than it thinks. The problem is not a lack of talent: it is that ideas find no path. They stay in corridor conversations, in emails nobody answers or in suggestion boxes nobody opens.

Innovar IN was born to fix that. The idea is simple to say and demanding to do: for innovating from within to become a company habit, not a once-a-year gesture.

The path starts with an idea funnel where anyone proposes and the community assesses. It continues by detecting the intrapreneurs who already exist in the organization, even if nobody has called them that. And it goes on with challenges and remote teamwork, so the best ideas are developed in-house.

This website is the first step: the funnel demo is already open, with fictional data, and the next demos (challenges and teamwork) are on the way. We will report each advance here, with no smoke.

If your company wants a closer look, the area for Companies is now open.

The “Facebook of ideas”

The best way to picture the Innovar IN intranet is not a suggestion box, but an internal social network where what is shared is ideas: a “Facebook of ideas”, as we call it at home — just a metaphor, with no relation to that company. You propose, follow proposals, assess, comment and see trends. Participating should be as natural as using a social network, not a bureaucratic procedure.

On that network, the platform's design lets each person appear with a pseudonym: the idea competes on merit, without the weight of the signer's rank and without the stigma of “so-and-so's idea didn't fly”. Real authorship would be stored in a restricted way, for recognition if the idea goes far: restricted identity, not anonymity. We will never call it anonymity, because it is not.

Participating is voluntary, fully voluntary, and open to all levels and roles. We propose to each company that nobody be penalized for not participating; time and conditions are agreed with it. And contributing outside working hours is always an option, never an expectation: an idea can be born at 23:00, on the sofa, on the subway or on a napkin, and that is why the experience is also designed for mobile, to capture it the moment it appears.

And one deep conviction: the idea that changes a company can come from the least participative person. That is why the design foresees detecting profiles to support them and help them land their contributions, not to create a ranking of who deserves a voice. Every voice counts the same.

The goal is a habit: that proposing becomes something everyday and safe, and that the company gets the good surprises of knowing how much talent it holds inside.

Ideas are not valued in likes

On a social network, popularity rules: the most voted wins. In internal innovation it does not work like that. An idea can pile up support and be unviable, and another can go unnoticed and be the one that changes an entire process.

That is why in Innovar IN votes measure backing, not viability. They serve to sort the noise, give visibility to what the workforce demands and detect profiles that push. But a “like” implements nothing: viability is studied by a committee of people, with business judgement, and verified with a small pilot before scaling.

And one rule we consider non-negotiable: no filter, human or automatic, hides a valuable idea before someone can defend it. Complex ideas are not discarded for being complex; what blocks them is studied, and which part can be piloted first.

And on recognition, three distinct things: every person who participates receives an answer and thanks, always; each company can define recognition for contributing and collaborating, monetary or not; and any awards tied to results are agreed with each company. Popularity is not implementation; the community opens the door and people decide.

5% of the time: an example, not a promise

One way to make innovation a habit is to reserve time for it. The best-known precedent is Google's “20% time”, documented since its 2004 letter to investors (abc.xyz): a percentage of working time for one's own projects. It is a verified public case, and also the example that shows how delicate the subject is: each company has its own reality.

That is why in Innovar IN autonomy time is a configurable option, not a policy. The 5% we use as a reference in conversations is just an example: each company decides whether to reserve time, how much and under which rules. 0%, 5% or 20%: what we do not do is promise a percentage, because that is not ours to promise.

Besides, proposing ideas never depends on that reserved time: it is voluntary and can happen inside or outside working hours, always as an option and never as an expectation. The platform is designed to capture ideas at any moment; whatever time the company reserves is for developing the ones that are chosen.

The habit of innovating is not made by a poster or a percentage: it is made by people, with a channel that listens to them.