[shah269]

Compensation for innovation?

I have been attending various lectures and discussion groups since I obtained my EMBA this past January so that I may stay current with modern business practices.
One of the biggest issues on the forefront of helping pull the US and global economy out of its doldrums are innovation and creativity.
However I have noticed, that many of these “gurus” are stating that that a corporation / institution can obtain the same level of innovation and without any monetary compensation.
And I see upper management and upper middle management types eating this up. For as they see it they can have their cake and eat it to. They can have an innovative and creative workforce without the need to tax shareholders.

However I am a capitalist. I work for money not for enjoyment. I work to live not live to work. I also have two public patents and a few classified patents as well as various awards for cost cutting innovation. I would have done NONE OF THIS if it weren’t for that carrot of financial compensation. But that’s just me. And I’m not sure I represent the average worker bee.
What are your thoughts on the issue?

[passing]

just stick to skydiving.

[Maestro]

This works because people these days have no clue, they provide their ideas everyday to companies without any thought to what it is worth. On top of that companies for years and this goes back to the 90's make people sign agreements that state they do not own ideas they develop while working for a company, it is all the property of they company. Some company still pay for ideas and cost savings and the such, but most are not paying out anymore.

If you really have a good idea and you know it will make money, never share it at work. work on it at home and quit the company can do it yourself.

[infinitekidM2C]

totally

[amanda hor$t]

me: i have enough money (decent townhouse, same m3 i've always had). i do it for the hoes.

when i was growing up, all i wanted was to be rich. but as things would play out, not really worth the trouble. go back to the grind just to buy nicer cars, a bigger house, and eat at nicer restaurants? meh.

[Baremeg55]

Originally Posted by Maestro

This works because people these days have no clue, they provide their ideas everyday to companies without any thought to what it is worth. On top of that companies for years and this goes back to the 90's make people sign agreement that state do not own ideas they develop while working for a company, it is all the property of a company. Some company still pay for ideas and cost savings and the such, but most are not paying out anymore.

If you really have a good idea and you know it will make money, never share it at work. work on it at home and quit the company can do it yourself.

Goes back to the 90's??? LOL. Move back in time several more decades at a minimum! Any high tech corporation (not speaking of the computer tech of the 90's) will have employees sign off (whether they know it or not at the time) any such ideas or developments as a result of their employment belong to the company. Makes sense if you think about it. Not saying its fair to the guy coming up with the ideas, but, he was put into a role/position that nourishes ideas.

As for keeping the idea to yourself and quit, then develop that idea and make your fortune, well....that doesn't always work either. If a person does this, lets say for a design that is worth millions, more likely than not his previous employer will file suit and own tat idea/patten/product in no time flat - if that idea/design came about as a function oh his employment. Then there is the non-compete clause, another noose around the neck.

Not saying it can't be done, just saying there are numerous roadblocks to success in this scenario. Best to develop something in an entirely different field, or, find a company that rewards you for developing new products....

[JoeyO]

I have a couple patents, and like most companies, the company I work for owns my patent. Most USA patents are like that. Very few are owned by individuals.

Very few people can afford the cost to file a patent and then the whole risk to profit from it.

So I don't see any carrot. My carrot is my annual salary which remains the same, regardless whether I file 0 patents or 100 patents. And the decision to file a patent is not mine. It's my company's decision. So counting the quantity of patents isn't necessarily a good way to measure innovation. Some of the most innovative people I've met had very few patents.

By the way, America doesn't fail when it comes to innovation. I tell my people at work the following; "Innovation and ideas is the easy part. The hard part is implementation and execution. That where most things fail."

[grieverr]

There's a good TED talk about having people work for self-satisfaction and the results it yields. To very quickly sum it up, they say that when people are allowed to do what they want, innovation happens.

Google allows its employees to work 20% of their time on any project they want. Those projects ended up becoming things like GMail and Adsense.

Another example is wikipedia, and how it's now the first place people check for information. Again, something that's maintained for free by the public. And something that I'm sure companies like Microsoft (Encarta) paid employees to do years ago.

I'm sure more companies would love that kind of output. But I'm with you, I work for money. And these companies are not doing anything to earn my "free labor"!

[shah269]

There's a good TED talk about having people work for self-satisfaction and the results it yields. To very quickly sum it up, they say that when people are allowed to do what they want, innovation happens.

FUCK THAT!

I work to get $$$ I innovate because I want more...let me think here....oh yeah $$$$$
Is it in my job description to be innovative? Fuck yeah! But i have a choice. Be innovative enough to do my jor or work harder and more innovative for the same pay?

I'm sorry I have an MBA and let me get this straight...you want me to work harder for the same pay?

we have a saying in NJ and it goes like this...cough cough...go fuck yourself!

[shah269]

Oh we can get them to work for free…..

IF you didn’t know I work for a large engineering firm. And in the summers we hire summer interns to help us around and to talent scout early.
I just spent 4 hours in a meeting arguing that as it stands with the current socio economic situation that WE HAVE TO PAY OUR SUMMER HIRES!
And that if we DON’T PAY for summer engineering and science interns we will get shit!

But upper middle management has it in their thick skulls that thanks to all these innovation gurus that have written books that people are willing ready and able to innovate and work for free…….WTF!

Who the hell is this stupid to fall for this shit!
Hey kid come over work for us for 40 hours a week because….you like it! WTF!

My god ok, yes due to black berries and the like we are working well over 50 hours a week of which we are only paid for 40.
We are more efficient than before!
And here you have dumb asses thinking…that people will work for free for them…ah WHAT!
Students working for free for you? Do you know how much car insurance is for these kids?
Do you know how much engineering books cost?

My god am I the only one who thinks this is rude? And just plain stupid?

[amanda hor$t]

cable tv and broadband can get you pretty far nowadays. cheaper than leasing a kia.

[CPWINCH]

Originally Posted by passing

just stick to skydiving.

+1

[grieverr]

Originally Posted by shah269

My god am I the only one who thinks this is rude? And just plain stupid?

Your mistake is thinking these people are fair and give a f-
The hands-off, middle management layer has to be one of my biggest stress factors of corporate America.

I work for a software company, so I can relate to what you're saying.

-After many layoffs, and everyone getting added duties, a colleague asked for a raise and was told "just because you're doing more doesn't mean we have to pay you more"

-Another colleague, asked why he put in his resignation said that he wasn't fairly compensated. His manager said "well, we didn't know you wanted more money"

These are the people running our companies. I bet you one thing, not one of them would work for free!!

[MrRoboto]

Originally Posted by shah269

However I am a capitalist. I work for money not for enjoyment.

If you enjoy what you do, you will ultimately earn more money.

[shah269]

I put together a solid one page memo about how this would be a diaster for our organization!

And after arguing again...they finally got it!
Thank god!

[amanda hor$t]

Originally Posted by MrRoboto

If you enjoy what you do, you will ultimately earn more money.

usually, a few famous counterexamples come to mind:

van gogh, didn't catch on till he died
tesla, pure scientist got jacked by everyone he worked with

and your typical karaoke stars, cover bands... not good enough to be famous but still having a great time