Why good ideas often stop with the leader
What if the biggest obstacle to innovation is not a lack of ideas, but our ability to bring them to light?
When we talk about innovation, the conversation is often about technology.
We discuss artificial intelligence, digitalization, new systems, investments and business models. We talk about Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs and technology companies. But far less often we talk about what is perhaps the most important prerequisite for innovation:
People.
This reflection was inspired by an article by Professor Linda Lai at BI Norwegian School of Business , published in Dagens Næringsliv. In it, she highlights new international research that examines why leaders do not always support new ideas and proposals for change – even when they want innovation and development.
Linda Lai has been one of Norway's leading researchers in leadership, competence, motivation and organizational psychology for many years. What makes her research particularly interesting is that she does not only study what people can do, but how organizations actually manage to use the competence that already exists. Through her work, she has helped to highlight how culture, leadership, motivation and trust affect both the work environment, innovation and value creation.
For me, both her reflections and the research she refers to hit right at the core of what I call invisible capital.
Innovation rarely starts in the leadership team
Many of the best ideas don't arise in the CEO's office.
They arise in employees who meet customers, users, patients, residents or colleagues every day.
They are often the ones who see the problems first.
They are often the ones who discover the opportunities.
They are often the ones who know everyday life best.
Yet we know that many good ideas are never realized.
Why?
Researchers Wayne Johnson and Brian J. Lucas point to an explanation that is both simple and fascinating. They call the phenomenon The Idea Endorser's Dilemma .
They found that leaders can find themselves in a situation where they risk losing status no matter what they do.
If a new idea fails, the leader is often held responsible.
If the idea is successful, it is often the employee who gets the credit.
The result may be that the safest choice is not to take the chance.
Not because the leader is against innovation.
But because the organization does not necessarily reward those who support other people's ideas.
The invisible cost
We often talk about the costs of innovation.
We're talking about budgets.
Projects.
Systems.
Technology.
But perhaps the biggest innovation cost is something else entirely:
The ideas that are never heard.
The proposals that are never presented.
The employees who stop providing input because they feel like no one is listening.
This is a cost that rarely appears in the accounts.
No one can put an exact value on it.
Yet it can be enormous.
For every idea that remains in a drawer, there may be an improvement, a service, a work process or an innovation that never becomes reality.
What can we learn from Amazon?
Some of the world's most innovative businesses have spent many years trying to solve this very challenge.
Amazon is an interesting example.
Through the Working Backwards principle , the company has attempted to build innovation based on customer needs rather than internal structures and hierarchies. The idea is simple: Start with the problem the customer is experiencing, and then work backward through the organization to find the solution.
The interesting thing is that this requires more than technology.
It requires the organization to be able to listen to the people closest to the customer. It is often the customer service representative, developer, salesperson or service employee who first discovers where the shoe is pinching. It is these employees who see the frustrations, questions and improvement opportunities before they become visible in reports and management documents.
In many ways, innovation is therefore not just about having good ideas. It is about building cultures where good ideas are actually heard.
Why this is about more than leadership
It's easy to read such research and think that the problem is about leaders.
I think it's about something bigger.
It's about culture.
It's about trust.
It's about how we organize working life.
Karl Ove Moene has for many years pointed out the importance of trust, cooperation and institutions for value creation. Linda Lai has shown how expertise only creates value when it is actually used.
Putting these perspectives together, an interesting question arises:
What good is it to hire talented people if the organization
unable to use their skills?
And what good is it to have creative employees if they don't feel like their ideas are taken seriously?
Innovation is a team effort
Through a long working life at SAS , Navico , the Norwegian Opera & Ballet and Bærum Municipality , I have seen many successful development projects.
What has struck me is that they rarely succeed because of one person alone.
They succeed when people build on each other's ideas.
When leaders listen.
When employees dare to speak out.
When professional communities collaborate.
When knowledge is shared.
When trust makes it safe to try and fail.
Then something happens.
Then innovation occurs.
Not as a result of technology alone, but as a result of people creating something together.
The invisible capital
We live in a time where artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly important.
I myself am positive about the development.
AI will help us with analysis, information, efficiency and learning in ways we can barely imagine today.
But even the most advanced technology cannot replace trust.
It cannot create relationships.
It cannot build culture.
It cannot make people trust each other.
It alone cannot create innovation.
Because innovation still occurs when people meet, share experiences, challenge each other and build on good ideas.
That is why I believe that the most important capital is still invisible.
It exists in humans.
In relationships.
In competence.
In collaboration.
And perhaps most of all in the courage to listen to an idea that has not yet been fully developed.
Because often that's precisely where the innovations of the future begin.
Innovation happens when people are heard
Perhaps the biggest innovation challenge is not a lack of technology.
Maybe it's not a lack of capital either.
Maybe innovation is about something far simpler – and far more difficult.
To create organizations where people dare to share their ideas.
And where leaders dare to listen.
Too often, the innovations of the future don't start in the boardroom.
They start with the people closest to the customer.
Where the shoe actually presses.
________________________________________
Sources and further reading
Linda Lai, BI Norwegian Business School: research in competence management, motivation and organizational psychology.
Linda Lai: "Leader's ego can be an obstacle to change and innovation", Dagens Næringsliv.
Wayne Johnson & Brian J. Lucas: The Idea Endorser's Dilemma (2025).
The Amazon book Working Backwards describes how the company built a culture where customer needs and employee insights are central to innovation efforts.
The Innovator's Dilemma - Clayton Christensen
A classic in innovation and strategy, Christensen shows how even the most successful organizations can overlook new ideas and changes in the marketplace. The book reminds us that innovation rarely stops because of technology alone – it often stops because people, organizations, and established mindsets have difficulty changing.
I especially recommend reading Linda Lai's work. Over many years, she has helped to highlight how people, competence, motivation and leadership affect both innovation and value creation – topics that are central to understanding invisible capital .
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