Potentially the most valuable, but arguably the least leveraged asset of any business is the creativity of its employees—and not just a select few employees, but any and all of them.

In preparing to lead a creativity and innovation workshop for managers at Consolidated Edison, New York City's electric power company, we interviewed employees throughout the catacomb-like, subterranean passageways at Rockefeller Center (while looking for leaks in 100-year old steam heating pipes!) Of the 30+ employees interviewed, every one of them, including the 30-year veterans, said that it was the creative contribution that they had made to the company of which they were most proud. Their creative contribution could have been a simple idea to save the company money, a suggestion to make service calls more efficient, or even a novel approach for designing a large power grid. It became clear that everyone has the potential and, if encouraged, the desire to contribute new ideas to help their company. Successful managers of the future must recognize this.

Learn to tap into your employees potential with simple creativity techniques in Bryan Mattimore's IDEA STORMERS: How to Lead and Inspire Creative Breakthroughs (published by Jossey-Bass, an imprint of Wiley) or contact The Growth Engine at (203) 857-4494. You can also find us on the web at http://www.growth-engine.com/

Learn how to win a FREE electronic copy of the book Idea Stormers by visiting http://www.growth-engine.com/