The world’s future leaders overwhelmingly believe that today’s businesses cangrowonly if they can innovate – and that today’s business leaders aren’t demonstrating they’re up to the task.

While that’s the thinking of nearly 5,000millennials – the 20- to 33-year-old generation – at least one baby boomer, the innovator who transformed the U.S. travel industry with his creation of Travelocity and Kayak.com, agrees.

“The future for any business today depends entirely on its ability to innovate, and the youngest adults, ‘the idea generation,’ know that,” says Terry Jones, author of “On Innovation,” (www.tbjones.com/terrys-book), a light-hearted but practical guide for fostering and innovation.

“The millennials are the group known for pioneering new ideas, rethinking processes, end-running hierarchies and solving problems by doing what simply makes sense to them. We need to listen to them; they’re the innovators!"

But the worldwide survey of adults born after 1982 found that only 26 percent believe their bosses are doing enough to encourage innovation. The study by Deloitte ToucheTohmatsu Limited, publishedin January, reported 78 percent believe innovation is crucial for growing businesses.

Jones says there are some definite steps business leaders can and should take to ensure their company is hearing employees’ ideas, recognizingopportunities, and ensuring a clear path to execution.

1. Build a culture of experimentation. Not every project will succeed but you can’t learn from mistakes if you don’t allow them to happen. The corollary: Always analyze what went wrong. Why didn’t it work? To use a sports analogy, watch the “game films" to improve and learn as much from failure as you do from success. One fast and easy way to experiment is to test options out online. Whether it’s polling customers, measuring which approach gets the best response, or allowing a segment of your customer base to test drive a new tool, the results can be invaluable..

2. Kill projects not people. In many companies, people stop offering up ideas and volunteering for projects because the punishment for failure is greater than the reward for success. Lunch with the boss or a $100 bonus do not compensate for the risk of being demoted or fired, or suffering a tarnished reputation. When a project fails in a company with a culture of experimentation, the first thing you shoulddo is say, "Bob, what would you like to work on now?!"

3. Break thru the “Bozone layer.” Some of the greatest ideas for innovation will come from the employees on the front lines – those in direct contact with customers or production. But their ideas will never float up to the executive suite if you’ve created a “Bozone layer” by making it too risky for middle managers to experiment. (See No. 2.) While you’re turning the culture around, find ways to reach down to the front lines to solicit  ideas. Implement them and reward the contributors with a big, public shout out – which will help you start changing for the culture.

4. Install “sensors” to pick up customers’ ideas. Don’t just look to employees for innovation – learn from your customers. They have ideas for new products and new uses for existing products, and their customer service complaints are a fertile source of ideas for improvement. Listen! Social media or a forum on the company website is a good sensor for picking up ideas; Glad Wrap’s 1000 Uses site is loaded with them. For customer service complaints, Travelocityinstalled a lobby phone booth where anyone in the company could listen in on customer service calls. Once a month, everyone was expected to provide feedback on at least two of those calls, and suggest an improvement to eliminate similar future calls plus a work-around for the interim.

About Terry Jones

Terry Jones founded Travelocity.com in 1996 and led the company as president and CEO until May 2002. He is managing principal of On, Inc, a consultancy he cofounded to help companies in their transition to the digital economy, and serves as chairman of the board at Kayak.com, which he also helped found. Previously Jones had a 24-year career at American Airlines holding various executive positions, rising to Chief Information Officer at their SABRE Division. Jones is the holder of several patents, has served on the boards of directors of 10 companies and began his career as a travel agent in Chicago. He holds a degree in history from Denison University.

Loebsack and Bustos Also Ask Department of Defense For A Budgetary Analysis That Explains Why Currently Planned Furloughs Are Necessary In First Place

Currently Planned Civilian Furloughs At Rock Island Arsenal Could Hurt Quad Cities Economy

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Dave Loebsack and Congresswoman Cheri Bustos urged the Department of Defense (DOD) to avoid making any civilian furloughs this year.  In a joint letter to the Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, Loebsack and Bustos reiterated their opposition to sequestration and said that while all government departments and agencies need to tighten their belts, the recent decision to furlough the civilian workforce for 14 days this fiscal year could not only have a lasting negative impact on morale, readiness, national security, and safety, but could also deal a big blow to local communities across the country, including the Quad Cities region in Illinois and Iowa, which is home to the Rock Island Arsenal.

A copy of the letter from Loebsack and Bustos is below.

The Honorable Charles T. Hagel

Secretary of Defense

100 Defense Pentagon

Washington, D.C. 20301-1000

Dear Secretary Hagel,

We understand that our nation faces long-term fiscal challenges, and that all government departments and agencies need to tighten their belts and look for ways to cut costs.  We are deeply opposed to sequestration and continue to support replacing it with real, responsible, and balanced deficit reduction.  However, we also fear that the decision by the Department of Defense (DOD) to furlough the civilian workforce for 14 days this fiscal year could not only have a lasting negative impact on morale, readiness, national security, and safety, but will also have significant economic consequences in local communities and across the country.

The recently passed Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, which became law on March 26, 2013, provided additional Operations and Maintenance funds to provide greater flexibility to DOD.  That funding allowed for the recently announced reduction in furloughs, which will provide a small measure of relief.  However, we remain strongly concerned that any furloughs will put families at risk of financial hardship through no fault of their own and could be a big blow to local economies throughout the country, including our region in Illinois and Iowa.  They could also jeopardize security clearances, family stability, ability to meet mission requirements, and worksite safety.

We also fear that furloughs could cause long-term damage in attracting new talent into DOD.  Reduction in pay, uncertainty, and hardship caused by furloughs could dissuade many well-qualified and talented individuals from pursuing DOD careers in the first place.

Again, while the recent announcement regarding the reduction in furlough days provides some measure of relief, we remain greatly concerned about the impact any furloughs will have. We urge you to make every effort and examine every avenue possible to avoid any furloughs for the remainder of FY13.  We also ask for the budgetary analysis that explains why the currently planned furloughs are necessary.  If the Department is unable to completely eliminate furloughs, we urge you to communicate to Congress the requirements, flexibility, or resources that are needed to avoid furloughs and preserve military readiness.

Sincerely,

Cheri Bustos                         Dave Loebsack

Member of Congress                       Member of Congress

(DES MOINES) – Gov. Terry Branstad today announced he will lead a trade delegation, including four governors, to China in mid-April. This brief trip to China was at the invitation of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and will include meetings with senior government officials, current and potential business partners, a U.S. – China Governors Forum and celebration events to recognize Iowa’s 30^th anniversary of a sister state with the Chinese province of Hebei.

“Our state has a long and unique history with China’s new President, Xi Jinping,” said Gov. Branstad. “President Xi visited our state in 1985 and saw firsthand that Iowans are hardworking and sincere people who take pride in the work they do and the products they produce. He never forgot the people and the memories from his first trip to Iowa.  We hope to foster our unique relationship with President Xi and the people of China leading to stronger economic partnerships benefiting both the people of Iowa and the people of China.”

The Governor and his delegation will spend four full days in China and visit the cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Baoding City and Shijiazhuang.

“International trade is extremely important to the people of Iowa as it supports tens of thousands of jobs right here in our state,” said Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds. “China is an important trading partner with Iowa, importing $3.2 billion worth of goods last year. We want to foster our trading partnership with China to provide our safe and reliable products to feed their population of over 1.37 billion people.”

The following governors will participate in the trade mission led by Gov. Branstad:

Gov. Eddie Calvo (Guam)

Gov. Bob McDonnell (Va.)

Gov. Scott Walker (Wis.)

The following organizations will be represented on the trade mission with Gov. Branstad: