Core Insights - Innovation is viewed as a key strategy for companies to maintain competitiveness and drive new business development, relying on both top-down and bottom-up creative inputs [1][2] - Middle managers play a crucial role in filtering employee ideas before they reach senior leadership, which can enhance efficiency but may also hinder the advancement of valuable ideas [1][2] Research Findings - In initial experiments, it was found that when managers support successful employee ideas, both the manager and employee gain status, but the employee's gain is greater, leading to a relative decline in the manager's status [2] - Conversely, when supported ideas fail, both parties lose status, with managers experiencing a more significant loss compared to the potential gain from successful ideas [2][3] - The phenomenon termed "creative supporter dilemma" indicates that while managers may wish to support employee ideas, they often face status loss in doing so, particularly when ideas fail [3][10] Managerial Considerations - Managers anticipate that supporting successful ideas will lead to a loss of status relative to employees, and they also expect to lose status if they support ideas that fail [4] - This perception of status change can lead managers to reject potentially innovative ideas, despite organizational aspirations for innovation [4][10] Recommended Actions - Companies should establish innovation review teams to evaluate ideas collectively, reducing reliance on individual managers and mitigating personal biases [5][6] - Creating platforms for knowledge sharing can facilitate idea exchange and innovation, similar to successful open-source models [7] - Adjusting managerial incentives to minimize perceived status loss from supporting innovative ideas is crucial, especially for more innovative concepts [8] - Cultivating a culture that embraces learning from failure can help reduce the stigma associated with unsuccessful ideas, as seen in companies like Google and Corning [9][10]