In a knowledge-driven economy, employees’ ideas are crucial to fuel innovation and growth. But if they don’t feel safe sharing them, how can organisations support a culture of collaboration? Professor Lillien Ellis looks at arguments.
Someone in your workplace has just had an idea so compelling it could change everything. But then, doubt creeps in: what if someone steals it?
This concern is more common than one might think. In today’s knowledge-driven economy, ideas are more than fleeting thoughts – they are powerful assets.
They fuel innovation, propel businesses forward, and shape industries by offering unique competitive advantages.
For creators to succeed, collaboration and feedback are essential to the process. Yet every time they share their work, they risk exposing their ideas to potential theft.
Protecting ideas
The fear of idea theft isn’t just paranoia – it’s a legitimate concern affecting workers across all levels of organisations.
Some research suggests that as many as four-fifths of employees have had ideas stolen by a boss. Almost a third of employees claim a colleague stole an idea at least once.
Yet, many leaders dismiss the notion that idea theft is a major concern. They want employees to focus on collaboration because, surely, no one can own an idea, and ideas are a dime a dozen.
There are also counter-narratives about why people shouldn’t worry about idea theft. However, many employees see things differently.
I hear stories all the time where someone comes up with an idea for, say, a pitch for a marketing campaign or a new product, and someone else takes it on and gets all the credit, while the originator is left frustrated, angry and violated, and therefore much less likely to share their thoughts in the future.
Protection paradox
Organisations face a challenging conundrum: they need employees to share ideas freely to foster innovation, but employees often hesitate due to fear of theft.
And if employees are afraid that their ideas might be stolen, will this influence how or when, or indeed, if they will ever share their ideas?
A new study that I conducted with Brian Lucas of Cornell University uncovered a surprising gap between when creators think their ideas are at risk and when idea thieves actually strike.
Creators often assume thieves target polished, fully developed ideas – ones they can steal with minimal effort. But our findings suggest otherwise. We found that idea thieves prefer to target ideas in their early stages, when they’re still developing.
What about the ethics of stealing ideas? Is there an argument to be made that taking, or “borrowing”, early-stage ideas is simply drawing inspiration rather than outright theft?
‘Ethical’ stealing
Creators typically view idea thieves as immoral and unethical. However, our research found that idea thieves reported considering how to minimise harm and take the idea in the most ethical way possible.
Our research reveals that idea thieves’ preference for early-stage ideas is directly tied to their moral reasoning.
Indeed, stealing early-stage ideas feels less unethical to thieves because they can more easily construe it as “drawing inspiration” rather than a blatantly unethical act; ideas at earlier stages have consumed fewer of the creator’s resources than later-stage ideas, and this allows thieves to feel they are minimising the harm caused by stealing the idea.
Rather than dismissing concerns about idea theft, organisations need to actively address them.”
The implications of idea theft extend far beyond individual frustration, and it can be more damaging to workplace relationships than financial theft.
This damage to trust can have serious consequences for organisations. Creativity is an important part of job performance and an individual’s relevance and value to a firm, especially in the knowledge economy.
People need to know that when they invest their creative capital in a business, there will be returns. But if workers don’t feel this is happening, it is reasonable for them to leave and invest those efforts elsewhere.
Creative safety
Rather than dismissing concerns about idea theft, organisations need to actively address them.
It is also important for leaders to communicate their values. One of those key values, in this instance, is that the company values employees’ creative contributions and wants to recognise them.
I would advocate for developing clear cultural norms around creative attribution. It is not so much about walking around constantly acknowledging that “it was so-and-so’s idea”, but rather to be very conscious and intentional about amplifying the creative ideas and the creative contributions people bring to the table. Recognising good work and great ideas comes at no cost.
While some argue that ideas cannot truly be owned or stolen, I would argue that this misses the reality.
It is a rich and engaging philosophical question, but let’s not let it distract from the real issue, which is that people are afraid of their ideas being stolen and it can affect how well they work.
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