Great ideas can come from anywhere at any time. You have to be able to capture them and pull them out at just the right moment to get the most out of them. To manage ideas mean you provide the best circumstances possible to cultivate those ideas. You provide processes that not only capture ideas but evolve them as well. You motivate and reward the development of those ideas. You grow them by aligning them with the objectives set before you - by comparing them to what was done in the past, and by providing access to information without quenching an idea too quickly or moving on one to hastily.

An idea manager rarely comes up with the great ideas. He just knows where to look for them and provide an environment where they can flourish.

A good idea manager not only asks why, but tries to get all parties to see from different perspectives - to toy with the possibilities and to not shut the door on a strategy until it's been placed on the table. The basic tenets of a good IM process is that it:

1.) Allows team members to contribute ideas
2.) Encourages "creatives" to consider certain alternatives to executing on that strategy
3.) Assists clients in capturing the visions and going along with ideas they might otherwise view as risky
4.) Helps garner client approval through collaboration.

So, in this section, I'll dive a little further into the role of idea management. Then check out the blog and other resources on this topic. Provide your own thoughts and opinions about how we can make great ideas happen.