How can companies ensure that the best idea wins — not the loudest voice, the highest rank, or the longest tenure? At Modell Aachen, we talk internally about the “Arena of the Best Ideas.” This reflects a mindset: we want to run a company where proposals are judged not by the status of the person presenting them, but by the value they create for our customers. But how do you turn this intention into reality — and make sure the best idea truly prevails?
Our experience from countless customer projects shows: rigid structures often prevent good ideas from ever surfacing. Hierarchies, silo thinking, and lack of involvement act as brakes. To change that, two levers help:
Lever 1 – Create real opportunities to participate
Everyone in the organization must have a genuine chance to sit at the (virtual) decision-making table. This isn’t about goodwill — it’s a necessary system function. Decision-making paths must be defined so that participation is structurally possible.
This “enabling” boosts the effectiveness of decisions because acceptance grows: people who are involved identify more strongly, recognize the value of processes they helped shape, and naturally integrate them into their daily work. The success rate of organizational changes rises significantly. In short: effectiveness is achieved through acceptance — by design, not by chance.
Lever 2 – Actively invite participation
Simply offering the possibility of participation is not enough. To make qualified decisions, you also need an active invitation for knowledge holders to join the decision-making process. Experts must automatically be brought in when their expertise is relevant.
This invitation cannot be left to chance — it has to be systematically anchored in the management system. A practical tip from our experience: don’t assign process responsibility “as high as possible” in the hierarchy, but exactly where the knowledge and competence are located to evaluate a proposed change.
For us, effective participation means that employees are not only responsible for execution, but are also actively invited to contribute to goal-setting, planning, and steering (= process design).
Of course, openness and invitations to share opinions don’t mean endless debates or decision-making by consensus. A common question is: “Doesn’t this just turn into grassroots democracy?”
My answer: no. Participation through a participatory management system does not contradict clear decision-making authority. Leadership retains responsibility for ensuring decisions are made — and for setting the necessary framework with the help of the management system, including the crucial question: Who has the final say on a proposed change?
When both levers are put into practice and employees are actively included in decision-making processes, the impact is clear:
From our experience, companies where the best ideas prevail usually show these signs:
If not all of these apply to your organization, two key questions help guide you forward:
Organizations that can convincingly answer these questions have laid the foundation for the best ideas to succeed. Those that cannot are leaving effectiveness to chance — and wasting valuable potential.
For us, this isn’t theory but lived practice. The “Arena of the Best Ideas” and enabling participation is not an idealized vision, but a principle that makes organizations faster, more resilient, and more effective. Embedding opportunities and invitations for participation into the system is part of our daily work, our consulting practice, and the foundation for long-term, sustainable success.
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