There are issues for employers here, too. In most cases, the desire of workers to be seen to be talented, to win promotion and greater financial reward, is sufficient incentive. But as brighter, younger people tire of corporate hierarchies and become less willing to wait for their reward, the danger of staff leaving their brains at home can only grow. This means losing the fear that promoting the idea of your subordinates will threaten your position, which is not always easy. What is true at an individual level applies to institutions, too.
Some organisations share ideas confidently while others are parsimonious.
In government, the policy unit is pretty porous, exchanging and sharing ideas across Whitehall. Gordon Brown's team, by contrast, are said to be more insular. The society has a reservoir of accumulated knowledge on a range of issues. We want the organisation to be known for its intellectual generosity. We promise always to tag ideas to the person from whom it came.