Most companies run on a default innovation setting.
It’s a lot of “wait and hope” or “toss ideas over the wall.”
You too must have talented people, solid processes, and maybe even an idea box in place.
But if your pipeline is full of random, unaligned ideas, you may be missing the simplest fix of all: knowing when to pull instead of waiting for someone to push.
When it comes to innovation, waiting for ideas to emerge organically (Push) is like fishing without bait.
Pull innovation flips that: it gives leaders more control, sharper focus, and higher-impact outcomes.
Say Jenna from your HR department had an idea that could’ve saved your company $100,000 a year.
But she didn’t think it was “the right time” or “her place” to bring it up. So she didn’t.
This happens every single day.
So, the question becomes: are you creating a culture where innovators like Jenna are expected to push ideas on a whim? Or are you actively pulling them out before they disappear?
What exactly is Push vs. Pull innovation strategy?
Push innovation is what happens when someone says, “Hey, I’ve got an idea,” and takes it upon themselves to share it.
There’s no prompt, no official call for ideas. It’s employees noticing a problem or seeing an opportunity and stepping up.
You’ll usually see this happen in teams that have a strong culture of trust or where people feel safe speaking up.
A healthy innovation strategy, no doubt. Anyone and everyone has the right to generate ideas and share them anytime from
For instance, imagine a developer at your workplace built an internal tool over a weekend to simplify store onboarding.
It wasn’t a leadership directive, but he knew it would help because he lived with the problem.
That kind of proactive creativity is Push innovation. The idea was pushed up the chain and eventually adopted into their broader workflow.
But here’s the issue: relying only on Push innovation assumes your people always know when, where, and what they should be innovating on.
And even if they do, they might hesitate to raise their hand.
In fact, according to a study by PwC, only 53% of employees feel their ideas are valued at work, and even fewer believe those ideas will be acted on.
So unless you’ve built a rock-solid culture where every employee feels empowered to voice solutions unprompted and you’ve removed all the red tape, push-only innovation is going to leave good ideas on the table.
Now let’s flip it. Pull innovation is when leadership says, “We need help solving this challenge,” and asks the talent.
You’re intentionally drawing them out by setting the direction.
It’s focused. It’s structured. It actually gives people permission to innovate without needing to “earn” that right.
Let’s make this real.
Take the example of GreyB.
They ran an internal innovation challenge asking employees how to make their workplace more sustainable.
Hundreds of ideas rolled in because the ask was clear, and it was tied to a mission employees cared about.
The winning ideas were piloted almost instantly and other ideas refined and collaborated on till satisfaction.
That’s Pull innovation done right.
Now here’s what nobody tells you: both styles have their place, but most companies lean hard into just one.
They either wait for genius to bubble up (Push), or they run a flashy hackathon once a year (Pull) and call it a day.
But the sweet spot? That’s when you’ve got both systems running side-by-side, spontaneous ideas flowing up and targeted ideas being pulled in.
And if you’re serious about closing the gap, start with these questions:
- Are you giving people enough visibility into what actually needs solving?
- Do your employees know their ideas are safe and more importantly, wanted?
- Are you making it easy for both Push and Pull to happen with the right tools and systems?
Why Pull Innovation Is the Strategic Advantage Most Teams Miss?
When you use Pull intentionally, you’re not just crowdsourcing creativity, you’re aiming it at the right problems, at the right time, with the right context.
It gives people a reason to innovate and a direction to follow.
That’s what turns innovation from something “nice to have” into a real growth engine.
Think of it like this.
When a global manufacturing company wanted to improve energy efficiency in commercial water heating systems for their users, they didn’t wait around for someone to pitch something in a vacuum.
Instead, they proactively launched an internal innovation challenge asking, “How can we optimize our water heating systems to achieve greater energy efficiency and sustainability?”
This initiative invited cross-functional teams, including engineering, R&D, product, and sustainability departments—to collaborate and contribute.
And the results? Within 3 months, the company developed a prototype of a new water heating system that significantly reduced energy consumption.
This example illustrates how leveraging innovation challenges can harness internal expertise to address specific business objectives, leading to tangible improvements in product performance and sustainability.
That’s the Pull advantage:
- It focuses energy on what matters most.
- It engages people outside the usual “innovation circles.”
- It works within timeframes that align with your real business decisions like quarterly planning, budget cycles, or product roadmaps.
- And maybe most important: it drives actionable outcomes.
How to Actually Balance Push and Pull Innovation (Without Overcomplicating It)
This isn’t about launching some fancy program or adding a new feature to your intranet.
It’s about changing how ideas move through your company, day to day.
If you’re serious about getting both spontaneous ideas and strategically aligned solutions, here’s how you can start building that balance.
#1 Audit how ideas are currently showing up
Start by asking: Where do ideas come from right now?
- Are they coming through Slack threads, email inboxes, or someone cornering their manager after a meeting?
- Are people just sharing random suggestions, or are they responding to real business needs?
Look at your last 20-30 ideas.
- Who submitted them? (Is it always the same 5 people?)
- Were they tied to any business priority?
- How many got implemented?
If most ideas are unsolicited and off-target, you’re heavy on Push. If your team only responds when there’s a formal call for ideas, you’re running a Pull-only setup.
Want to start things on a lighter note? Use a simple idea tracking dashboard.
#2 Run a focused Pull challenge around a real business priority
Don’t overthink it.
Pick one challenge your leadership team is already talking about, like reducing churn, cutting onboarding time, or improving product accessibility.
Here’s an innovation challenge checklist: Kickoff your challenge the right way.
Make sure it’s a problem everyone can relate to, then open it up to 3-4 functions across your org.
Give people context (data, examples, constraints) and set a clear deadline.
This is a Pull innovation challenge in its simplest form. Once people see their ideas can actually get implemented, participation goes up automatically.
#3 Make pushing ideas feel frictionless—and safe.
This is where most companies mess up. They say, “We’re open to ideas,” but then bury them in forms, committees, or silence.
Here’s what to do:
- Set up a single place (it could be Trello, or a lightweight focused idea tool like InspireIP, integrated to your existing stack) where anyone can submit an idea at any time and from anywhere.
- Make the submission dead simple: What’s the idea? What problem does it solve? Why now? Here’s an idea submission form template: Get it for free!
- Most importantly: Show what happens next. People will stop sharing if they never hear back.
And if someone’s idea doesn’t make the cut, be clear and respectful. Feedback builds trust.
#4 Measure what’s actually working—and let the data guide you.
Start tracking:
- How many ideas came through Push vs. Pull?
- How many of those ideas were implemented?
- Which ones had real impact (revenue, cost-saving, efficiency gains, etc.)?
Separate the metrics: look at idea volume, quality, implementation rate, and outcome.
For example:
- Push ideas: 50 submitted, 5 implemented, 1 drove revenue
- Pull ideas: 30 submitted, 10 implemented, 4 drove measurable impact
Now you know which model is producing not just ideas, but results.
Then… double down on what’s working.
If Pull-led challenges are leading to more high-quality, implementable ideas, don’t just note it, make them a regular part of your innovation process.
If Push is surfacing powerful outlier ideas, celebrate them publicly and keep the flow going.
TL;DR: Innovation Isn’t Either/Or—It’s Yes, And.
The bottom line?
You don’t need a “culture of innovation” poster on the wall. You need a system where:
- People know when to speak up on their own (Push), and
- They’re also invited to solve meaningful problems (Pull).
Push lets ideas flow up organically. Pull channels that creativity into real business needs. The smartest innovation strategies know when to do both and how to make each one count.
Once both engines are running, you’ll stop getting random ideas—and start getting the ones that move your business forward.
Ready to rethink your innovation ecosystem?
