This month's FastCompany has an excellent FastTalk piece (subscription or access code required) about an exec at BestBuy and her approach to managing and cultivating innovation.
The money quote:
"If you're going to turn on an innovation engine, a lot depends on whether managers listen for the brilliance in their employees' ideas that they can then help test, or whether they listen for what's wrong and why it won't work. Nate's idea didn't work at first, but his bosses saw something in it to keep trying. Creating that kind of open environment is the biggest hurdle we face."
So, I ask, what are you listening for -- brilliance and potential or downsides and barriers?