Despite the many positive aspects of Idea management, there are disadvantages to it as well.
Many things can stand in the way of a good idea becoming discussed and/or implemented into a corporate method of operation. For instance, most employees do not have an ample amount of time to sit around discussing their ideas and thoughts on a job since they are usually and hopefully performing their job, instead of chatting with fellow employees about it. And even though break times are provided, in-depth idea development discussions are not commonly recorded at these breaks.
Another example is the employee himself or herself. Not all individuals enjoy speaking or discussing their ideas because of shyness, skepticism regarding the worth or validity of their ideas or a fear of being poked at or made a laughing stock in front of their colleagues.
Also, since there are few individuals and even fewer ways to effectively record good ideas, upper management rarely has the opportunity to take notice of creative, worthwhile ideas and often lacks the desire to do so.
Lastly, most employees have not had any training regarding critical thinking and how to fully develop and utilize to the best capacity a well-formed idea.