Ideas successfully generated within firms do not always result in implementation. Drawing upon a rich body of research on creativity and innovation, this study delves into the socio-political process of intrafirm innovation to propose how ideas evolve into innovation. We argue that idea creators can leverage their social ties with top management team (TMT) members to efficiently capture managerial attention, garner political support, and streamline the decision-making process. Thus, even when possessing comparable attributes to other ideas, the ideas of creators who have close social connections with politically powerful TMT members are more likely to be selected and implemented within their firms. Moreover, we highlight that the uncertainty regarding the potential returns of ideas is a boundary condition of the socio-political process of intrafirm innovation. Specifically, we argue that the socio-political process becomes more pronounced when implementing exploratory ideas with uncertain returns. In contrast, it is less evident when creators build their ideas upon star creators to mitigate the associated uncertainty. We find supportive evidence from the intrafirm collaboration network for patenting activities. This study provides valuable insights into why some creative ideas get stuck while others are implemented.
