I no nothing about this sort of thing but.. what about employees on the board of directors, advisory board or creating an employee board to fill this role?

I now that european labour socialism, unionism and some asian management paradigms have included things like this in the past. Are there any useful takeaways from those experiments?

I realize that the purpose of a board is to bring in a perspective less tainted by the day-to-day, but there can often be a disconnect between day to day and "horizon." Connecting the two is important. Assuming smart people, who's to say that employees would not be as capable of bridging that gap then some independent advisor with useful experience elsewhere, but not much understanding of the company itself.

The few times that I have been privy to that kind of discussion boards and advisors are supposed to be involved with (with real stakes involved), I always thought they had a poor grasp on some important aspects. Big ideas need to play to the strength of the company. Insiders have a distinct advantage here. Ideas that employees really like, have a extra advantage.