Two Words That Will Kill Any Idea

Companies are filled with devil39s advocates people who are closed to new ideas and who39ll chip away at anything that disrupts the status quo The underlying motivation for a devil39s advocate is usually insecurity or fear of change This can have dire consequences for organizationsWhile the majority of chief marketing officers state that innovation is crucial for their business the reality is that creating a culture of innovation is difficult That39s why today39s leaders need to fill their team with 39Ideas Advocates39 people who are curiously openminded and proactive in developing new ways of thinkingWhen introduced to an idea that may not quite work instead of shutting it down immediately Ideas Advocates will continually seek alternatives or suggestions to make it work I39ve adhered to five principles to create a team of Ideas AdvocatesUnconventional casting fosters diversityWhen assembling ideation teams I aim for deeplevel diversity amp8212 ie people with different personalities values attributes and abilitiesamp160Research suggests that cognitively diverse teams tend to generate more original and useful ideas A team could include for example the graduate intern who is brimming with fresh ideas and the office manager who is the eyes and ears of the company39s culturePersonal agendas stay outside meetingsBrainstorming successfully means that personal agendas are left out of the room So I begin ideation sessions with a reminder to quotleave your business card at the doorquot Egos and personal motivations need to be absent We are all creative human equals regardless of official job titlesMy favorite football team in my home country of Australia is the Sydney Swans During the early2000s the Swans were on a huge losing streak with young inexperienced players and a limited budget to buy better ones The new head coach at the time famously said quotWe39re implementing a nodckheads policyquot and removed anyone that had an egodriven agenda He focused on building strength in the culture and unity of the team The Swans went on to win the AFL grand finalequotYes andquot replaces quotYes butquotI39ve placed a total ban on momentumkilling words includingamp160noamp160butamp160can39t andamp160thatwon39twork I39m not suggesting that ideas shouldn39t be challenged They absolutely should Otherwise we39ll end up with innovations likeamp160the Colgate TV Dinner Instead I encourage Ideas Advocates to rely on the phrase 39Yes and39 amp8212 a common technique borrowed from improvisational comedy 39Yes and39 encourages teams to think divergently free from limitationsCuriosity leads to breakthroughsMy twoyearold sonamp160lovesamp160caterpillars goesamp160ballisticamp160over rainbows and isamp160obsessedamp160with ducks Remember when we were that age Everything was curiously fascinating But guess what Life drums this curiosity out of us We39re told to conform to not ask questions to accept that we can39t have spaghetti for breakfast I39m still trying to figure why not I encourage my team to embrace their inner toddler and be curious againKaizen is best lived professionally and personallyKaizen is a Japanese word that means 39continuous improvement39 Coming out of the rubble of World War Two Japanese industries needed a way to compete on the world stage again Toyota famously applied Kaizen in its 39Toyota Way39 manufacturing processes The idea is simple you could have the perfect financial year product team or idea but there39s always a way to improve on this by 5This is the opposite of the triedandtrue quotif it ain39t broke don39t fix itquot Encyclopedia Britannica had this approach in 1995 and it didn39t work for them I39ve made Kaizen the philosophy for my professional and personal lifeI39ve found that creating a culture that supports Ideas Advocates requires strong leadership that doesn39t view innovation as purely a technology play but rather as a cultural one It also needs systems that incentivize trial and learning from mistakes And it requires a team of people who are curiously openminded with a strong desire to keep trying until something worksAdapting these principles for yourself could help you nurture the Ideas Advocates in your organization Just make sure the devil39s advocates don39t talk you out of itJeff Tan is managing director of product and innovation Dentsu Aegis Network USA and chair of DAN Innovation Center of ExcellenceCommentary written by Jeff TanClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers amp160

APPLY FOR JOBS | SUBMIT YOUR RESUME | REGISTER FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT

Two Words That Will Kill Any Idea

Publish date

Channel

APPLY FOR JOBS | SUBMIT YOUR RESUME | REGISTER FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT

Two Words That Will Kill Any Idea

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Cookies