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Have you Robbed your Team Lately?
Insight:
Over and over again, I observe how good
ideas are left unsaid. Instead of speaking up and
offering valuable ideas, people stay quiet:
- "I didn’t want my idea to be shot down."
- "My idea was incomplete and I didn’t know how
to implement it."
- "I didn’t want to step on anyone's toes."
- "Someone else must have already thought of it."
People often let their concerns and discomfort get in
the way of sharing their ideas. This can rob their
team of a valuable contribution.
Let me share a secret from my experience: the most
innovative ideas are created when someone takes a
risk and shares an incomplete idea. That sparks a
thought from someone else, a few people add to it,
and ultimately a great idea is born.
Here’s a story from Pacific Power and Light (PP&L)
that I believe is true:
After snow storms, ice formed on PP&L’s electrical
wires and linesmen were sent to climb the poles to
shake off the ice before the weight broke the lines.
Several linesmen had recently fallen, and the team
was brainstorming other ways to remove the ice.
During the meeting, one of the linesmen shared his
story of coming face to face with a bear as he was
servicing the lines. Someone joked about
training the bears to climb the poles so that their
weight would shake off the ice. Everyone laughed.
Then someone else added, "After storms, we can fly
around in a helicopter and put pots of honey on each
pole so that the bears will climb them." Someone else
jumped in: "Well, maybe we can just fly over the
poles and the air turbulence from the helicopter will
clear the lines."
Ever since that meeting, PP&L uses the air
turbulence of helicopters to remove ice from their
lines.
The original idea of training bears to climb the poles
was absurd--indeed it was said as a joke. But if the
original thought had not been shared, the idea of
using helicopters would not have been created.
Action:
Speak up and share your ideas even if you
are uncomfortable. Invite people to brainstorm with
you.
Your ideas are valuable. When you don’t share them,
you are robbing the organization and your team of a
possibility. And you are robbing yourself of personal
satisfaction. Remember, good ideas usually are
created by a team. And they often start with one
person sharing an incomplete idea.
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Key Action: |
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Speak up and share your
ideas even if you are uncomfortable. Invite people
to brainstorm with you.
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