I've noticed a growing trend in the type of people I love working with. It lies around their reaction to ideas during brainstorms and client discussions. They are never immediately dismissive of any idea. Even if the idea thrown out makes no sense whatsoever, the merits are carefully considered and rejected based on sound judgment.
By not outright rejecting ideas (ESPECIALLY by saying "that's not the way we've done it before), further discussion often results in making the idea better or jumping off to different solutions.
I want to work with people who first ask how something can work vs. saying there's no way something can be done. I don't mind someone tempering an idea with words of caution...in fact you need those people. But there's a difference between "we need to make sure we have (x) to make this happen", vs. "that doesn't sound good, look at what you need to make it work"....what a buzzkill.
It's their connotation as much as it is what they're actually saying. Get those people out of the discussion and watch how much better you can stretch your ideas.
Monday, April 20, 2009
The type of people I want to work with
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2 comments:
Couldn't agree more, John. I touch on it (tangentially) here, in fact: http://tr.im/kfTJ
I recall a brainstorming guideline where before you could criticize a peer's idea you had to find something positive about it. In any case, your post totally resonates. Hopefully encountering such enlightened attitudes will become less rare (I suspect not at all rare at the very top). Thanks.
- Charlie / 'bigcharles'
Thanks, Charlie. Yes, we need more of these folks!
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