What happened to my great idea?
I have a great idea!
Sometimes we have a great idea and cannot wait to share it with our team! You present it with enthusiasm and it is well received by the team, but the implementation takes forever, or doesn’t occur. What happened?
You were excited, and your first instinct was to sell the team on your idea, so they recognize the value in your proposition and embrace it like you did. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that anyone will be as enthusiastic and invested as you are, as they were not engaged in the creation.
SO what happened?
Your team quickly realized “which way the wind was blowing” and likely did not bring up crucial implementation issues or take the time to consult with key members of their teams. You vouched for the idea, so no real fact finding was done to support or refute the proposition. Unintentionally, you have directed the team while showing little interest in their opinion, or even worse, it could be seen by them as an authoritarian act. Either way, it may well cost you social capital and reduce your team’s trust.
Are you listening?
As leaders, we all like to believe that we are open to feedback, but it’s very difficult to provide a peer with honest objective feedback, never mind your boss. The very fact that you presented it with enthusiasm was read by your team as your emotional attachment to the idea. It would take a very strong and skilled subordinate to dissuade you from seeing it through.
Getting it right
It IS possible to bring good ideas to your team, to have them accepted and implemented. The key part of the process is to consider what business issues the elements of your idea were trying to satisfy and to take this to the team, so they can form their own ideas.
To learn how to present great ideas and remove the emotional baggage from the decision-making process, contact C-Link Consulting at (248) 781-0150, email info@c-link.consulting, or fill out the form below. We can show you how to use that great idea to stimulate a broader, healthy discussion, which will result in your team being both personally invested in the process and committed to the implementation.