LEADERSHIP WEDNESDAY: The Truth About Ideas

Where do all your great ideas come from?

Good ideas aren’t born in a vacuum.  They come from a mash-up of our experiences, circumstances, learning, wisdom, and probably a whole host of other elements.  Ideas are molecules, not atoms.

As a leader, I spend a lot of time with people.  I’ve been in leadership for a while, but I’ve only just began to appreciate people as a dependable source of great ideas.  It only makes sense, and I’m pretty dense (usually) for not grasping it sooner.  If ideas are the children of our experiences, circumstances, etc. then isn’t it obvious that gaining insights from a select few would deepen the gene-pool?

Why a select few?  Well, just like all ideas aren’t created equal, idea-people aren’t either.  Sound mean?  Maybe, but if you have the time to listen to hundreds of ideas and sort through the bad and good to find the best, be my guest.  This is one area where quality trumps quantity.  Better to listen to people who have one great idea out of three than one out of twenty.

The most important consideration here is that your select few must be people who will present ideas that challenge you as well as the status quo (because often YOU, leader, ARE the status quo).  The best ideas are pervasive and transformative.  They get under your skin.  The truth can be uncomfortable; the unknown, scary.  Do your people have the courage to be honest with you?  Have you given them permission to be?

One last thing about ideas and idea-people.  The best ones don’t care if they get the credit.  Give it to them anyway.