Idea Killers
If you've been in business for any length of time at all, you've probably experienced an idea killer. You or someone you know has a good idea and before it has a chance to breathe its first breath an idea killer strangles it in infancy. In the October 2010 Harvard Business Review, John P. Kotter identifies 24 idea killing questions and proposes ways to deal with them.
We Can't Because...
Most idea killing assaults take the form of:We can't because... or We don't need to because...
- we don't have the money
- it won't work
- it's not who we are
- you haven't thought about all of the issues
- it's too big or it's too trivial
Don't Wing It
New ideas seem to create an enthusiastic desire to share the new idea with everyone you talk to. Kotter's advice is don't do it. Don't wing it. Before you share the fledgling idea with anyone, take a few minutes to anticipate the kind of reaction you'll get from what I call the corporate immune system--the people who would rather kill a new idea than take the time to consider it.What will higher management say? What will people who've been doing it the same way forever say? They're going to start with "we can't because..." and add some seemingly rational sounding reason. How are you going to respond? How can you gently challenge the irrationality in their answer? How can you garner support for the idea before you tackle the curmudgeons?
Kotter recommends responding with short, clear, common sense answers to the idea killer. I'd recommend using some sleight of mouth to flip their criticism.
Idea Killer |
Sleight of Mouth |
|---|---|
| We can't because we don't have the money. | How would not having enough money make it even easier and more effective to implement? |
| We can't because it won't work. | Not even trying means it really can't work. As John Wooden would say: You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. |
| We can't because it's not who we are. | You're right, it's not about who we are, it's about who our customers want us to be. |
| You haven't thought about all of the issues. | What issues, specifically? |
| We can't because it's too big. | How are we supposed to grow if we don't tackle big ideas? |
| We don't need to because it's too trivial. | How can anything that benefits customers be too trivial? |
Get the idea? We need to imagine what people will say and how to respond to it, because everyone isn't going to be on our side.
Turn your ears on. Listen to the idea killers you hear every day. Make a list. Use it to prepare any new idea for the storms of criticism it's sure to create.
Be prepared. Don't wing it. Develop a reasoned response for every idea killer you've heard as a way to prepare an idea for it's coming out party.
Start with fans. Reveal the idea to people you trust, who you'd expect to be fans of the idea. They will probably offer improvements. Tune up the idea as it goes so that it becomes more robust. Some of the people you trust will offer idea killers. Practice your response on them.
Be flexible. Once you start spreading the idea, assume that you'll hear a new idea killer that you've never heard before. Take a moment to digest it, figure out how to sleight-of-mouth it and respond as Kotter says with short, simple, common sense.
Idea killers stop progress. They don't mean to, but they are probably overwhelmed and can't tolerate one more thing, even if it will make their life better. Your job is to be more resourceful than they are and help them see a way forward that won't cost them much but deliver huge value.
Become an idea merchant. Learn how to prepare your idea, anticipate objections and respond with clarity. You'll get more done and the world will be a better place to live. It's up to you.
Rights to reprint this article in company periodicals is freely given with the inclusion of the following tag line: "© 2008-2024 Jay Arthur, the KnowWare® Man, 888-468-1537,
."
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