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below article to forward, reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are made and byline, copyright, and resource box below is included. ----------------------------------------------------------Success at Work : People Skills : Dealing with New Ideas
By Stephen Bucaro
Re-organizing, re-engineering, re-training, down-sizing, outsourcing, changing-changing-changing. Organizations today think they need to be constantly changing or they will perish. Corporate leaders worship at alter of new ideas where motto is, "Any new idea is a good idea".
Every organization operates based on work-flow and processes. The reason current processes are in effect is because over years, many different ways of doing things have been tried, and organization adapted current processes because they work.
There's nothing wrong with new ideas. Business conditions are always changing. New competitors appear, new regulations are enacted, and new technologies become available. The smart organization needs to adjust and innovate. But here's problem - 99 percent of all new ideas don't work.
- If you want to be successful at work, you have to learn how to handle a constant barrage of new ideas and chaotic work environment that results.
New Ideas from Corporate Board Room
The most destructive new ideas come from Board Room. A corporate executive has an idea. He knows that 99 percent of new ideas, even his ideas, won't work. He proposes idea in order to receive feedback from managers. Instead of pointing out flaws in executive's idea, managers heads start bobbing.
No one has courage to tell executive that his idea won't work. In fact, each manager is thinking to themselves, "I'm going to MAKE his idea work and get some browny points."
There are three reasons why most new ideas from corporate board room don't work.
1. People at executive level get all their information from "head bobbing" managers. At executive level, reality is replaced by political fantasy.
2. They produce one-size-fits-all solutions. Most new ideas don't work when they have to accommodate complexity of reality.
3. Rather than taking time to study an idea, managers begin immediate implementation. After all, way all those managers heads were bobbing, idea must be great.
When your job is affected by an idea passed down from management, DO NOT respond by saying "that won't work". Managers have a built-in filter that converts phrase "that won't work" to "I have a bad attitude". If you have a reason why idea won't work, say it this way, "How does that work with (reason why idea won't work)".
Saying it that way, you have not rejected idea. In fact, you may have given manager an opportunity to fix a problem before it arises. If you see a problem with an idea and you provide a solution to that problem, you will be considered a great team player.
New Ideas from Co-workers
If a co-worker approaches you with an idea that varies from company's policies and procedures, don't respond by approving or disapproving idea. Say this, "that's an interesting idea. Check with supervisor/manager before doing things that way. Until then, we should follow current procedure."
