Idea Generation Within Teams
If you know me personally, you know that I'm a veritable idea machine. When I hear about a challenge or obstacle, my brain instantly moves into idea mode and, soon, I have a list of possible solutions. Problem solving is one of my natural motivators, just look at my personality profile.
http://www.accidentalcreative.com/podcasts/ac/podcast-instincts-killing-creativity-adam-hansen/
As I listened to the latest podcast from Todd Henry at The Accidental Creative (AC), "Your Instincts are Killing Your Creativity (With Adam Hansen)," I couldn't help but see the topic from the perspectives of an Idea Lover and an HR Professional.
Idea Lovers know what it's like to be constantly met with negativity toward any new idea.
HR Professionals are always on the look-out for a better way to help people do their best work.
Whether in a classroom or a corporate conference room, it's not unusual for new ideas to be met first with skepticism or negativity. Before we look at what we like or why the idea might be very good, we start pulling it apart and looking at how it might fail. I usually think this is because the positive side is so obvious that people don't feel the need to start there. It's just natural to figure out why we shouldn't implement the idea.
Isn't it a waste of time to look at the merits of an idea first and later find out that there was an obviously fatal flaw right from the beginning?
No matter how much I've liked an idea or resented the process of tearing it down before it even had a chance to be fully explored, I've thought that it was instead my responsibility to pitch ideas more effectively or vet them more thoroughly beforehand or just come up with better ideas.
It became part of my internal development plan and I've spent a lot of time critiquing my approach to sharing my ideas. In some groups, I've learned to refrain from sharing an idea.
Then comes the science and history behind this tendency. It's based on the negativity bias, or negativity effect, and it goes back to our base desire for self preservation. Steering clear of danger is what has kept our species alive for so long. From that perspective, there is a save-your-life kind of benefit to taking the negative view of a new path through the forest.
Psychology Today notes that in healthy relationships, there need to be five positive interactions to counteract the effect of each negative interaction.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200306/our-brains-negative-bias
In the study of Employee Engagement, I remember that one survey provider told us that it takes four engaged Employees to counteract the effects of each actively disengaged Employee, though I can't find a link to share for that one.
That's how strong the pull toward the negative can be.
So, it makes sense to avoid a new hunting technique when you don't know how the Mastodon (now called "Mammuts") will react. BUT, does it make sense to take the same approach to new ideas that could save your business thousands of dollars every day or introduce a revolutionary product?
Maybe not...
As Hansen, the AC podcast guest, points out, you can always go back to the negative, so don't start there. Instead, point out how the idea could work, what you like about it, and how it would improve on the current solution.
Making the switch to a more positive idea generation process might require some organizational culture shifts, but it almost definitely requires overcoming the result of a couple millions years of human evolution. That being said, it can be done.
