Ideas Without Actions Are Useless

Wow, THIS article hit me hard this morning when I read it. "Sorry, There Is No "Idea Guy" Position In The Game Industry"

I've learned that it isn't JUST the game industry where there are folks who want to be the "Idea Guy" -or Gal, it is everywhere in this big, old improv of life!

The ONE good thing, about this "Idea" person is that they actually realize that ideas are infinite and there are plenty of them.

The bad thing is that this type of person wants to take all the CREDIT for the good idea but not do any of the WORK to implement it!

The fact of the matter is:

GOOD IDEAS ARE HARD WORK TO IMPLEMENT!

I once volunteered at a non-profit where the ideas we were implementing were constantly thwarted by a self-proclaimed "idea" guy who wouldn't participate in any other way but to share his "ideas"! To make matters worse, he missed -or was late to- all our meetings. Then, criticized the "do-ers" AFTER an idea (that wasn't his) was implemented.  When asked why he didn't participate in the work necessary to keep the non-profit running, he told us his role was to come up with the ideas and not do the work. 

He didn't realize that having ideas isn't special at all. Making those ideas a REALITY is where the magic happens. THAT'S what's special, the DOING.

Really, I think the "Idea" person is just frightened that they might fail. If they don't do any work, then they can blame the failure of their idea on the people who did the work.

So, instead of ideating, go out and put your idea into action. If your idea doesn't work, try a new one!

Why Your Brainstorming Sucks (And How You Can Fix It!)

"It'll never work."

"We've done that before and it didn't work."

"Yes, but . . ."

"That's stupid."

"NO."

"Get real."

"I'm just playing devil's advocate here."

"No offense, but . . ."

If you're the person who says any of these things during a brainstorming session then your brainstorming style sucks and I can guarantee that most of the folks in the room don't like brainstorming with you.

In improv, we have a word for comments like those. We call that BLOCKING.

Blocking violates all the rules of improv.

Blocking stops the action and in many cases it is impossible to recover the scene.

In a brainstorming session, when people are supposed to be coming up with creative ideas to solve a problem (or create a new product or service). It will also stop the action.

If you're facilitating a brainstorming meeting and you allow any of those comments to be said in your meeting without "calling" the person(s) making those types of comments on their behavior then your brainstorming session sucks and no one likes brainstorming with you.

WARNING: If the person doing the blocking is the boss, or some other high-status authority figure, and you're been given the impossible task of  "facilitating" such a session, you may as well just cancel the catered lunch, pack up the white board markers and end the meeting because after a few blocking comments from the boss everyone is going to clam up.

Put your creativity to better use by figuring out a creative way to AVOID attending a "brainstorming session" demanded by such a person!

I'm particularly saddened whenever I've attended a meeting and the high-status-person-in-charge says, "I need some really great ideas now, folks," and the first person brave enough to open their mouth is blocked with a withering, "Get serious, I'm looking for GOOD ideas." Ouch. 


Let's get things straight right now, a brainstorming session should be a fun, sky's-the-limit-we-can-do-anything time. The Brainstorming GROUND RULES are pretty simple:

1. Everyone must "Yes, and . . ." to generate more ideas than you'll ever use; and, 
2. Everyone must defer judgment (negative comments) on any and all ideas that are spoken, shouted, sung, doodled, danced or delivered in any other manner.

There will be time LATER to pull out the most promising ideas and look at them critically to see if they will work given the time, talent and resources available in your company.

Isn't it better to have 100 (or 1000 or 10,000!) ideas to chose from rather than 10? If you block the action then you've limited the potential of what can be accomplished.

Here's the truth, the really AMAZING idea

-the idea that will be a game-changer for your industry-

is never the first idea!

And it probably wasn't even one idea, it was probably a patchwork of smaller ideas that were created during a really great session where everyone was using the rules of improv to make magic.

If you allow blocking to occur, then you've limited the POTENTIAL of what could be.

Here's a sample brainstorming session. This is the group's first meeting, they've been tasked with updating the employee kitchen/break room. Right now, there's no budget and no limits. They have a generous 3 weeks to go from brainstorming to presenting a plan to upper management.

Chris: Oooh, let's paint the cabinets white!

Pat: Yes, and replace those lousy knobs with sturdier handles!

Sam: Yes, and I think it'd be fun to pull the doors off some of the cabinets so we can see all the cool coffee cups that everyone uses!

Chris: Yes, and . . . let's . . .

Blocker: Just playing devil's advocate here, white cabinets will always be dirty and we don't have the budget to replace the handles . . .  

Sam: Yes, and . . . we'll, uh, re-chrome the existing handles

Chris: Yes! And, instead of painting, we'll have the cabinets deep-cleaned and . . .

Blocker: I hate to break it to you but we deep-cleaned them a year ago before some of you started working here and they still look like crap.

Pat: Okay, let's forget the cabinets and think about the floor, I've heard that cork is an eco-friendly way to go . . 

Sam:  Yes, and you can get it in cool patterns, we could have our company logo put into the floor!

Blocker: No offense but what is that going to COST, I bet it'll take the entire budget the cheapskates in accounting will give us.

Chris: Okay, let's forget the floor, how about replacing the coffee maker with a beer tap!
Pat: (laughing) Yes, and put in a wine cooler!
Sam: Yes, and a Keurig machine! That way people will always be able to get fresh coffee when they want it.

Blocker: Stop being ridiculous! A beer keg and wine cooler would violate policy! And if you put in a Keurig how will you ever provide thermoses of coffee at meetings then?

Pat: Okay, what do you think we should do?

Blocker: I don't know. I thought you'd come up with better ideas.

Arghghghgh! We've all had our fair share of frustrating "brainstorming" meetings like this, haven't we? Not a single idea was fully explored because the blocker stopped every line of thought. People got silly for a minute with the beer tap but it generate a do-able idea regarding the Keurig machine. For a while, people gamely tried to plow ahead but that blocker was able to kill every idea before it was barely uttered.

Who knows where any of these ideas would've gone? We'll never know, but the white paint idea might've spurred further ideas of cool paint ideas (chalkboard paint, glow in the dark, etc) or the idea of removing the cabinets all together or . . . the sky's the limit when no one stops the flow of ideas.

I ask all you "blockers" -and the meeting facilitators that allow it to occur:

Do you really want your team to limit the potential of what you could create?

Here are the ways to STOP blocking creativity during brainstorming and idea generation:

1. If you're the blocker:

Remember the adage, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. Your services will be required -and appreciated- when it is time to move onto the next phase in the process. That next phase requires everyone to review the ideas that were generated and to think critically and realistically about implementing the most promising of those ideas.

If you're having a difficult time controlling your criticism, make sure each comment out of your mouth begins with these two words: "Yes, and . . . " 

You might intend to be helpful and you might THINK that you're comments are helpful.  But, no one can read your mind, they don't know your intent and will only feel the impression you give as you speak.

These are some impressions that your blocking is giving others:

• You're giving the impression that you're AFRAID; frightened of change or scared to try something new. ("That'll never work.) 

• You're giving the impression that you're stuck in the past -or worse- a show-off reminding the room of your superior seniority/experience/status. ("We've done that before and it didn't work.")

• You're giving the impression that you don't know how to come up with ideas or don't want to collaborate. ("Yes, but . . .)

• You're giving the impression that you're a control freak who is afraid to lose any status or power. ("That's stupid." "NO." "Get real.")

• You're giving the impression that you're unsupportive or limited in your thinking. ("I'm just playing devil's advocate here.")

• You're giving the impression that you're someone who always needs to be right at any cost. ("No offense, but . . .")

WARNING: If -after someone "calls" you on your blocking or negative comments- you then stop talking, refusing to speak even when asked a direct question, all while rolling your eyes and sighing deeply and indicating with your body language that you think everyone else in the room is an absolute idiot. You are STILL blocking.

2. If you're the facilitator:

It is your RESPONSIBILITY to teach the ground rules; give participants permission to "call blocking" on negative comments; and, separate brainstorming sessions from implementation sessions and to make that CLEAR to all participants prior to the meeting which type of session they are attending.

• I highly advise you have at least two brainstorming session before you even begin to think about looking at any of the ideas critically. I also advise giving all participants the opportunity to add to the ideas AFTER the session for at least 24- or 48- hours;

• Don't believe for a moment that you'll be able to come up with ideas AND decide which to implement in the same session. Some of the best ideas might come to your participants while they're on a lunch (or bathroom!) break, or while they're driving home from work;

• If there's absolutely NO way the powers-that-be will allow you more time for brainstorming versus critical thinking, have a long lunch break before bringing the group back to look at all the ideas and decide which to implement;

It is your responsibility, as the facilitator to stop any blocking immediately. 

If you've already set the ground rules and someone blocks, you immediately (and kindly) say something like. . .

"You've just blocked the last idea. Just for fun, how would you expand on that idea instead?"

Or, "That is a comment for our critical thinking/implementation phase, right now we're just trying to come up with as many ideas as possible."

Or, "When you crossed your arms, rolled your eyes and grunted at Pat's last idea it gave us the impression you didn't like it, is that the impression you wanted to give? Because if it is, that's just as bad as verbally blocking. Remember we are accepting all ideas right now. There are no good or bad ideas at this phase in the game."

The idea isn't to embarrass the "blocker" but to redirect that person so the ideas can continue to flow.

Have you ever blocked during a brainstorming session?

Why?

Have you ever witnessed blocking during a brainstorming session?

How did you (or the facilitator) handle it?

When Ideas Become Orders

In the improvisation of life, sometimes it takes going back and reviewing a scene in my head to see why I reacted as I did.

Recently, I took the time to step back and ponder a gut reaction I had to one of life's scenes.

The behavior that inspired such a strong (angry) reaction from me was an idea thrown out to a group.

Ideas! I love ideas! I love to brainstorm with people, I love to get the energy flowing I love to turn the best ideas into action plans and implement them.

So . . . being angry due to an idea, that was out-of-character, right?

Wrong.

The person who shared the idea is someone in the group who honestly never does any of the heavy lifting. This person shows up to meetings, throws out a bunch of "ideas" and then disappears until the next month's meeting. I got angry because I felt bossed around. I realized that it wasn't an idea thing at all, but, it was a STATUS thing!  This person was pulling high status on the rest of the group! (Click HERE to read my post on status.)

The idea was really an ORDER.

It was a directive to others in the group to put time and effort into implementing a plan devised by this person.

This self-avowed "idea person" was really a dictator.

No one likes a dictator. Dictators inspire loathing.

Leaders inspire. Leaders do their part in implementing an idea.

This scene in the improv of life gave me the gift of insight.

I love ideas and I don't want to be a dictator, so, I've decided that unless I'm willing to put in the sweat/time/effort to seeing an idea of mine to fruition, I'll do my best to KEEP IT TO MYSELF!

The BEST

Today's thoughts . . .

Please, Stay Inside the Box

How many times have you witnessed a leader, hopped up on caffeine, standing in front of a room and exhorting everyone to, "think outside the box, people,"??

What does that mean, exactly? I think when a leader says "think-outisde-the-box" that, they don't really know what they want.

I think that those leaders sense that their endeavor needs to move in a new, fresh, different or exciting direction-but they don't know how to effectively guide people to that amazing place.

So, basically that leader is saying, "I've run out of ideas. Impress me."

Most people have enough anxiety about coming up with any ideas but, when forced to impress, they shut down completely.

In the end, the leader walks away, thinking he/she is surrounded by lazy-good-for-nothing-slackers except that one person. That one suck-up person who knows everyone, listens in on every conversation and isn't shy about sharing anyone and everyone's private ideas with the big cheese. The leader loves that person and can fall down the rabbit hole after that person - just because that person was confident and stupid enough to "think outside the box".

I think JCPenney is a great example of outside the box thinking that went awry. Their "box" was creating great sales that customers loved. They moved outside their box and decided to just price things as low as they could and end their sales. They tried to move into WalMart's "box" of low prices and it has failed miserably. Why didn't JCP just take their "box" and make it even more amazing for their customers? Bigger sales? Better sales? More creative sales??

People think that improv is a crazy, free-for-all, when really, there are specific rules and parameters. Those rules allow the improviser to know where the edges are and keep the entire scene from running off the rails. I think there's so much more focused power in being as creative as possible inside the box!

Here is a fabulous video to illustrate the power of staying INSIDE the box, using your limitations to inspire excellence:

Ideas and Twinkies

I think people get in trouble in the workplace when they believe that there are a limited number of "good ideas". When someone thinks that way, they get into a hoarders mindset and behave just like the people who stockpiled Twinkies when Hostess went out of business! There are many reasons people do that:

• To re-sell their Twinkies at a higher rate. (Think of your co-workers who hoard their ideas and once they get bigwig approval they graciously "allow" you to help with all the nasty grunt work and when the job is completed they take all the credit for their fabulous idea.)
• To eat them all themselves. (Think of your co-workers who are anti-social and think they are the world's gift to your business. They don't want anyone nosing in on the fabulous idea they're implementing -and they're secretly scared that this is the last good one they'll have.)
• For nostalgia. (Think of co-workers who don't appreciate the way things "used" to be and their ideas are re-hashes of what has been done before and they don't need any of your crazy ideas, thankyouverymuch. They take a bite out of that Twinkie . . . um. . .  idea and then carefully wrap it up and go back to the same Twinkie until it is gone. Then they cry. Or panic. Or both.)

The best leaders realize that, unlike Hostess, ideas never go out of business and you can always get more. The greatest leaders create an environment where so many ideas are being generated amongst the entire group that no one can take all the credit.

How do people treat ideas at your workplace?

Stuck in Neutral

Seth Godin has a brilliant blog post about the "Neutral Employee", click HERE to read it.

You know those neutral co-workers, right? In corp-speak: they're neither disengaged OR engaged. In real-speak: they just don't care.  While you're smiling and laughing and throwing around ideas like the leader you are; or while you've rolled up your sleeves to get some stuff DONE, they're doing the bare minimum. They're not whining, but they're just not helping or contributing or thinking ahead. In short, they're behaving like my tween-er daughter when I ask her to help me clean up the house . . .

I'm might get taken out for this, but I'm going to share a secret from the hallows of the Human Resources department: no one likes "neutral employees". No one. Bosses try to get rid of them in any way they can.

Below is a handy field-spotting guide for "neutral employees"

Physical characteristics may include any or all of the following:

• Slow walk;
• Dull eyes;
• Hunched shoulders;
• Lack of eye contact;
• Droning voice

Verbal characteristics may include any or all of the following:

• "I just want to do my job."
• "I don't have anything to add to that . . ."
• "I don't care . . ."
• "Why do we need goals?"

What's that you said? You're afraid you might be a neutral employee? Well, leaders, here's a short exercise:

• Make a list of all the ideas you've shared with your boss in the past month; or,
• Make a list of all the ideas you've implemented at your workplace in the past month; or,
• Make a list of  what you've learned to help you in your job in the last month; or, 
• Make a list of all the opinions you've shared with your boss in the last month; or,
• Make a list of your personal work goals for the past month; or,
• Describe the most engaging conversation you've had at work in the past month.

If you don't have anything for those lists, or if your most engaging conversation was about the latest episode of "Downton Abbey" then you are probably a neutral employee.

Never fear! It just means it is time to snap out of it and go back to being the leader you are! I guarantee your boss and co-workers will like you better if you do.

Any positive step you take will take you off the lay-off short list and move you in the right direction and the added benefit is that you'll probably find that work is more interesting and you feel more "engaged"!

• Express an opinion at work
• But don't overdo it! You might scare people off if you don't keep it respectful!
• Share ideas at work
• Right now it's a little bit of quantity - versus - quality. Don't throw out one idea and get all hung up that no one likes it. I'm going to get all Pollyanna here: ideas are limitless, like stars in the sky, and once you start generating them, they will come so frequently that eventually one will be a "keeper".
• Figure out a way to improve a frustrating work process -or reach out and help your boss or a co-worker.

Have you ever felt "neutral" at a job?  Did you get out of it? If so, how??