Success at Work : People Skills : Dealing with New Ideas
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 the alter of new ideas where the motto is, "Any new idea is a good idea". Every organization operates based on work-flow and processes. The reason the current processes are in effect is because over the years, many different ways of doing things have been tried, and the organization adapted the 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 the 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 the chaotic work environment that results. New Ideas from the Corporate Board Room The most destructive new ideas come from the Board Room. A corporate executive has an idea. He knows that 99 percent of new ideas, even his ideas, won't work. He proposes the idea in order to receive feedback from the managers. Instead of pointing out flaws in the executive's idea, managers heads start bobbing. No one has the courage to tell the 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 the corporate board room don't work. 1. People at the executive level get all their information from "head bobbing" managers. At the 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 the complexity of reality. 3. Rather than taking time to study an idea, managers begin immediate implementation. After all, the way all those managers heads were bobbing, the 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 the phrase "that won't work" to "I have a bad attitude". If you have a reason why the idea won't work, say it this way, "How does that work with (reason why the idea won't work)". Saying it that way, you have not rejected the idea. In fact, you may have given the 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 the company's policies and procedures, don't respond by approving or disapproving the idea. Say this, "that's an interesting idea. Check with the supervisor/manager before doing things that way. Until then, we should follow the current procedure." - Almost all mistakes made by a business are the result of an employee deciding to do things THEIR WAY rather than follow the company's procedures. To eliminate mistakes, a company must fully document and vigorously enforce all policies and procedures. Workers must follow the company's procedures. Because the workers actually know what's going on in the company, they are in a position to produce good ideas. Unfortunately, their ideas are often only ways to make THEIR job easier by shifting their work to another person or department. If your supervisor/manager asks for your input on a co-worker's idea, don't respond by saying "that won't work" or by criticizing the idea. When you criticize a co-worker's idea, you criticize the co-worker. You will step on the co-workers ego and probably create an enemy. Instead, respond by asking questions about the idea in a way that implies that you might not fully understand the idea. For example, ask "how does that work with (reason why the idea won't work)". - If the co-worker's idea won't work, don't be surprised if the manager approves it anyway. There are several reasons why a manager will approve a bad idea. Sometimes the manager wants to let the worker learn for themself why the idea won't work. Sometimes a bad idea is approved in order to pacify the employee. Sometimes it's because the manager doesn't have a clue how things work in their own department. - Most ideas start out stupid and eventually die (until some fool brings it up again a year later). But about one percent of ideas receive some study and get modified until they actually work. Handling Rejection of Your Own Ideas A good employee is always thinking of ways to improve their job and their company. Bosses like workers who take the initiative to solve problems. Companies need all the ideas they can get. But the fact remains that statistically 99 percent of all ideas don't work, and that includes YOUR ideas. When your boss and coworkers point out the reasons why your idea won't work, don't feel they are criticizing you personally. They are criticizing the IDEA, not YOU. No matter how unworkable the idea turns out, you are still to be credited with producing the idea. - If your manager rejects your idea, don't be surprised if later they present the same or a similar idea as their own. In any organization, no matter who takes the credit, everyone always knows where an idea really came from. Eventually you will receive the recognition you deserve. Statistically, 99 percent of all ideas don't work. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep thinking of ways to improve your job, your company, and your company's product. It's not the GETTING of ideas that's bad, It's the implementing of ideas without doing the required studies - that's bad. One in a hundred ideas DO work, and occasionally that one idea will generate millions of dollars of savings or revenue for the company. Copyright(C) Bucaro TecHelp. Permission is granted for the 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 the byline, copyright, and the resource box below is included. About The Author To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com. To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter visit http://bucarotechelp.com/search/000800.asp.
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Structure Your Payment Offers to Sell More Products
The way you structure your payment offers can increase your sales. I'm not talking about the way people pay like credit cards, digital payments, checks, and cash options. What I'm taking about is can your customers try before they buy, pay later, make payments, do they get a rebate, etc. Below are six payment offers that will sell like your products or services like crazy:
Dealing with Difficult People
You know, this would be a great business if it weren't for having to deal with people all the time?
The Business Shaman: Exploring the Mystery of Success!
Note: This article was written for a internet business site. It is a promo for my work with the business world. I published it here for anyone who is interested in a shamanic perspective on creating success, in both business and life. If you read between the lines, it will offer you some help when dealing with any challange.
Key Control ? Who Has the Keys to Your Kingdom?
Key control, or more accurately the lack of key control is one of the biggest risks that businesses face.
The Do?s and Don?ts of Giving Feedback
Being able to give effective feedback is not just a good skill to possess in business, it is a great life skill to have. Because when you are masterful at giving feedback, not only can you help your employees to sustain continuously improving performance, you can also improve the performance of the baseball team you coach, the cleaning lady at home, or the performance of your own children on completing their chores. Any person's performance in any activity can be positively impacted by effective feedback. Isn't that a powerful skill to have? Wouldn't you want to be a master at giving really useful and impactful feedback?
What Makes a Crisis a Crisis?
If you're old enough and were living in America about 30 years ago, you may remember the scandal in the motion picture industry known as "the Begelman affair" or "Hollywoodgate."
Safety Policy Sample Outline
Writing a safety manual is a tough job and most larger corporations outsource such jobs or they have someone on staff with the proper credentials in risk management. Imagine writing the safety manuals for NASA? I had the opportunity to be in the unique position of being able to imagine just such a thing when writing our company safety manuals. It takes lots of studying and review of case law to do it properly. Each industry is somewhat different and hopefully you know your industry and company well enough to give it a shot.
Give Yourself a Boss? Day Gift
Become a better boss and reap the benefits
Operating on Perpetual Overload?
Check Out Your E-Habits
Great Employees = Passionate Consumers
Companies spend millions of dollars each year identifying their brand, and then communicating their brand promise through various media.
Lessons From Innovative Companies
What do the companies 3M, Polaroid, and Walt Disney have in common? All have innovation in their blood. All encourage an innovative spirit at every level of their organization.
How To Turn Business Losses Into Cash Flow
When the typical new business operator starts a business, they concentrate on making the business succeed. That is necessary but not the only thing that a business operator should concentrate on. A business depends on cash flow to exist and grow, so business operators would do their business a good turn by looking at sources of cash flow provided by the Government.
How to Reduce Temporary Employee Turnover
The use of temporary services to stock a farm of employees is beneficial in a number of ways for an employer, and detrimental in others; but the one that will always be heard is that good labor is hard to find when using these services.
Creating a Team Working Environment
TEAM DECISION MAKING: Managers who invite participation believe that people directly affected by a decision should be involved in making that decision. The effort is toward joint, cooperative decision making. The aim is to give employees a chance to have a say about things that affect them. This means giving them more control over their own work and giving up some of your own power and control.
The Seven Cs: Partnership Danger Signs - The 4th C: Cumulative Money Problems
A series of articles exploring the seven critical areas that can indicate a partnership is in trouble.
How to Create Trust
People buy from you, offer help, and grant rewards based on trust. Here are ways to increase your success by creating trust. While we do most of these things, missing even one of them can ruin it all.
Performance Appraisals: Nightmares or Sweet Dreams
Some managers think of performance appraisal meetings and recollections of torn Achilles' heels or root canals immediately surface. They're sort of "been there, don't want to go again" situations. The more it can be put off, the better.
No Time to Focus on the Big Picture? Try Focus Management
Here are seven Focus Management® best practices that you can begin using today:
Is Your Company in Need of Family Therapy?
How Companies Are Like Families
Dont Get Side-Tracked By The Nay-Sayers
You, the Entrepreneur, are 'normally' a type-A individual. One who has little patience with the establishment ~ he or she likes to do it 'his/her way' and that's OK if you know the system and have a plan to achieve your goals.
|