Ideaing instead of idling…

Every CEO or business owner I have the privilege to build, repeats one refrain more than any other. Like a broken record he’s stuck on this verse. Simple. He needs more ideas from his team.

This is another deep “why” behind the discipline of speaking and listening, BTL style. We teach our clients and their teams to speak, listen, and ask curious questions, first, for a ton of reasons one of which is that this discipline catalizes the most craniums. And, the more craniums you have engaged the more ideas you’re gonna get. Simple as that.

When you dominate the airwaves during your huddle, tons of craniums shift into idle. When you cut someone off so you can continue your public grilling of another, tons of craniums shift into idle. When you rush to judge one of your teammates new ideas, tons of craniums shift into idle. When you interrogate in your search for ideas, tons of craniums shift into idle. When you communicate out of frustration, NOT belief, tons of craniums shift into idle. When you don’t give everybody the chance to be heard, tons of craniums shift into idle. When you allow the extroverts to dominate the airwaves instead of turning up the quiet types, tons of craniums shift into idle. When you practice triple d and defend, deny, and destroy like a banchee, tons of craniums shift into idle.

The best ideas come from teams where everybody is playing, everyone’s heard, and ALL are engaged. Speaking and listening, BTL style, connects the most craniums in the same direction. The more minds you have moving in one direction, the more likely you are to stumble on an idea worth an experiment. Mastering this discipline takes time and deep humility on the part of the leader. Build this, my friend.

Idling minds don’t do much but just sit there and repeat what’s always been done. Ideaing minds need other minds, moving with them, to finish. Great ideas take time to perculate. And, big ideas rarely come from one cranium. These great ideas became more “fluent” as other teammates “anded” along the way. Suddenly, oftentimes unexpectedly, the new idea just arrives out a robust brainstorming session where cranium upon cranium was ideaing away. Build this, my friend. BTL practice will teach you why and how. Bummer, it’s going to take more time than you think you have. Build, anyway.

What are you building, a team that’s idling or ideaing? Want more ideas? Engage more of your craniums. And,remember, the quiet types turn out more ideas than anybody; assuming they’ve been turned up…