Entertain Those Crazy Ideas

What do you do with your crazy ideas?

When things are going their best I find that I let my crazy ideas in for a visit. I let them rise to the occasion. Instead of dismissing them as crazy (and some truly are and when they are can go harmlessly away) I entertain them. Give them tea and biscuits. Find a way to let them stay.

Crazy ideas like:

what if I could solve that silly problem by sharing it with my biggest competition?
what if that collage became a picture to inspire my logo?
what if my closest friend was actually standing in my way?
what if my greatest fear was my biggest opportunity?

What crazy ideas occur to you on a recurring basis? Could they be worth some more attention?

A useful idea may sound crazy at first.

Give it some room to breathe. Give it some space to grow. Entertain those crazy ideas for long enough to know if they really are crazy - or perhaps just plain creative enough to make a positive difference.

What's your crazy idea of the day?

-- Doug Smith

Front Range Leadership: Training Supervisors for Success

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Build and Connect

The world is full of "buts" in search of more "ands." In improv. In leadership. In life. Let go of the fear and build on what's here. -- doug smith

Pause First

Falling behind might not mean catching up. It could also reveal change and opportunity. Would you rather chase, or lead? Has one moment or movement gone leaving room for something new? Don't let a treadmill turn into a dread mill. Haul that rock up the hill if it is part of your future, not just because it was part of your past. -- doug smith

Better Traditions

It's easy to tear down the past and wreck the present. It does not take much thought to condemn what seems to be ill-suited for our present needs. We might even take glee in crushing part of our past. But before we do, we should ask a question or two. What if we improved our traditions instead of destroying them? What if that's a better solution? -- doug smith

Wrong Is Wrong

There may be more than one right way to do something but that does not make the wrong way right. -- doug smith

In Search of the right steps...

Three step processes. Four step processes. Seven step processes. Even more. A problem is a dynamic in search of a dance. Follow the science, of course, but also find the dance. -- doug smith

Practice

If practice was easy we wouldn't need it. -- doug smith

Speedy, Pause

Speed is great. It overcomes indifference, it outruns hesitation, it gets things started. It can also lead to mistakes. Sometimes a mistake comes from moving too fast. Pause. Practice patiently to filter out the flaws. -- doug smith

Found

Everyone wants to do meaningful work. Work of value. Work that matters. Work that uses your skills, your gifts, your best intentions. Is that hard to find? Does it require a massive search? Embrace the search for meaningful work but remember that it is right in front of you. -- doug smith

Be Careful of Your Measures

Peter Drucker once said "what gets measured gets done" and there is much truth to that. Point people in the direction you want and they will do their best to get there. Just make sure, very sure, that you are measure what you really want and doing it without creating paths to cheating your way there. Given an incentive, people will find a way to achieve it. Most will work fairly but some will be tempted to game the. system, to stack the deck, to churn the number on their own behalf. That's not what you want. Ask yourself this question: how can we measure quantity and quality without gaming the system? Until you've answered that question, you'll never know how accurate, or useful, the measure is. -- doug smith

Five Whys vs. Fishbone

Every once in a while a great article that explains an idea well appears that is worth sharing. This is one example, from HRDQ: Five Whys vs. Fishbone Diagrams for Root Cause Analysis . The article is worth reading but in brief, it describes two powerful and commonly used root cause analysis tools and how to use them. It makes a convincing case that it is not exactly one vs. the other -- start with the classic Fishbone diagram. If you uncover what appears to be one dominant cause path, drill down on that path using the 5 Whys. That's the order: 1. Fishbone 2. Five Whys I use variations of each of these tools in our workshops on Creative Problem Solving. The common versions are still effective and will save you time in problem solving. The root cause analysis is essential. Done properly and thoroughly it will prevent you from chasing solutions that do not actually solve the problem. What problem are you working on today? Have you identified the root cause? -- doug smith

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