Nothing shuts down a brainstorming session faster than the statement “That’s a stupid idea.”
When I was a new leader, I thought it was my role to protect my boss from all his crazy ideas. In my mind, I was doing great. I was keeping him out of jail, helping him avoid bankruptcy etc. he was so lucky to have me. Then I slowly stopped being invited to meetings, and I was like, “Oh, oh…”
Three Types of People Every Organization Needs
For an organization to survive long-term and promote innovation, it requires three types of individuals.
- people who will push the boundaries of the business
- those who will keep it safe
- those in the middle who can see both sides
The ability of these three unique groups to work well together is what I have observed separates the good teams from the great ones. Sadly, far too often, these groups are at odds with one another and, as a result, fail to achieve the true synergy they are capable of.
The Bear, Honey and Helicopter
I liken this to the Bear, Honey, and Helicopter story my colleague shares about a hydro company he worked with years ago up north.
THe Problem
The business’s challenge was that the above-ground hydro lines would freeze every time it snowed, blocking electricity to thousands of remote communities.
After being unable to solve this operational issue for quite some time, the executive convened a group of front-line workers, engineers, and leaders for a two-day problem-solving offsite.
As my friend tells the story, even before he could start the session, one participant shared that “the last time they were up north, they almost got attacked by a bear.”
Now, this could have been any of us, as we all personally overshared in a meeting at some point. However, I guarantee you that the person who spoke next was an innovator or Kolbe™ Quick Start type, as they actually said, “That’s a great idea!”
Innovators and Moderate Risk-Takers Brainstorm
As a stabilizer or Low Kolbe™ Quick Start, I would naturally be rolling my eyes and looking to the facilitator to wrap this train wreck up and get on with the session. I might even be thinking that this “idiot” should be fired.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, there were other Innovators (aka 7-10 Kolbe™ Quick Starts) and moderate risk-takers (aka 4-6 Kolbe™ Quick Starts) who asked the question, “What is a great idea?” Now remember, this is a true story with smart people!
Throwing it back to the innovators, I’m pretty sure that they hadn’t fully thought through their idea when they offered, “We could get the bear to climb up the hydro poles, and as they shimmy across, they would de-ice the hydro lines.” You can almost see the smile on their faces, confident that they have just cured cancer.
The Stabilizer Speaks Up
Now as a stabilizer, we have all been in an organization where an idea was thought entirely through, and a decision was made that resulted in the organization going out and buying bears! (or whatever the equivalent is)
So, thankfully, the stabilizers decided to speak up, “Um, excuse me, okay, interesting idea, but how are you going to get the Bears up the pole?” The response “Oh shoot, we never even thought about that. How are we going to get the bears up there.” Then a few minutes later they respond with “Honey – if we put honey on the hydro lines, the bears would climb up shimmy across the lines and voila!”
Most of us have also experienced a situation where an organization made an initial mistake and attempted to fix that problem with another not-so-full-baked idea. What—are we now going to be a honey farm as well?
The stabilizers respond one more time, “Okay, great. Same problem, though. How are you going to get the honey up there?”
The response, “helicopter,” is the solution that they used until just a few years ago when they could send an electric shot to de-ice the lines.
It has nothing to do with Bears or Honey. When you fly the helicopter over the hydro lines, the downward pressure blows off the excess ice, allowing electricity to flow freely along the lines.
The Lesson to Learn: Collaboration Happens When Everyone Can Play Their Role
The lesson here is that the first idea is rarely the best, but what happened in this scenario is unique:
- You had a good representation of innovators, stabilizers, and moderate risk-takers in the room.
- Both the innovators and stabilizers played their roles quite differently than their normal approach.
Often, Innovators Feel Beat Up
Often, innovators feel beat up as all their ideas are criticized as unrealistic or silly. Over time, this creates frustration, and the innovators say, “Bear or no bear, or I am going home,” meaning that it is easy to criticize the ideas of others, but where are your good ideas?
Stabilizers Ask Thought-Provoking Questions
The stabilizers also played their role quite well. They didn’t criticize the idea but asked thought-provoking questions like “How would you…..”.
By doing this, they entered the problem-solving process, which ultimately led to the best result. This team solved a business challenge that was crippling the organization for the last 10 years in 15 minutes.
The key takeaway is that we all have a role to play in innovation but need to conduct ourselves in a way that encourages the creative process and doesn’t shut it down.
Key Takeaways
- Reflect on your natural style are you an innovator, stabilizer or moderate risk taker?
- Thinking of the Bear, Honey, and Helicopter story, how might you use these insights to advance your group’s problem-solving dynamics?
- Share this story with your team, and commit to 1 of 2 new team habits to ensure that the full synergy of your group is realized.
