You’ve asked the team for ideas. Someone brings you one that’s a bit unfinished. You can see three problems with it immediately, and you tell them.
All three might be fair. But what have you invited them to bring you next time?
When I spoke with Justine Armour on F*ck, I’m Nearly 50!, we talked about creativity and leadership. She described how differently creativity feels when she’s working from inspiration rather than fear, and the attention she gives to the energy she brings to her work.
There’s a question in that for anyone leading a team. How easy are you making it for people to think with you?
It’s worth looking at an ordinary meeting. The one where the deadline is close, the brief has changed and you’re already wondering how everyone will get through the work.
Tell people what kind of conversation you need
Are you exploring a problem, developing an idea or making a decision? Those are different conversations. People need to know which one they’ve walked into.
If you need a decision today, say so. Explain the constraints and what’s still open. If you’re looking for possibilities, allow an idea to be incomplete long enough to understand it.
That doesn’t mean every idea needs a round of applause. You can be curious and commercially demanding in the same conversation. Ask who it helps. Ask what would have to be true for it to work. Ask which part is worth keeping, even if the whole thing doesn’t hold up.
There’s a difference between giving someone a useful question and giving them the job of defending themselves for speaking.
Notice how quickly you provide the answer
When you’ve done something for a long time, you can get to an answer quickly. That’s useful. It can also close a conversation before anyone else has worked out what they think.
Try holding your view back for a few minutes. Let people put their thoughts on paper before you discuss them. Ask someone to explain the part you don’t understand, without preparing your response while they talk.
You may still make the same decision. You may hear something that changes it. At least you’ve given yourself the chance.
I’d also pay attention to what happens after the meeting. If someone raises a concern and it disappears into silence, they have no way of knowing whether it mattered. A short explanation of the decision, including what you took from the discussion, gives the conversation a useful ending.
A question for your next team meeting
Ask: “What would help us bring ideas into this room earlier?”
Allow people to answer privately if that’s easier. It might be a clearer brief, time to prepare, a smaller group or knowing that a first thought won’t be treated as a final recommendation. Pick one change you can make and see what happens.
We put a lot of effort into finding good people. It’s worth being just as interested in the conditions we ask them to work in. Your next meeting is somewhere you can start.
Listen to my conversation with Justine Armour and find the free episode guide.
You can also read With Humans’ thinking on a common language at work. Want to talk about what’s happening in your team? Email me.