Tweet

Be Open to New Ideas

Guest post by: Robert Whipple

Article Overview: It is easy to say "be open to new ideas" and most of us believe we have an open mind. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are all stuck with an enormous array of paradigms that limit our ability to see the possibiliies. To be really open minded is a skill that takes a lot of effort to develop. This article may help you see things from a different perspective.

Be Open to New Ideas

Every day, leaders hear a steady stream of ideas from many stakeholders. Each one has the seeds of greatness, but many require an open mind because they don't fit conventional thinking or seem tangential to the mission. Often these come up in a meeting environment or public interaction. Your reaction to ideas sets the climate for their evaluation.

Avoid prejudging the intent of people making suggestions. It is better to err on the side of being gracious, allowing nearly all ideas to be considered valid, than to cut off someone who had noble intent but difficulty expressing himself publicly.

Experts who have studied the creative process extensively note that the really genius level ideas come from the most unexpected sources. For example, you might have a troop of scientists working on a new cure for a particular disease. They are trying all combinations of materials, but the progress is slow. One night, a janitor accidentally knocks over a beaker of some liquid and it mixes with some residue powder on the table. He noted that the resulting liquid turned red almost immediately. He mentioned this to the group the next day while apologizing for the accident. It turns out to be the breakthrough combination that the scientists were looking for.

If an idea seems "off the wall" say, "That's interesting. I would never have thought of it. On the surface it doesn't seem to fit, but let's look at it more carefully. You may be onto something here." Get your team to identify things they like about the idea, along with the challenges it represents. If you do this honestly, you will uncover creative approaches that will move the organization forward. In addition, the person presenting the idea will realize that all suggestions, no matter how unusual, have value as long as they are sincere.

The cardinal rule is, never let someone feel belittled or embarrassed for bringing an idea to the table unless they are obviously trying to sabotage the discussion. Look for the merit in every suggestion instead of the fatal flaw. It may not be valid in its present form, but suitably modified it could be quite valuable.

In some cases you will encounter a disruptive "grandstander" who continually interrupts and won't let you or others have the floor. Once it is obvious this person is out to derail the agenda, he must be silenced. The best approach is to say, "I appreciate these suggestions, but, in all fairness, we need to allow others a chance to be heard."

Related Articles
  Get Naked and Grow Your Green Business Today!
  How to be more creative in business
  How to Be Open-Minded to New Ideas
  Formulating Business Ideas
  Handy Tips to Help Your Creativity
  Open Innovation vs Outsourcing
  Tips to Help Your Creativity
  Spread The Word Your Word
  How The Amazing Idea For Best Home Based Internet Business Online Came To Me
  10 Tips On Getting The Most Out Of Coaching
  Looking For Smart Business And Ideas
  Selling Insurance in the Land of Opportunity
  Where to Find Ideas
  Ladies, Are You Hitting An Entrepreneurial Wall?
  Google Gadgets & OpenSocial: A Social Media Marketing Toolset
  How to Coach Your Employees - 5 Simple Steps Anyone Can Do!
  SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION
  Take What You Need and Leave the Rest
  How to Get People to Join Your Business Using Autoresponder! ~SECRET TO A FORTUNE
  Increase Revenue Ideas,Increasing Revenue

Article Tags: creativity, ideas, Leadership, success



Related Forum Posts
Re: Interested in Pinterest? - This means pinterest is here to stay and this is what ideas is all about. Ideas make the world go round. Ideas is the fuel of this economy.
Re: A Post About Posts - Great to be here with you Ideas
Re: Internet Users Hbk http://www.internetscamsanonymous.com - Thanks for the thought Ideas
Re: High price of entertainment - [quote="TheAnonymousMan":dadh8m1p]Kevin, I went to a Justin Timberlake concert recently where the bottled water was selling for $4 a bottle! I'm talking about the average 600ml bottle that sells for about $1.20 in the supermarket, now that's a rip off but people were buying it because they needed water.[/quote:dadh8m1p] Hi TheAnonymousMan, Can I ask how much you paid for the concert tickets? And more importantly, was the show worth the price? At the Tennis US Open, I had to pay $3.25 for a 500ml bottled water, $8.00 for a "travel size" Hawaiian Tropic bottle of sunscreen, and $13.00 for a Carnegie Deli pastrami sandwich, $4.25 for fries and $2.77 for a Sharpie pen (for autographs), etc... And to make things worse, they don't allow you to carry a backpack for security reasons, so it's very inconvenient to bring your own things to the event (keep in mind I was at the US Open for 7 hours). I mean who wants to carry around 10 lbs worth of stuff (if I were to bring my own necessities like food/water/sunscreen/etc. and have to carry a bunch of souvenirs) in a plastic transparent bag for the whole day?! It's an obvious scam for more profit.
Re: What or Who Sparks Your Business Interest - Hi litekepr, a publican is someone who runs a public house, a pub as we call them here in the UK, a bar in the US I think. Ideas yours is definitely a very inspiring story and it just goes to show you can do anything if you set your mind to it, take care, Carol


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

2011 Global Brand Trends Letter

The Substance Abusing Employee

International Employment Background Checks

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.