Leadership: The Manager's New Idea

Once upon a time, a few decades ago, in a land more familiar than far away, there lived a manager who had a new idea.

His idea was: Conduct the last experiment first.

That way the research staff could avoid wasting their time on nasty time consuming experiments that failed to produce a spectacular result. Instead they could conduct the great "Eureka!" experiment first.

He called his idea "The One Key Experiment."

He was so proud of his remarkable idea that he told everyone.

And since he was a manager, everyone listened because managers only have good ideas. At least, that was the case in this office.

Other managers began agreeing that this was a good idea, too. Some asked their scientists to adopt it as a research strategy.

It sort of became a popular parade of new thinking.

This went on for a few months until a crusty old scientist stood up and told this manager that he was nuts.

And that ended the grand parade.

Notice the parallel here between this real story and the fable about the emperor. It's another case of honest, open communication.

So, here's an encouragement to do two things.

1) Examine the popular thinking in your organization. How realistic is the current new idea? Is anyone promoting a novel shortcut? Has someone found the long lost secret to business success?

2) Evaluate the work environment for open communication. Are challenging questions welcomed? Do people seek out critical thinking? Are people asking good questions?

That is, do you have someone advocating "The One Key Experiment" in your office?

Key Point: Success in business is the ultimate reality show.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

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