Two Simple Concepts to Free Up Innovation
How often do you really stretch yourself,
mentally? Most of us, most of the time, stay in our comfort zone. We know our
strengths and what is expected of us, and we hover in this space, secure in the
knowledge that we are doing an OK job.
The problem with this approach: Often the
greatest learning and innovating takes place when we step outside of our
comfort zones and stretch into what I like to call our “yikes zone.”
Moving into the yikes zone makes us
uncomfortable, nervous, or downright scared. We worry we will fail and look bad
in front of colleagues. Maybe our career will suffer. Often it is comfortable
to retreat back into old habits, the ones that made us feel safe. Or to freeze
and do nothing as opportunities to learn and grow pass us by. But what might
open up for us if instead we stretch ourselves into our yikes zone and tackle
those things that give us the most trouble?
The greatest learning often takes place when
we step outside our comfort zones.
There are two steps for doing just that: (1)
figuring out where your yikes zone begins, and then (2) working to get yourself
safely into it.
Begin by identifying the border between your
comfort and yikes zones. Are projects with a long time frame or large scope
intimidating? Is speaking up in a group difficult? Or is being quiet and really
listening a challenge? Maybe you shy away from new technologies. Perhaps you
micromanage and feel uncomfortable letting team members work independently, preferring
to do most things yourself, or with an overly watchful eye. Whatever it is,
name it, feel it, sit with it. You’ll feel that familiar discomfort seeping in,
but resist the urge to retreat or freeze.
Next, break the task down into parts and find
a piece that you can get started on. You needn’t launch headlong into the yikes
zone. Rather, you can dip a toe in, acclimate to the discomfort, and then,
picking up other pieces one at a time, begin to wade deeper. This leads to
experimentation and discovery, which are keys to learning and innovation.
The Power of a Brain
Vacation
One of the most powerful experiences I’ve had
of stretching myself into my yikes zone came out of working with George Prince,
who wrote prolifically on the subject of creativity and codeveloped a group
problem-solving and innovation method called synectics. Essentially, Prince
would walk diverse groups through exercises designed to tackle some really big
challenges, such as “How do we get jets into outer space?” Yikes, right?
In my case, Prince brought together a group
of colleagues from various departments at the Wilkinson Sword razor blade
company, where I was a strategist, to brainstorm the next generation of shaving
products. This was at a time when most of us felt that we had done all the
innovating possible in that space and believed that finding a new razor would
be next to impossible. But the group included people who had never worked
together before: engineers, marketers, strategists, R&D specialists, and
finance people.
As we began, Prince didn’t just say, “OK,
ladies and gentlemen, shout out ideas for new razors!” No. This would have
likely resulted in blank stares, and maybe a few relatively new ideas shared.
Instead, he was able to stretch us into our yikes zone — sharing creative
ideas for working toward what seemed like an insurmountable task with virtual
strangers — by breaking the foreboding problem down into pieces in a
number of creative ways.
He ran us through a series of exercises
designed to “take your mind on vacation,” which allowed us to make creative
connections outside of our normal rules. We could offer “absurd” ideas without
negative peer value judgments. He asked us to delve into “essential paradoxes.”
What if a shave was close and comfortable? Could something be firm and soft at
the same time? What about soft and rugged? How would that look and feel? What
did we like about that? What didn’t we like? In this way we worked small pieces
of the larger puzzle until we had hit on an idea that stuck. It resulted in a
new encapsulated blade shaving system originated by Wilkinson and further
improved upon by Gillette in the Trac II and Mach III razors.
The technique had a tremendous effect on me:
I saw that we came out of our shells and were thinking, sharing, and moving
forward. Breaking the task down resulted in the eventual launch of some truly
revolutionary and innovative products into the marketplace.
Just a Few Phone Calls
In another example, I was part of a group of
real-estate executives who were presented with a chance to rezone a piece of
land in Alexandria, Va. It was an important opportunity and we were told we had
to act soon or it might pass us by, despite the fact that the payoff probably
wouldn’t come for another decade.
It’s easy to focus on something that is
immediate and needs to be decided on tomorrow or next week. But what about
longer-term opportunities? Does taking on a project that will require a decade
of work tip you into your yikes zone? If so, consider this: Even something 10
years off can be broken down into more immediate pieces.
With the help of diverse real estate
professionals, we identified the most likely steps we would need to take over
the 10-year period with benchmarks for progress toward the rezoning. Taking
this timeline and pulling out immediate next steps was key. We then formed
teams and a budget, and measured ourselves accordingly.
The first piece I took up was to contact
eight neighbors of the property. I gave myself a deadline of six weeks to call
and meet with them. “OK,” I thought, “I can make a few phone calls.” Once the
task was complete, I could take a deep breath, feeling satisfied with my work
and motivated to continue to the next step, which was then much easier to take
on.
Our small coalition is nearly two years into
the project, which is moving ahead and has high morale and active
participation.
Don’t be afraid to discover your yikes zone.
In fact, once you’ve gone into this exciting new place, you should be more
reluctant to stay in your comfort zone. Push yourself. Maybe you are tasked
with leading a new initiative that you aren’t sure how to tackle. Or you know
that in order to successfully complete a project, you will have to take on new
skills, or a lengthy and detailed timeline of tasks, or you will need to delegate
and trust others. Breaking the imposing task down into doable pieces is likely
to be your best opportunity for learning, growing, and innovating.
George
E.L. Barbee
https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Two-Simple-Concepts-to-Free-Up-Innovation?gko=c1865&utm_source=itw&utm_medium=20180215&utm_campaign=resp
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