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| Humor at Work |
ISSUE 530 - Mar. 19, 2014 |
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May the Best Idea Win!
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Coming up with the right decision in meetings is never easy. Especially when a group of passionate people is trying to decide on an innovative idea.
If everyone opts for one big cuddly "love-in" then peer pressure might encourage people to "go along to get along," resulting in dangerous ideas being adopted or the best idea being overlooked in favor of the group consensus. And if your culture is too risk-adverse you're in danger of always choosing the safest route; too trigger-happy and you might overlook some serious risks. Similarly, if people are too content with the status quo, people will lean towards safe ideas that don't rock the boat (I'm looking at you Kodak), whereas if you're too impatient you may jump the gun on a wild idea before having carefully thought it through (I'm looking at you Justin Bieber and the makers of new Coke).
There's no question finding the best idea is often a balancing act (which, come to think of it, may not even be the right term when you consider that the best ideas are often along the margins and not in the mushy middle ground associated with compromise).
Here are six things you can do to improve the odds of the best idea seeing the light of day:
1. Acknowledge the inherent danger of groupthink (history is littered with cautionary groupthink tales) and encourage ground rules that will promote honest and healthy debate focused on ideas and not on the personalities presenting those ideas.
2. Split larger groups into smaller subgroups of 2-3 people to encourage greater participation.
3. Assign a cooling off period before making any final decisions so that people have time to let things percolate. (We've all been to meetings where 24 hours later we wonder why the heck we hadn't thought of the obvious alternative or why we didn't speak up at the time.)
4. Bring in an outsider (or 2 or 3) to offer a more unbiased, baggage-free opinion.
5. Assign the role of a court jester or contrarian to challenge, prod and provoke discussion and debate.
6. Keep things light! Humor not only helps spark the creative process in numerous ways, it will keep emotions in check and diffuse tensions when the conversation heats up, which, if you're on the right track, it most certainly will.
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Mike's Fun at Work Tip |
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Over the years I've offered up many alter ego name websites to help you generate fun names as a meeting opener or for a fun distraction on a Friday. For a do-it-yourself name generator to generate your Super Villain or Super Hero name try this simple formula:
The color of your shirt + the first inanimate object to your immediate right OR the first inanimate object you open a random page on a book to = your alter-ego name for the day or meeting. In my case, I'm the Black Penguin. Which sounds both silly and ominous at the same time....exactly the flavor I was aiming for. |
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Quote of the Week |
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"When the mouth is open for laughter,
you may be able to shove in a little food for thought." Virginia Tooper |
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It's a Wacky World |
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Does your laugh have what it takes? Are you prepared to laugh people off the stage? Then you better book your tickets for the Ultimate Laughter American Laughing Championships in Atlanta, Georgia on May 17, 2014. Yes, laughing contestants will square off for the ultimate laugh down laugh-fest. It'll be like high noon at the OK Corral, only with laughter! And, well, in Atlanta. (It makes me laugh just thinking about it.) | |
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Cost Savings to Book Mike
Kelowna/Penticton: Special "need to see Mom" discounted rates all year
New York: April 28 - May 3
Europe: July 10 - July 27
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mike@mikekerr.com
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