Encouraging mad ideasFeargal Quinn puts forward an interesting idea in today's Irish Times - set a fixed day for Easter. He points out that Easter being a moveable feast causes all kinds of problems from scheduling school holidays to impact on tourist related businesses. He's right and doesn't it seem like a mad idea? I love hearing mad ideas. I don't consider myself to be very creative or good at coming up with mad ideas but I hope I'm open to them. It's so depressing to work in a client company and hear the old chestnut "but we've always done it like that" when you ask why something is the way it is. With companies facing highly disrupted markets they really need to cherish and develop the mad thinkers who just may find a way through. So how can companies encourage this kind of culture? Next time you're about to respond to a suggestion with "We couldn't do that because..." stop yourself and ask the person some questions. Questions that encourage them such as "How do you see that working?" "What are the advantages of that?" "When could we do that?" "How long would it take to implement?" It's a subtle difference but the message soon gets though to people that ideas are received with interest not derision, that you want to look at how something could be possible not why it's impossible. I'm not suggesting that every idea will be implemented but sometimes in the journey of exploring an idea we come across something that will really work for us and we should ensure we're open to that discovery. Regarding Easter, I bet you thought as I did that it couldn't be set, that it was based on some permutation of the moon and Sundays. Well yes it is but it's been changed before and according to Senator Quinn's article the Vatican was open to the idea as long ago as Vatican II and even went so far as to propose the second Sunday in April. So you see, things aren't always as fixed as we believe them to be! Add a CommentYour comment will appear once it has been approved. |