Date: 1/7/2019

Title: LEADERSHIP & NON-CONFORMISTS – Part 4

By Bryan Arzani

Grant offers some suggestions to do this. Individually, question the default. Asks why something has been done the way that it is. Immerse yourself in a new domain. Originality increases when your frame of reference increases. Seek feedback from peers. Be a tempered radical. If your idea is REALLY out there, reframe it to sit inside people’s values or beliefs.

For leaders to spark ideas, Grant suggests: picture yourself as the enemy. Create a sense of urgency, so ideas are generated. Ask employees from different places in the company to pitch ideas. Hold an opposite day. Divide people into groups. Each group chooses an assumption that is taken for granted. Each group asks, “When is the opposite true?”

For leaders to build cultures of originality: hire based on cultural contribution. When leaders hire for cultural fit, they usually choose people who think in similar ways. Originality comes when people enrich the culture, not match it. Ask for problems, not solutions. This statement was made in part one, only reversed. If people come in with a solution, they may have missed out on listening to others’ ideas. Welcome criticism. Don’t assign someone to be a devil’s advocate. Instead, find people who truly hold minority opinions. Invite them to present their views.

Welcoming non-conformity, embracing it, and seeking it out….can lead to valuable viewpoints. These will generate ideas that could have you and your team performing well ahead of the goals that were set with the “status quo” in mind. Your team will also become more engaged, as they know there truly is no question or comment that isn’t considered.

To learn more about how to practice this understanding, contact Results Group, LLC at www.ResultsGroupLLC.com or 515-330-2866.