Shooting the Balloons of Others
"I promise not to shoot down your ideas if you do not
shoot mine."- words from a fellow manager
In the corporate world people do not like to kill their own
ideas or the ideas of others. It is to
political. Most people play to nice. Killing ideas is often looked upon as killing a baby.
A couple of years ago I sat in a leadership meeting in which
a manager was proposing that we use 30 year old technology. I had used new technology in recent past and
offered it as a suggestion. It would save
the company a ton of money. He did not
disagree but pushed for his idea.
A few days later he came to my office and told me the quoted
line. I was shocked. He explained to me that he was short on
people and this was his scheme to get them.
The company did not want to increase headcount and this was his way of
getting around the rule.
Killing his idea was like killing his baby. He did not want to get into a position where
his ideas were challenged. So he offered
the suggestion as a way of heading off disagreements. I did not agree to his request.
Today's question is:
"Do you kill your own
ideas?"
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