The Innovative Team by Chris Grivas & Gerard J. Puccio

Author:Chris Grivas & Gerard J. Puccio
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781118150849
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2011-10-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Preserving the Novelty

Kate entered the room. “Looks like you folks have been busy. What's going on?”

Damon replied, “Maya and I are still coming up with more ideas. This is really fascinating stuff.”

Elaine spoke up. “Ideas? Please. We have enough ideas!”

Juan fixed his gaze on Kate, adding, “We've been seeing how these ideas relate to each other. I think we are seeing some clear patterns emerging.”

“Wow. I'm impressed that you are all so ready to get down to the business of converging on what is going to work best for our client. I think you're off to a good start,” Kate said, trying to maintain the group's momentum. Then she tried to redirect it.

“Before you go any further, I'd like to remind you all of the last thing Tony said as he left the room earlier—don't lose the novelty. In fact . . .” Her voice trailed off as she moved over to her laptop and typed “convergent guidelines” into her search engine. The team watched curiously.

“Here we are, ‘convergent thinking guidelines.’ Will someone scribe for me?” she asked. Then, thinking this might be a way to get Damon interested in the next phase, added, “Damon? Would you mind doing the honors?”

“Happy to, Kate.”

“Number one: Be appreciative. This is about training yourself to first look at what you like about the idea. What about the idea can you appreciate?” Kate explained and then continued.

“Number two: Be deliberate. This is about making sure you don't move too fast. Consider each idea individually.

Number three: Remind yourselves of the goal. Does this idea or set of ideas hit the right target?

Last one, number four: Consider novelty. This is the one Tony was talking about. What about this idea makes it unique? What potentials might come from this idea?”

She looked around the room, unsure if presenting these guidelines put her too much back in “teacher” mode or how her intervention had changed the team's dynamic. She waited to see.

“These are nice guidelines, Kate,” Elaine began, “but how do we actually do this? I mean, sometimes the solution is obvious. Are you saying we should go back and check that we've done our thinking around these guidelines?”

“No. These are guidelines to be used as you sort through the ideas you have generated. It's just the same as how you hold each other accountable to the guidelines for divergent thinking while brainstorming. You have to first try to be aware of what you are doing and second you have to name it when you see it. If I think Juan is being too negative toward a particular idea, I might ask him, ‘Juan, what do you appreciate about this idea?’ That's the kind of support you can give each other during this process.”

“And if I see Elaine wanting to move forward too quickly I might say, ‘Sit down and shut up,’” Damon laughed. “Come on, Elaine, just kidding! I would say something like, ‘Let's try to be deliberate.’”

“That's a little better,” Elaine said. “Or you could say, ‘Hold on, let's look at this more carefully.

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