What’s it like when employees know to fear failure at work?
While there will be low, and probably constrained energy, whoever has the most on the line will bear the biggest impact: new ideas stop coming. Employees stop taking risks, and the responsibility for new solutions falls on the highest up.
Working there is probably not a positive experience and there’s a noticeable lack of fun.
Innovation cannot, and will not, exist in this kind of culture.
Language Impacts Idea Generation
The language we use is not only a reflection of our internal states, it also has a significant affect on the culture and energy (and therefore ideas) that an organization experiences. When IDEO, the innovation consultancy, noticed that new ideas could be killed off with as little as an eye roll, they created a very specific feedback loop to keep energy up, ideas flowing, and innovation a constant occurrence.
The Simple, Three Part Process to Energize Your Business
- What I like is _________________
- What I wish is______________________
- How might we ______________________
The first step makes it personal. There’s no “good” or “bad.” It’s about what You like or don’t like. The wish comment makes it clear what is missing/what would make it better, for the speaker. The last one creates the possibility for a conversation to discuss potential solutions….and that we’re in it together.
This three step process can have a huge impact on every individual’s energy, the work group’s energy and culture, the ideas that get generated, and the experience of every business owner. Try it out at work, on your kids, on your friends, and just watch what gets created! I guarantee you’ll be energized.
