Team Building

How to Turn Idea Squashers into Possibilities

Managing a small business continues to become more challenging. However, history has shown that resourceful business owners will succeed. They will prosper, turning disadvantages into advantages by thinking creatively.

While entrepreneurs focused on competition fade into the past, those working from a creative standpoint will carry the torch. The creative individual will force the solution to a problem by looking closely at his or her vision, values, resources, and assumptions. He or she will find alternatives through creative problem solving.

I recently attended a business seminar where the presenter talked about "idea squashers." Squashers are assumptions that form barriers to creative thought. You've probably known someone who was great at coming up with squashers when first hearing new ideas. It's the familiar "Yeah but..." response. The trick is to turn the squasher into a possibility by responding to it with a leading question, or "assumption buster."

Here are some examples of squashers that block creative thought:

We've always done it this way.
I've already tried that.
There's too much competition.
It's irrelevant to our situation.
You don't have enough experience.
We don't have a big enough budget.
An "average Joe" can't get ahead.
We haven't got the manpower.
Someone might not like it.
Let's stick with what works.
It's too far ahead of the times.
That's not in my job description.
I'll get back to you later.
Stick with what you know.
It will take too much time.
Nobody asked you to do this.

By replying to these statements with leading questions, a reframing occurs. New possibilities and solutions begin to emerge.

Here are some examples of questions that challenge old assumptions:

"If we tried again, and made this slight change, how might it improve the results?"

"What could happen if you increased your skills and value by gaining knowledge in new areas?"

"What support would you need to accomplish this job?

"If we began again with a clean slate, what would you do differently?

"How could we determine the response to this idea in advance?"

"What other options are you willing to create?"

How would you turn the squashers listed above into possibilities? I'm sure you can think of more thought barriers similar to my examples.

This exercise will strengthen your creativity. It also makes an enlightening group activity. When someone replies to the leading question with another squasher, the questioner again challenges the answer with another leading question.

Try turning idea squashers into possibilities by challenging assumptions. You will generate many creative solutions that might have been overlooked. You will also solve problems in a way that is skill enhancing and enjoyable.

© Copyright 2004 by Steve Brunkhorst. Steve is a professional life success coach, motivational author, and the editor of Achieve! 60-Second Nuggets of Inspiration, a popular mini-zine bringing great stories, motivational nuggets, and inspiring thoughts to help you achieve more in your career and personal life. Contact Steve by visiting http://www.AchieveEzine.com

MORE RESOURCES:

Return to Team Building Home Page

RELATED ARTICLES

Creating Unity In Your Company
The other day I got a call from a friend of mine about an earlier conversation we'd had. Here's what we talked about: Years before he had started a company which has now grown to the point where it has many offices across the USA.

How to Boost Morale In Your Organisation
Who keeps the wheels turning in your organisation? Who holds it all together when chaos reigns supreme? Who can you rely on to run your department/business in your absence?Generally it's the admin/secretarial/support staff who toil away at their computers day after day, week after week and maybe year after year.Tell me?when's the last time you thanked or rewarded them for their efforts? I'm sure you did what everyone else does at Xmas - take them out to lunch or dinner.

Consensus: The Right Team Decision Strategy?
Consensus is the appropriate decision strategy for the most important team decisions. Every member of your team needs to understand what consensus really means.

Building a Successful Team
Once you've set a goal for yourself as a leader - whether it is to create your own enterprise, energize your organization, build a church, or excel in sports - the challenge is to find good people to help you accomplish that goal. Gathering a successful team of people is not only helpful, it's necessary.

Team Communication Critical To Success
I'm often asked, "Why is my team always fighting fires instead of preparing for changes?" Finding the answer may take some digging. Here are a few possibilities.

Hand Out Warm Glows
Do you remember how you felt after your last interactionwith another person either on the phone or face to face?That person - it could have been a customer, a colleague, asalesperson, a friend or even a member of your family. Didthey make you feel good, uplifted and more positive, didthey leave you feeling neutral or did they make you feeldown and more negative.

Why Is Teamwork Training Important?
"When teamwork kicks in, nobody can beat you."Don Shula, Head Coach, Miami Dolphins Only NFL team to attain a perfect 17-0 seasonWhether it's two people, a department, or an organization, teams are the means by which great things get done.

The Team Process
We live in very progressive times, one only has to look around at the changes on the internet each day to see that this is true.We see changes also happening within the world around us as well, sometimes for the better sometimes not.

Listening Between the Lines
Have you seen the tee-shirt with the slogan, "Talk to the hand 'cos the face ain't listening?" Do you feel it's like this sometimes when you are trying to get through to people? But just how good a listener are you? Do you actually "listen between the lines?"So often we hear about a problem, and immediately jump in. We want a quick fix.

Joy and Laughter in the Workplace: Lessons From the Land of OZ
Turbulent TwistersYou've read about it in the headlines and experienced it first hand..

WIIFM - Making the Whats In It for Me? Question Work for You
In the constantly changing world of Call Centers, asking agents to adapt to ever increasing demands, responsibilities and performance can be a challenge to even the most involved of managers. Being able to create buy in is always challenging, but if you can answer the WIIFM question you will be ahead of the game.

The Magic and Mystery of Teams
As the world of manufacturing has become increasingly competitive, managers have diligently searched out new and innovative ways to increase productivity, multiply the power of every employee, and better utilize every resource in order to positively impact the bottom line.For more than a decade one of the most popular "Hot Trend" innovations has been the idea of "Team".

Motivation - Dont Make Your Team Uncomfortable
The people in your team may feel a bit uncomfortable whenyou sit down and spend time with them, particularly ifthey're not used to it. They might not be used to you doingit or perhaps a previous manager didn't do it.

Leadership Quality Through Kindness
In days past, loyalty was a given. The worker in past generations frequently remained with a company for his or her lifetime.

Motivating Teams
Introduction:Working with teams, whether as leader of a single team or manager of several, is an essential part of a manager's remit. Teamwork is rapidly becoming the preferred practice in many organizations as traditional corporate hierarchies give way to flat, multi-skilled working methods.

Top 7 Ways to Motivate Your Team
1. Involve them.

Why It Pays to Out More Humor in the Workplace
1. Humor reduces stress levels and stress is the number one problem confronting employees today.

Dealing with Difficult People: Ten Ways to Improve Your Communications Success
Have you noticed that some people seem to stop listening even before you start talking? Do you avoid approaching some people unless you absolutely have too? Improve your chance for conversational success by considering the following ten factors before starting your next conversation.1.

Leadership, Genuine, Meaningful and Productive
One of the best lessons I have learned is the impact and importance of leadership. It is so easy to identify dysfunctional leadership in a company (or of a governmental entity!).

Outdoor Team Development - Harmless Fun or Serious Learning?
The Sales Director had organised a great conference; the venue was first class, the service excellent and the content of the workshops and presentations very motivational. The only potential "fly in the ointment" was the team-building afternoon which was scheduled to take place outdoors as evidenced by the memo outlining the fact that waterproof jackets, trousers and boots should be brought along to the conference.