Work In Colour - Work. Think. Live. In Colour
Wednesday 28th October 2009 | 6 comments
Yesterday I went to my first networking lunch with the Athena Network, and excellent fun it was, too. The week before, I was emailed a template so I could prepare a one-minute pitch about my work, and being a good girl, I followed it. (You know the thing, 10 seconds on your name, 30 seconds on what you do, a quick call to action then repeat your name.)
As a former lawyer, I understand templates and how they help us to produce a uniform end result. And as a human, I understand the desire to fit in, to be like the others, to belong and to share values.
So, my one minute was predictable, boring and safe. But this other woman, also a first-timer, she threw away the template and told us a one-minute story about her business - very effective and far more compelling.
So, what can this do for you?
As I thought about the experience, I realised that it was a good example of the upside and the downside of rule following.
I have no desire to rock the boat in a new environment, and I take a while to warm to a new place and people, so having a 'rule' to follow was good for me. I felt safer and more quickly at home. This is the good thing about rules, they help us know what to do, they capitalise on previous learning and they point the way for us. We don't have to waste energy re-inventing the wheel and we can be reasonably confident of fitting in and being accepted if we learn the rules and follow them.
But (this should be in 24 point font, it's a big but), following the rules stops us coming up with new stuff, stops us questioning assumptions, keeps our corporate cultures fixed in time and prevents innovation, in individuals and in companies large and small.
It's true that necessity is the mother of invention and we can be extremely creative within very tight rules and narrow paradigms - if you doubt me, check out the story of Apollo 13 where the scientists on the ground had to create a new carbon dioxide scrubber from materials in the lunar module, improvising from refashioned sections of plastic pipe, flight manual covers, socks and the like, so that a round peg could literally be made to fit in a square hole.
But, far more often, we rely on rules without ever thinking about them, and our failure to question them (or just ditch them altogether) stifles adventurous souls and leads to businesses failing to keep up with the competition, sometimes failing to even see the competition coming. It's hard to see through our own assumptions sometimes, as they masquerade as 'how we do things here' or even as 'reality'. A great tool for working with assumptions is SCAMPER, which I've written about before.
It doesn't really matter which tool you use, the important thing is to get into the habit of questioning the rules, of becoming curious about where you could try something different, where you could throw the windows open, where you could let some light and air into your work.
Next month at the Athena lunch, I intend to throw away the template (politely, of course) and tell a one-minute story of what I do for people.
So, what rules could you question? What assumptions could you challenge?
Tags: innovation, thinking, creativity, rules, tips
Great thoughts.
I wonder how many times in my own life I wanted to be accepted and therefore not gone out on a limb. It's where all the creativity is and obviously where you stand out.
http://www.onesherpa.com
Thanks, Andee. It can be a bit of a balancing act, can't it? Both belonging and being creative are very important, and ideally we find environments where we can have both...it's when we have to trade one against the other that the fun really starts.
Very well written article, thank you! A little comment on "But following the rules stops us coming up with new stuff"
I fully agree with this statement. On the another hand we have to take into consideration that there are people out there who feel very uncomfortable without certain rules especially in corporations. My experience is that managers very often make a mistake giving to much freedom for certain people thus using very few company rules. By the end of the day it could result that the co-workers feel frustrated since they do their everyday routine work without real control. So what I am saying is that breaking rules and creativity, and creative thinking would lead to new invention no question. On the another hand there are large number of people who would never ever invent anything so we have to find the right balance between using rules and breaking rules.
This is especially true in turbulent times like 2009. We have to work very carefully with our co-workers since when they fell very uncertain about their future, they would resist much more against change. But without change they would do the same mistakes and this would result a not really promising future for them. I would recommend a very interesting sideshow on this, titled: "How to restrategize your company in an economic crisis" Please visit: http://tinyurl.com/qc7p9h
Thanks, Laszlo, great perspective. Good to have the other end of the spectrum represented, too. We indeed have to find a balance between 'using rules' and 'breaking rules'.
Great points Joanna. I'm fortunate in that having my own business allows me to frequently break the rules and try different things. Nothing ventured nothing gained.
In working with companies, I've found that there isn't always outright resistance to change or trying something different but rather fear of how much change is going to occur at once. Incremental change is always easier to handle.
A rule I like to break is dress code at networking events. Being in tech and in Florida I like to wear shorts and a t-shirt all the time. I'll go to conferences and other events wearing at best jeans and a polo, while many others are wearing more dressy outfits. I find that people who go beyond the outfit are the people I most want to speak with. At a minimum, it's interesting to see the people's reactions before and after we talk.
Thanks again for a great post, and good luck with your next introduction.
Thanks Robert - I think you'd fit in well in my home town of Sydney, Australia, where we tend to have a pretty relaxed dress code, too. I absolutely agree about the sense of fear at the possible pace of change. When I was younger, it was breakneck speed or nothing, but now I really value a paced approach - maybe that old 'hare and tortoise' story was true after all!