Killing the lovelies!

In the world of design it is common to come up with a myriad of options to address a particular challenge.  Whether it is designing a home or an article of clothing, the designer allows their imagination and creativity to put forth different approaches for the client to consider.  In their own minds, the designers see the positive in all that is presented.  But ultimately is up to the end user to determine which suits them best.  The designer is left to ‘kill the lovelies’ that don’t make the final cut.

The designer has an emotional attachment to each of the recommendations as each is born of their thought and consideration. But only one will satisfy the decision maker and it thus, by default that the rest head to the trash.

As leaders, we are likewise routinely ‘designing’ solutions for our businesses.  As you would expect, we tend to think that all of our ideas are good, very good, and even are superb. But here’s the rub.

The good leader tends to think that most of their ideas are superb.  They seldom test them against reality during their rush towards implementation.  Sadly, they learn the hard truth that not all that glitters is gold.  

By contrast, the superb leader will come up with almost as many options for consideration.  But their experience and instincts help them to recognize that the vast majority are simply good or very good.  Few rise to the level of superb, and most of those have come from a collaborative thought process that has vetted itself along the way. 

They then implement far fewer ideas with far greater results.  The key…their willingness to ‘kill the lovelies’.

How often do you have trouble releasing an idea because of the pride of authorship you have invested in the process?  You have given birth to a concept to which you have developed an emotional attachment and it is hard to acknowledge that it really falls short.  Instead you push forward with a square peg – round hole trying to force fit your recommendation.  It is to the ultimate detriment of all because you have wasted time and effort and possibly resources on something that should have been cast aside as you ‘killed your lovely’.

How effective are you at ‘killing the lovelies’?  If you think that it is an issue, here are a few guidelines to help in your analysis.

1.    Is this matter even worthy of your consideration or is it something for a different pay grade.  If it is under your auspices, is the issue one which is serious enough to demand your attention?  Any time you undertake a time consuming or resource rich project you are taking it away from something else.  Make sure that it rises to a ‘superb’ level of need.

2.    Never trust your own instincts exclusively.  You are fully engaged in the process and will have difficulty seeing assumptions you have made that do not line up with the facts.  While it needs to be your decision in the end (I support collaborative decision making but not consensus decision making), having a second or third set of eyes and/or voices will only make the recommendation sounder and more feature rich.  This will be particularly important if those other voices are needed as part of the implementation.

3.     Review your decision with a mentor, consultant or peer.  External opinions will be the most objective and can raise valid questions based on experience and exposure to a broad range of other companies.  Not having any emotional investment allows this person to be much more dispassionate in their critique.

4.    Pride of authorship should not enter the discussion.  As the leader, your focus is on process and results, not on the genesis.  You are gauged on the outcome and the fact that it is the result of a team approach only confirms your ability to assemble and equip a group of professionals that achieved the goals and objectives set out. (FYI, this blog found its’ genesis in a YouTube video on knitting that I overheard my wife watching)

These are extraordinary times to be sure.  But the principles of success have not changed; only the scope of the challenge is different. Don’t abandon that which has served you well but do consider expanding the scope of your decision making to match the scope of the challenge. 

And only settle for SUPERB!