PointConcept

One expression I really don’t like hearing is people extolling others to “think out side of the box”. It’s often too late for that by the time this is being requested. It’s usually said to people who have actually been trained by school, parents, work and their peers to think in certain ways and do certain things. Fit in, do as you are told, be part of the gang, do it this way, do it our way. Some of this is needed, it gives us grounding and allows us to achieve as a society. But it needs to be offset by encouraging freedom of inquiry and analytical skills. We need to encourage young people to do what comes naturally: to question.

But that’s for the future, that may help our companies in a few years, but not now. Now we need to think about the staff both present and future. When you are next looking to hire a new employee what will you be looking for? Someone who will just fit in or someone who will stir things up a bit? I don’t mean hire a work place psycho, I mean someone who is free- range rather than battery reared. Some one who does not want to be a wall flower, but who is actively going to suggest new ways of doing things and is going to challenge when it is needed. Some one who is not afraid to say NO!

Not every organization wants or needs a blue sky thinker and i’ts the last thing you need in a small close knit organization. But you need someone who is happier with open fields and green pastures. However, and this is an important however, this one person is not going to be a catalyst for change unless you allow and encourage it. Which means you also need to encourage your other staff to do the same. It will not happen over night and does not need trips away for team building. You just need to get them to start thinking about how they do their jobs and give them incentives  if they come up with an idea that boosts your business. People generally are happy to tell you what is wrong with a process they are involved with, if it is one they have been given to follow. They are quiet happy to make improvements. You just need to encourage them. When people criticize see it as constructive.

If you want free range ideas you have to create a free range enviroment, not a box you then have to get them to think outside of. It means meetings which are informal and without hierachy; it means subtle continual changes in the way you interact in your company. You have to be brave and you have to learn to listen- really listen, in the same way you should be listening to your customers; customers you will get more of as your staff start solving customer problems and giving great customer service.