Comments on: Don’t get New Ideas caught in the ASA Trap! http://talkingstory.org/2009/10/dont-get-new-ideas-caught-in-the-asa-trap/ Starting new conversations in the workplace! Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:26:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Rosa Say http://talkingstory.org/2009/10/dont-get-new-ideas-caught-in-the-asa-trap/comment-page-1/#comment-3283 Rosa Say Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:11:16 +0000 http://talkingstory.org/?p=2593#comment-3283 <i>Hana hou</i> Wally - bravo! Thank you for responding by sharing a few new ideas we can all learn to adopt or adapt. You've hit on the crux of the problem - the <i>perceived</i> need for approval, when there is often idea development which can be experimented with before we even think about the pros and cons we levy in giving (or denying) our approval. I like that notion of “tin-cupping” where there is an underlying assumption: <i>I will give you some seed money trusting that you will use it well, and are engaged in an idea worth the exploration and quest.</i> It is an appreciation of the thinking process in play. Hana hou Wally – bravo! Thank you for responding by sharing a few new ideas we can all learn to adopt or adapt.

You’ve hit on the crux of the problem – the perceived need for approval, when there is often idea development which can be experimented with before we even think about the pros and cons we levy in giving (or denying) our approval. I like that notion of “tin-cupping” where there is an underlying assumption: I will give you some seed money trusting that you will use it well, and are engaged in an idea worth the exploration and quest. It is an appreciation of the thinking process in play.

]]> By: Wally Bock http://talkingstory.org/2009/10/dont-get-new-ideas-caught-in-the-asa-trap/comment-page-1/#comment-3282 Wally Bock Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:57:05 +0000 http://talkingstory.org/?p=2593#comment-3282 Part of the problem is the very approval process that exists in most companies. If you have to pass an idea up for approval, then your boss needs to pick out the ideas that can have the biggest, surest, soonest impact before approving the idea and passing it still further up the chain. There seem to be two ways to deal with this effectively. Both involve eliminating that process. At 3M and other companies there is the process of "tin-cupping" where a person can shop an idea for funding from existing budgets, including experimentation budgets. No buy in, no funding and the idea dies, at least for now. Funding naturally includes buy-in, so if it's your idea, you're not alone any more. Other companies, like Nucor and Toyota, simply assume that most ideas will be small, from workers and should be tried. At Nucor they even keep idea scrap at several plants where ideas that didn't work can provide inspiration or starting points for future ideas. .-= Wally Bock´s last blog ..<a href="http://blog.threestarleadership.com/2009/10/11/101109-leadership-reading-to-start-your-week.aspx?ref=rss" rel="nofollow">10/11/09: Leadership Reading to Start Your Week</a> =-. Part of the problem is the very approval process that exists in most companies. If you have to pass an idea up for approval, then your boss needs to pick out the ideas that can have the biggest, surest, soonest impact before approving the idea and passing it still further up the chain.

There seem to be two ways to deal with this effectively. Both involve eliminating that process.

At 3M and other companies there is the process of “tin-cupping” where a person can shop an idea for funding from existing budgets, including experimentation budgets. No buy in, no funding and the idea dies, at least for now. Funding naturally includes buy-in, so if it’s your idea, you’re not alone any more.

Other companies, like Nucor and Toyota, simply assume that most ideas will be small, from workers and should be tried. At Nucor they even keep idea scrap at several plants where ideas that didn’t work can provide inspiration or starting points for future ideas.
Wally Bock´s last blog ..10/11/09: Leadership Reading to Start Your Week My ComLuv Profile

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