WIZE TIME MANAGEMENT

So . . . you’ve got an idea – fantastic!

Maybe or maybe not . . . it depends.

The Gift of Great Ideas

Ideas have given us the wheel, steam engines, televisions, telephones and trips to space – you’d think that having an idea is terrific!

And we do applaud the great inventors of the world, and we shower great praise on some people who have come up with some people in our “entourage” too!

The Danger of Having a Great Idea

However, be careful . . . not everyone may like it when you present a great idea – that’s right – they won’t.  As surprising as that might seem, many, many people have experienced the wrath of those who feel “threatened” by a new and better idea in their workplaces or your homes.  Danger!  Danger!  Danger!

If someone feels threatened by your fabulous creative mind, at the least, they’ll laugh at you or try to discredit you and your idea right there and then.   Remember what happened when it was suggested the earth was round instead of flat?

The more dangerous are the “subversives” – those people who seem to welcome your new idea but who plot and scheme to make your life miserable or get rid of you.

Why?  Because they somehow interpret the presentation of your great idea as a personal attack on them and see it as something which makes them look bad.  Looking bad for some people is worse than death itself!  Their insecurities simply cannot afford to applaud the gifts of others.

One of the greatest landmine locales exists in the workplace where you never really know who is for or against you. People smile, go for a drink after work and are even pleasant to all around them.  But which ones are wearing the “smiling mask” and which ones have a “genuine smile” – you can’t tell.  The phony mask people expect others to support them and compliment them but when the praise and adulation goes to someone else, they are incensed – quietly and lethally!  They will do all they can to sabotage your work and your status in the organization – slowly but surely.

What To Do?

So what do you do with your great ideas?  Keep them to yourself until you have made a thorough assessment of who is who in your workplace, how they react to others introducing ideas, and who can receive ideas well with the power to act upon them.  It’s not always obvious.  In other words, you really, really have to get to know people you work with very, very well = what lurks in their hearts and souls!

Yes, it seems odd, doesn’t it?  A lot of management books talk about how ideas are critical to business and how ideas power the enterprise.  In real life, however, it’s much different.  And you’d think that the non-profit or government would be the safest place of all to present great ideas – you’d be dead wrong!  There is no safe place.

Your Alternatives

a)  Observe and learn all you can about the “players” in your company.  Slowly, develop relationships with people whom you have identified as possible supporters with the power to move forward with ideas.  Carefully craft a plan on how you will introduce your ideas and how you will benefit from them.

a)  Research and connect with people in other companies until you find an environment which is open to ideas and the development of those ideas.  Once you find such an enterprise, secure a job.  However, you’ll have to do the same – learn the politics of the workplace.

c)  Take your ideas, write them down and develop them on your own while you are still employed.  Today, there are many outlets for doing precisely that on the internet.  You’ll benefit personally from all your “intellectual property” and offend no one because no one needs to know.  Imagine an idea of yours creating a second income for you or possibly setting you on a better financial footing!

You don’t believe me?  Take a look at the info commercials or go to your county fair in the marketplace section where people are selling incredible new products outside the mainstream.  You won’t find the big corporations there but you’ll find innovation.

At our fair this year, I saw something quite common and yet someone “packaged” it differently — a one-person operation displaying the ingenuity of a single idea.  There he was standing in his booth and his product was flying off his stand.  What was it?  A bird house – that’s right a bird house.  He had pre-cut the pieces to making 3 styles of birdhouses.  People selected the style they wanted and inside the plain plastic bag were the pieces, the instructions, the hanger and the nails.  All people needed was something to pound the nails in – and . . . voila! a birdhouse for their backyard or local park – ready to go!  They were made of cedar wood which would withstand all weather conditions and the birdhouses could even be painted.  A simple idea.  Imagine presenting that to a big corporation.  This man made a lot of money – he was at his stand for 2 weeks with masses of people passing by and buying.

What could you do with your idea?  Write an ebook?  Create a product?  Create a workshop?

Yes, there is danger in expressing ideas and there can also be vast rewards if you are protective and cautious about protecting your ideas and possibly turning them into a money-making enterprise outside the workplace.

What will you do with your idea?

Lorraine Arams

http://www.wizetime.com

How can you save time when dealing with conflict resolution? 

By addressing any hint of conflict immediately.  Right now. 

If you don’t, it will grow.  There is no doubt whatsoever about it! 

Conflict doesn’t go away – it just festers!  It may seem like the waters are calm, but in actual fact, the undercurrents are destructive.  And it doesn’t matter whether the conflict is in volunteer organizations you belong to, at work or in your personal relationships.

In Organizations – Recently, I experienced a conflict situation with someone.  She “ambushed” me at a meeting of a volunteer organization because she didn’t like some of the things I had said to her of late.  I was quite steamed of course because I could see how she had used “backroom tactics” to put me on the spot and, of course, disappointed because I thought our relationship was more positive; certainly I didn’t expect this kind of behavior.  She had “prepared” her compatriots for the “attack”.  Well, the attack backfired on her and “her people” didn’t support her.  Did I want a repeat of this behavior on her part?  No, of course not.

She was going away so I sent her an email indicating that I wanted a telephone conversation to clear the air upon her return.  I told her what I was upset about.  Her response?  To send my emails, without my permission, to everyone in the group which, of course, is not good for the group dynamics.   This is the kind of person is highly destructive no matter where she operates.  Her style is “my way or the highway” and, if you don’t agree with her, she’ll “get you”.  How?  Through the ”gang up” method -  the schoolyard bully syndrome.  Will this conflict ever be resolved?  I don’t know. 

This is an example where I have a choice - is resolving this conflict worth it?    

At Work - Often, people don’t have a choice – they have to go to the office every day of the week and face someone which whom they are having a conflict.  In the office, as a manager, I learned through experience that it was my job to deal with conflict – any conflict – whether it was between employee in my department, between an employee and myself, or between a peer and myself or even conflict between my boss and I.  Most managers don’t want to deal with conflict and do everything in their power to avoid addressing it. 

If a manager sees or experiences conflict, then deal with it immediately – now – don’t wait one more second.  Set up a meeting and get through it.  Is it  stressful?  Absolutely!  That’s why most people avoid dealing with conflict because it is so emotional and so stressful that avoidance seems to be the answer.  Notice I said, “seems to be the answer”.  Avoidance is never, ever the answer in the workplace.

A secretary at one time kept referring to the Bible in the workplace constantly.  There were others on staff who were either non-believers or believed in another religion.  It irritated a lot of people but no one, not even my boss, wanted to deal with it because of the sensitivities surrounding one’s beliefs.  I dealt with it – the whole was more important than the one – she simply hadn’t realized the effect her references to the Bible were having on others.  If I hadn’t intervened, the irritations would have grown into a whole host of negative emotions and affected everyone’s work

Will you always succeed?  No.  But you will have begun the process.  There are some people who will never, ever want to participate in addressing the situation and resolving the conflict –

• they love to live in conflict – it makes them feel alive – if conflict doesn’t exist, they’ll likely create it
• or they’re right – at all costs and see everyone and everything else as wrong – they don’t want to generate a positive atmosphere and are unwilling often to an exchange of possible solutions; only when their jobs are at risk will they even “budge” and sometimes not even then
• or it doesn’t fit with how they operate – as a bully or a “backroom tactician”!  It’s their way or the highway is their attitude – there is no middle ground.  If  a person doesn’t go along with everything they say and do, they’ll do everything in their power to gather support against the person and make life very uncomfortable.  These are the people you take on or leave – they can be defeated but it takes time and energy – they don’t like to be asked questions

These are the very people you must distance yourself from.  And when they are in the office, they are the type of people who should be encouraged to leave or, in the worse case scenario, start the process of dismissing them. 

You’ll find, however, that most people do want to resolve the conflict – they want to air their “side of the story” and they want a solution – most people want to live in as much harmony as possible.  Sometimes, when they see the other side, they are surprised and offer their apologies.  Sometimes, they still don’t agree but at least it’s out in the open and they know, on that point, they will never see eye to eye – and that’s okay.  Sometimes, they all of a sudden “hear each other” and discover that they were saying the same thing in different ways.  And, sometimes, it was just plain silly and they both admit it – laughing about how stupid it was to get into conflict in the first place!

It’s the same in your personal life.  My partner is a master at approaching conflict.  His approach is gentle but effective and it’s all about timing.  He’s not afraid of my emotions; he’s interested in getting rid of the problem.  It’s addressed.  Life moves on.

Will you be good at conflict resolution in all parts of your life?  Likely not.  No one is.  Where one person is master at conflict resolution at work, they fall short at home.  But it is a learned skill and, with time and conscious effort, it can be improved.

How can you save time dealing with conflict?  By dealing with it - NOW – that’s how.  There is no other way unless you are willing to accept constant tension in your environment, an increase in game playing and the inevitable escalation of conflict one way or another.  In the long run, unresolved conflict will cost you a lot more time than dealing with it immediately.

Lorraine Arams
http://www.wizetime.com

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