The value of a suggestion made by a manager, that can lead to an improvement to the original idea or its implementation would be appreciated by the employee if it is communicated appropriately.

The manager needs to communicate appreciation and give credit to the employee for coming up with the idea and also showing a willingness to follow through and implement it. The "value add" suggestion should be communicated as just that - a suggestion leaving the choice to accept or not with the employee.

The critical thing is to positively motivate the employee and not appear to be taking away the credit for the idea or its implementation. Done this way, I think, the risk of diluting the employees motivation and committment to implement would be minimized.

as a chinese ,i heard too much about this topic. someone who promotes so called chinese management style even said that if your manager say something wrong, you must not correct it immetidately. you should follow up and then rise your question as a new phenoma and let your manager correct it.
hehe, do you think that is effective?

Before speaking-to various classes- (direct reportees, peers, children ), feel that culture and attitude of people matters.

As in some cases ,they would like to hear an opinion or some value add else intrepret that the Manager/ parent did not understand/ is not capable to respond.

The points raised are very relevant but in todays world the person needs to mentally/Emotionally grow up to a level where he can refrain from showing off (his whatever qualities) and still be comfortable (in that context).

Soni Abraham
Business Process Excellence-Team Member
Dr Reddys-India

I too manage a group of technically and intellectually gifted people. I like to include myself among this group. We learned long ago that most seek the confirmation and recognition that comes with expressing a good idea and the Pavlovian desire for a pat on the back.

We employ what I call the Jules Verne methodology to encourage everyone to contribute in a way everyone can share. I tell everyone, "If it isn't written down, it never happened." And of course we are all guilty of having that great idea we later forgot. But why Jules Verne?

Jules Verne was a visionary and a writer. He also never left home without it - a journal or diary (not the American Express Card). Whenever he had an idea, like a rocket ship to the moon, he wrote it down.

All of us here carry our journals with us 24/7. Once a week we share them with each other at Saturday meetings. At these meetings were invented CPG new products such as Tylenol Gelcaps, Cold-filtered Miller Genuine Draft Beer, Tylenol Gelcaps as well as turnaround positioning strategies (case studies)for brands such as Wheaties, Folgers and Pampers that rocked their category's worlds.

This way we get the outlet, the expression, the recognition, the pat on the back and the order that we are all looking for. And everyone gets to contribute. Everyone gets satisfaction.

a)That I should refrain from stating new because someone else will take away the credit makes commercial sense.
c)That I should measure impact of my statement on the audience in terms of delivery levels, makes communication more objective.

Let's evaluate each separately. Which idea are we talking of? New incremental or new radical. Hundreds of good ideas strike you every day, and should you be stingy in sharing them, the creativity pipeline in an individual would choke. Hence go ahead and express and let new ideas sprout continuously, let the work place become better, you too gain since you remain included therein. Now if a rare idea strikes you that could radically change the future of the organization, you can choose the occasion where the highest chair person is present, to express the same. Why, in today's world one can mail and connect to anyone in the organization... and if one fears that the top most chair would steal the credit for the same, then isn't one working in a company where every boss is a stealer.... It is time to quit.

As for measuring the impact of one's communication, one sure would be wasting time talking aimlessly. Hence it is the impact-full content serving a good cause that makes a good speech.

Since we live in a world of patents, if an exclusive first time product or process is the issue, one sure needs to keep it a secret. It all depends on what are you going to do with your idea ? Write a book or develop a product or just sit on it out of fear of someone else taking credit ! Remember, life flows and so should ideas, preferably to add to your kitty, if not , to others'!!

AK Handa
President
Centaur Pharmaceuticals

Theories, meetings, discussions, seminars and teachings are available in abundance about new iedaes, strategies, problems, solutions, morale, and so on so forth. Still we are on the search. The question is what then we achieved before with all that.

We are all responsible for the chaos and confusion in the real world. How many knows about the current crisis of the world economy that is affecting every poor fellow?

Know yuorself. That's it.

Creativity & ideas should never be restricted because free flowing of ideas in a person generates more & more.....

Just ask yourself a simple question,"Is this person or group really worthy of receiving and judiciously utilizing my ideas, suggestions and assistance?" Depending on the answer you would know what to do.

Raj Bose
Faculty - University of Phoenix

Raj - I believe that sometimes the issue is not 'worthiness', it is 'willingness'. Sometimes great people, who are very worthy, just have different perspectives - and disagree with an idea.

DPD - Thank you!

R - Good point. It is important to see the other person's perspective.

AK - Great point! The radical ideas are very different than incremental ideas.

Martin - I love your 'write it down' philosophy. It obviously is working for your team. Thank you for sharing this will our readers.

Soni - As the world becomes increasingly global, your comments are more and more important.

Alan - The effectiveness of the strategy depends upon the manager. If it works for your manager, it is effective. It it doesn't work for your manager, it is not effective.

Uday - Thank for for this excellent synopsis!

As Franklin D Roosevelt (and later Colin Powell) is credited as saying:

"There is no limit to what can be achieved - if you don't mind who gets the credit"

Ok sometimes it really DOES matter to an individual who gets the credit (Hi Pavlov!)but every time someone goes to their manager and makes a suggestion it's a great opportunity to develop and encourage that person to have more and more ideas.

Consider:

Individual - I have a great idea boss! We could do x and then Y and we'd get Z!!

Boss - Answer A - (if it is a good idea)
What a great idea! How can we make it work? What can I do to help you with it?

Boss - Answer B - (if it is not such a good idea)
That's an idea! How can we expand on it do you think and make it even easier to get to Z and maybe beyond?

In a nutshell:

It's their idea - encourage them and help them develop it - don't squash it with a bigger and better idea of your own!

Give credit where it's due - always. Be generous as you coach and develop others. They'll do the same for you.

Warm regards
Angela

Hi everyone!
Very familiar situation maybe for all managers and others. What is clear is that bosses mustn't become an obstacle. In other words, they should create an environment where creative workers would prosper.
But if the idea is not good enough or not complete, managers should show the way implicitly and direct to the better idea. Just like that idea was worker's not yours. That will make situation easy.
For examle, - I have such an idea!
- Well, that's good one, and could you think about additions to this.
or - Wonderful, let's discuss details.

Excellent piece. I put this information to work no more than five minutes after reading it. Very valuable.

Thanks!

As you are all well aware it is always about achieving hermeneutic advantage...

So...one might look at it like...giving of themselves to assist others in need...or not...

Ideas in today's information infested existence are currency to allow the future to evolve into existence.

Partafacts?

I am thinking I should copyright this comment.

Copyright 2008 VLOXY

These comments are too funny! Great article, BTW. I'm pretty sure this wasn't an article written about a situation where you're team is brainstorming. The groundwork is very specifically targetted where the subordinate has initiated the idea and is looking for a little recognition. If you can't see the difference, and obviously, some here can't, this article isn't *for* you, it's *about* you. LOL.

The comment that the "effectiveness of execution is a function of the quality of the idea multiplied by the executor’s commitment to make it work." is spot on. But this seems like a bigger picture issue, isn't an adjustment to an new idea just one of the many ways the an executor's commitment is undermined - perhaps not even the biggest way?

If I brought an idea to a manager and later found out that s/he had a suggestion to improve it and didn't mention it, I would be offended. If a subordinate brings an idea to me and I see a way to improve it, I'm being irresponsible not to provide the suggestion. In both cases, communicating the possibility of improvement is respectful of the intelligence, experience, and insight that both parties have. The key to avoiding problems in both cases is to continue the communication.

I actually had a situation with my boss recently that fell into this category. Because of the way my boss initially made her suggestion, it felt like an unsupported directive (must do it, and must do it in my off hours). It was a good suggestion, but wasn't helpful for my situation. Once I was able to confront her (and while we were both very polite and respectful, it did feel like a confrontation because of my sense of it being an unsupported directive) and explain why I didn't feel it was appropriate for my situation, she supported my decision. However, we both wanted to see her improvement put into place, and so when I confronted her, I made a suggestion about how it could be implemented without impacting my current situation. The end result, my original situation wasn't compounded, her suggestion ended up becoming a project on it's own, and our mutual respect and ability to communicate has been improved. If she had failed to make her suggestion we would have lost a lot and never even known it.

Excellent post by Marshall again. Being a technology savvy person, I can totally relate to it. I will keep his advice in my mind in the future.

It will also be interesting to get some views on the situations, where the person trying to sound clever and smart is actually not intelligent and brilliant, instead an idiot. Excluding the usual politeness the reasonable response would be to ask them to shut up, but how should leaders avoid reaching that extreme and yet somehow discourage the idiots from wasting the air time?

Team meetings unfortunately isn't the right forum for individuals to freely express or add value/prove their smartness, as outlined in the article. By doing so it often results in ego conflict and a negative charged environment drifting away from the agenda for the meeting. Organisations should either conduct Brain storming sessions or an Idea forum wherein employees can freely express their creative talents in the form of a write-up/white paper and drop them in such boxes located at various points or send them through e-mails. Once a month a peer committee consisting of technically competent individuals (experienced and Senior memebers), evaluate all such ideas and recognise effective contributions through organisational rewards program (yearly or monthly). This practice would create a positively charged environment as well as create a level playing ground for individuals who are lesser gifted with creative abilities to also put on their thinking caps and participate rather than supress people who are gifted and can make a world of a difference by their contributions/opinions. This move would benefit Organisations as well as individual contributors and make Managers proud of their subordinates in being rewarded for their ideas. Points could also be given to Managers for recognitions received by individuals of his team, which could add value during the Manager's annual apprisal. It would result in a win-win situation without any feeling of superior-subordinate ego at stake and the organisation being deprived due to lack of transparancy and maturity between employees. There should be every effort of eradicating primitive management styles of restricting creative ideas even from the lowest rung.

An interesting article.

It asserts the importance of remaining objective in a situation where an employee's self image and confidence have been made vulnerable. For the most part I agree with the methodology.

There are only a few practical outcomes. Either a person will abandon an idea because it's suddenly not theirs, or a person will disagree with input, or they will welcome input and agree with it.

I am a person who needs to own an idea, and the value of the idea is often determined by the feedback I receive from people I consider to be equal or superior. However, I know many brilliant people who aren't as interested in positive feedback for their sake, as much as they are in getting correct or true feedback. These are people who want to know if they have a bad idea, or whether they can make it better. This type of person usually understands that where they are now is because of the will to improve, not as a result of the defense of some arbitrary superiority they were graced with. In a way, if there is a lack of commitment to an idea after logically valuable input has been added, it means that from inception the idea wasn't about being the best it could be, it was really about being relatively better than some other.

How can you objectively consider whether your input adds merit to an idea (when there is possibility of commitment loss) when you don't know what type of person you're dealing with?

If you take the route of trial and error, and you can gauge how well a person responds to the input in relation to how significant the input is, then you will have criteria you can use in future communications with them.

What happens when your employees notice the differences in your feedback from person to person or idea to idea? Nothing bad, so long as you have proven that you are an open mind, by doing such things as always asking the person with the idea what they think about your input, or what they would do to overcome an unaccounted challenge, etc. Even when you know for certain your input's value exceeds their possible commitment loss, it will still provide you an opportunity to learn about the idea and the person. For the people you are holding your tongue for, hopefully they will observe constructive input given to others and then ask for your input in future discussion. Then you'll know you got through to them, and that they are willing to set aside their ego for a little while.

You can establish that you consider the employee to be equal to you in terms of creativity, and that your executive decisions are objectively calculated. If you do this, do you think that your smart people will be more commited to the idea itself or to their dominion over it? If the answer is that their dominion over it is inevitably more important to them, then they aren't catching the hint.

Is it feasible to train your gifted people to see more value in fostering the best possible idea within a group than they see in owning an good idea individually? I think so.

Yes, I have witneesed how great ideas are taken by others who run with it and implement it in the wrong way in their drive to receive credits, honour and promotion. The suggestions made in this article are of course interesting if one would want to maintain a system based on competition instead of synergy and cooperation. This is a code of behaviour that would not lead to promoting values of authenticity, sustainability, creativity for development, etc. Instead of advicing people to become 'protective', we should perhaps promote the concepts and practices of good leadership under a paradigm of cooperation and sustainable life-style.

Sr Water Management & Institutions Specialist
World Bank Institute

Very interesting point I have not considered. This insight will go far in how I will now start communicating with my spouse and kids as well. It reminds me of a quality vs. quantity example. Insight is needed at times but it's important that leaders temper their egos and build others by giving input when it will have the most impact. A manager adding 5% now may hinder a possible 10% increase in the quality of the associate's next idea and may even reduce the quantity of ideas altogether.

Depending on the the manager and his team, a great manager/teacher will help their employee/student discover a better answer on their own. In such cases, a diamond of an idea may be found.

Dr. Goldsmith,

Your advice is both appropriate and (at least for me) timely.

I have on various occasions served on committees, where I had an idea rolling around in my head. The more I think about the idea the more I consider its merit and the value of pitching it to the group.

One unmentioned factor is that pitched ideas can either spark exploratory discussions or they can chafe the egos of its listeners. Oftentimes your group will be mixed with both kinds of people. Thus, group dynamics are an important consideration on the receptiveness of an idea.

We could make two observations here. First, a pre-meeting analysis of your team members may offer a framework for whether ideas will be appreciated or resented. Secondly, the tactfulness of your delivery can either win your detractors or alienate your allies.

I say this not to diminish the ego test, but to add that we should all know our audience and polish our delivery before speaking.

GMR

This article has a very interesting methodology. If a manager thinks that by adding their two cents to every project and the result will end up in a value added business outcome-- think again. Employees appreciate recognition and management must increase value added processes. These processes include planning, directing work, and linking the value to customers and stakeholders.

each offer of solution adds a new branch to the decision tree which can become complex. Leaders know this, so revert to your sign on agreement and structor from that point. However, lend hents of intelligence within the issue to force leaders to question your point. If you have a negitive claim of ownership for your knowledge ect. agreement then stop and change the agreement. then proceed and or if you get the changes needed to allow credibility then say nothing and let them solve the issue. Save your creativity and intelligence for a new and competivite company without strings tied from the origional corporation.
I would recommend that the creativity that takes place within your mind be negoiated in the agreement when you are asked to sign on.

For all the yuppies out there, you will be identified up front just by looking into your eyes. The corporation may not sign you up if you try to avoid the corporate standard agreement.

Good article. This is why you should be a bit careful of your super performers. Maybe the readers would be interested in the following article "Beware of Super Performers."

http://www.thejendra.com/ARTICLES/super.htm

rgds
Tej
www.thejendra.com

Suggestion Schemes- based on rewards and recognition are one way to go if a company is really keen on mining the brains of employees.

However it all depends on the values that top management actually believes. It is common in Africa to use Cliches such as ''We encourage Team work'' or ''Our greatest Asset is The People Component'' When the Leader sounding all this does not believe an inch in what He/she is postulating.

Immediately employees realize this,the brilliant ones will immediately coil, While Idiots/sycophants/lackeymen easily thrive in this kind of environment.

Any way it remains important to evaluate when to keep your radical ideas, and when to unleash incremental thoughts. The Overall culture of the organisation matters considerably.

Remember that with every good idea that you suggest, you should be ready to carry the burden of accomplishing the required steps to ensure a positive outcome. You will need to assess whether the culture in the organisation allows for failures. So always think it through properly before recommending.

I think that not only managers should be aware of their deeper reasons for wanting to add value to great ideas from employees. The same applies to employees who should be aware of equally negative tendencies. Such as having ego's so big that they just cannot accept that other people could contribute to their idea. Something that happens just as frequently as the phenomenon you describe.

As an employee in a small co. in Brazil, I should say that most of the useful ideas given by us in meetings or brainstorms are usually well accepted, but in the very our managers re-build the good ideas already presented and implement them. I believe company history and structure have still great influence in the way of managing. Maybe a fear of losing power or authority.

Tks, Maikon Molozzi.

Good points. I do find myself trying to add to my manager's suggestions. It is sometimes a source of contention, although I wasn't fully aware of it till you put your finger on it for me. I can see that being a good listener can sometimes be more effective than proving, by talking, that I understand and am on board.

That is one of the best articles i read, I like the idea, I see it every day from my direct boss as well as my co workers.

Mohamed Adel, Egypt

Discernment is a valuable skill, and includes understanding the pysches of the individuals involved, i.e. what makes them tick. Too often ego factors influence interactions with others adversly. The trick is to create an atmosphere of cooperation and cooberation by breaking the ice, i.e. alleviating any negative expectations.

mg

I would guess from reading the postings here that most (if not all) the contributors do not have an "ego problem." It is precisely the type of person that thinks they are always "adding value" that has the ego problem and doesn't realize it.

I would like to hear suggestions from Dr. Goldsmith about how to handle the person in the team meeting, or the boss, who is constantly contributing but not really adding value.

Although im currently studying entry level of business management studies, but i somehow feel that according to my thinking direction this perception may not get to be real time always.let me explain the backbone of my thoughts with you.
Say, im an entry level employee manager-my employee will always be expecting the flavors as well as the icing on the cake to be prepared by me.that is the kind of the thinking what the present demands of the corporate industry are as of today.
it does not matter if he pulls away my big time idea and implement it as his.ideas are not meant to be inculcated once, its like our never ending IQ.
our main objective should be to impress our employee for the future favors or vouching during our promotion.
Now, the moto or idea of a person varies here.some work to gain promotion whereas some play to gain fame.
Anybody with the intention of being his employees favourite and gaining his or her confidence this is quite a good step.
But, also another thing in the corporate industry is to reduce your speaking of unwanted things.no boss will be very happy listening to ideas trying to be implemented beyond his boundaries.
Therefore its a mixture of both these ideas.
Please do also correct my view points if you think if there are any, because im just studying management at the entry level.
Thank You

Pramit Guha

Marshall
I thank you on the delicate issue as to when I give a slice of my bread to others. I have no problem once I have made use of the product, service or anything, I make, use, cerate money, recover costs, save some for the stormy days and I know as soon as I reveal these, the revenue, SEC, and many huge corporations will come after me climbing I had infringed their right, I was the one who copied he patents, I trespassed and made money. No. Sir. I would rather do away with the taboos. I will pass these to my son exactly like the Indians do. Let them create more wealth then they may give these out to the educational institutes as a charity. The reason is simple. By then many will have created something similar to what I had done but to give this now? No way. Let me elaborate. This comes as personal experience. The cell phones. I make small reengineering in this and give this to my boas. He gets the whooper of the pay and he gives me a depression as he never mentions my name in the design. I am unknown traveller trying to use my cell.
"I have travelled more than anyone else, and I have noticed that even the angels speak English with an accent."
-Mark Twain
During a political campaign everyone is concerned with what a candidate will do on this or that question if he is elected except the candidate; he's too busy wondering what he'll do if he isn't elected.
Everett Dirksen

I thank you
Firozali A. Mulla MBA PhD
P.O.Box 6044
Dar-Es-Salaam
Tanzania
East Africa

Great article and comments,

If I may add to the above, I think everyone should always keep in mind how his contribution (even if it is a trivial idea) is going to positively impact and possibly enrich the discussion. If the answer is yes, then he or she may consider sharing his idea with others once it is structured in an easy and trnasparent way !!

Angela - This is a great point. Leaders need to focus on 'giving' not 'taking' credit!
Mirobid - This is a good way of 'getting involved' when the manager needs to get involved - without diminishing the other person.
Clark - Thank you! I am glad that you were able to put this to work!
Vloxy - Even better copyritht the comment - then give it away!
Bold - There are many ways to undermine an idea. This article just discusses one.
Duncan - You have an excellent point. Managers shouldn't always refrain from talking - just sometimes.
Faisal - If you have an idiot working for you, the problem is 'selection' not 'feedback'. Work to help them change. If they cannot - find someone else.
Ashvin - Thank you for this thoughtful post and your great ideas!
Benjamin - Thank you for these wonderful questions. I think that the best thing leaders can do is to ASK these questions to themselves before speaking. These is no simple way to determine the answers. Just asking and thinking about it is far more than most of us do in our daily interactions!

Ben - Thanks for using this with your spouse and kids! This is even more important than work!
GMR - Great thoughts! I love the pre-meeting analysis idea. While my column touched on individual interaction, you bring up a great point to consider in team interaction!
Karla - I agree.
Thejendra - Thank you for this link. If any other readers would like to link to other articles, please do this.
Onyango and Shamit - Thank you for adding the organizational factor to this equation!
Marc - Good point! Excessive egos are not just present in managers - they are also present in employees!
Maikon - It is often our fear of losing authority - that causes us to lose authority.
Katherine - Thank you! It is unlikely that any of us will 'listen too much'!
Mohamed - Thank you!

Mike - When we let go of ego a lot can get done.
Bill - I would work with this person after each interaction and jointly agree where change might occur. If the person has no interest in changing, the manager has a deeper problem.
Pramit - My suggestion is that your focus is highly 'political'. This type of interaction is more true in less functional organization. In my experience most people are not 'devious'. They mean well. If you are in an organization that is overly 'political' - leave if you can. Life is too short to constantly be playing games.
Firozali - Thank you for joining us from East Africa. You thought are both 'deep' and 'fun' at the same time!
Mohamed - I agree. Just getting people to 'think' is a great step!

An idea is a thought or process formed by the mind. Human capability to contemplate ideas is associated with the ability of reasoning, self-reflection, and of the ability to acquire and apply intellect. Further, ideas give rise to actual concepts, or mind generalisations, which are the basis for any kind of knowledge whether science or philosophy.

In a popular sense, an idea arises in a reflex, spontaneous manner, even without thinking or serious reflection, for example, when we talk about the idea of a person or a place.

In philosophy, there is scarcely any term which has been used with so many different shades of meaning. The view that ideas exist in a realm separate or distinct from real life is referred to as innate ideas. Another view holds that we only discover ideas in the same way that we discover the real world, from personal experiences. The view that humans acquire all or almost all their behavioral traits from nurture (life experiences) is known as tabula rasa ("blank slate"). Most of the confusions in the way of ideas arise at least in part from the use of the term "idea" to cover both the representation percept and the object of conceptual thought. This can be illustrated in terms of the doctrines of innate ideas, "concrete ideas verses abstract ideas", as well as "simple ideas verses complex ideas".

Plato was one of the earliest philosophers to provide a detailed discussion of ideas. He considered the concept of idea in the realm of metaphysics and it's implications for epistemology. He asserted that there is realm of Forms or Ideas, which exist independently of anyone who may have thought of these ideas. Material things are then imperfect and transient reflections or instantiations of the perfect and unchanging ideas. From this it follows that these Ideas are the principal reality (see also idealism). In contrast to the individual objects of sense experience, which undergo constant change and flux, Plato held that ideas are perfect, eternal, and immutable. Consequently, Plato considered that knowledge of material things is not really knowledge; real knowledge can only be had of unchanging ideas.

In the objective worth of our ideas there remains the problem of the validity. As all cognition is by ideas, it is obvious that the question of the validity of our ideas in this broad sense is that of the truth of our knowledge as a whole. Otherwise to dispute this is to take up the position of scepticism. This has often been pointed out as a means intellectual suicide. Any chain of reasoning (common sense) by which it is attempted to demonstrate the falsity of our ideas has to employ the very concept of ideas itself. Then insofar as it demands assent to the conclusion, it implies belief in the validity of all the ideas employed in the premises of the argument.

To assent the fundamental mathematical and logical axioms, including that of the principle of contradiction, implies admission of the truth of the ideas expressed in these principles. With respect to the objective worth of ideas, as involved in perception generally, the question raised is that of the existence of an independent material world comprising other human beings. The idealism of David Hume and John Stuart Mill would lead logically to solipsism (the denial of any others besides ourselves). The main foundation of all idealism and scepticism is the assumption (explicit or implicit), that the mind can never know what is outside of itself. This is to say that an idea as a cognition can never go outside of itself. This can be further expressed as we can never reach to and mentally apprehend anything outside of anything of what is actually a present state of our own consciousness.

First, this is based on a prior assumption for which no real proof is or can be given
Second, it is not only not self-evident, but directly contrary to what our mind affirms to be our direct intellectual experience.
What is possible for a human mind to apprehend cannot be laid down beforehand. It must be ascertained by careful observations and by study of the process of cognition. This postulates that the mind cannot apprehend or cognize any reality existing outside of itself and is not only a self-evident proposition, it is directly contrary to what such observation and the testimony of mankind affirms to be our actual intellectual experience.

John Stuart Mill and most extreme idealists have to admit the validity of memory and expectation. This is to say that in every act of memory or expectation which refers to any experience outside the present instant, our cognition is transcending the present modifications of the mind and judging about reality beyond and distinct from the present states of consciousness. Considering the question as specially concerned with universal concepts, only the theory of moderate realism adopted by Aristotle and Saint Thomas can claim to guarantee objective value to our ideas. According to the nominalist and conceptualist theories there is no true correlate in rerum naturâ corresponding to the universal term.

Mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, and the rest claim that their universal propositions are true and deal with realities. It is involved in the very notion of science that the physical laws formulated by the mind do mirror the working of agents in the external universe. The general terms of these sciences and the ideas which they signify have objective correlatives in the common natures and essences of the objects with which these sciences deal. Otherwise these general statements are unreal and each science is nothing more than a consistently arranged system of barren propositions deduced from empty arbitrary definitions. These postulates then have no more genuine objective value than any other coherently devised scheme of artificial symbols standing for imaginary beings. However the fruitfulness of science and the constant verifications of its predictions are incompatible with such a hypothesis

we must evaluavate situations to assess whether its worth giving our ideas/opinions to others but unfortunately Pearls have lost its commercial value.

I am sceptical about this position. I alwasy speak my mind with the best intentions. Ego may be part of it or not but being so well-aware of your ego status and playing seems to me inhuman and impractical. The thing is that depending your position and taking into account that you are paid to do what you believe is best for the company withing the corporate limitations and strategy, one must also express his opinion. If the opinion is perceived as an idea, suggestion, complaint et cetera depends on its wrapping. The medium is the message, should not be applied in Management.

Funny how after reading everyone elses input you kind of lose track of the initial idea.
Being a "Subordinate" myself, I know first hand how it feels to have an idea criticized wether it be constructive or other wise. We have all had this happen.
A manager needs to earn respect from the people who work for them before his/her ideas will be accepted as improving the thought rather than just proving themselves.

Actually it is nether willingness or worthiness BUT good managers can let their people work let the staff work independent of them, or rather with slight oversight usually meaning communication.

Simply, a good manager should let their staff shine and feel good when some of them can do specific tasks better than they themselves. This is especially true in tech fields.

Agree, there should be seeds of content sown by the managers and an atmosphere conducive to the germination of freshly sprouted Ideas should be the objective. This will have all the ingredients of a recipie for a Win-Win situation.

The risk of getting your idea stolen is more from your boss rather than from your co workers. But let me tell you that even if the boss has stolen your idea and taken the credit of it, his unexpressed acknowledgement remains there in his heart. With the change of time when the boss gets a better job in some other organzation, you have the chance of getting a job there too. So somehoe you are paid for your idea. Another point is that if we are so risk averse that just for the fear of getting our idea being stolen we opt not to disclose the new ideas then any way we shall be considered less dynamic. So again our promotion becomes doubtful.

If we look it from the other side of the table, then we know as a team leader what we now should do to boost up the morale of our team - yes, give the due credit to the team member and therby encouraging other team members too to come forward with lot more new ideas. You have it man, as you are the best leader. So your credit remains. why to steal it from others! Difficult to digest....

Another point that comes to my mind is that whatever one does (says) in a meeting or a group, there are bound to be multiple interpretations of the same. What could be motivating and challenging to one, could be devastating to another. Suiting each individual persons style in a group is a challenging task.

As regards the idea being stolen, the original innovator in most cases is (or should be) more bothered about putting the idea into practice rather than owning the idea. The idea may be obsolete by the time ownership is decided.

This is wonderful piece of information. I am sure this will help improve effective leadership skills for anyone.
Thank you Dr. Marshall Goldsmith!

Albert - This post is either a very thoughtful reponse - or a very clever parody on 'proving how smart you are'. I am not sure which - but either in interesting!
babumoshai and David - Thank you!
Nikolaos - 'Always' speaking your mind, often means that you are more interested in expressing your opinion than in making a positive difference. If 'speaking your mind' helps make a positive difference - do it! If 'speaking your mind' does more harm that good - skip it!
MP - I agree. Respect is earned - not dictated.
michael - I agree. Please see my post on effective delegation.
Ashok - I like your idea. That is one reason that I give all of my ideas away!
Chetan - Good point. 'Good idea' means differnt things to different people.
Purushotham - Thank you for your kind thoughts.

I used to worry so much about how I express ideas and share or take peoples ideas and improve them with getting any credit until I remembered an old anlogy my mother made to me when I refused a total wardrobe change...She said son there is only enough space for clothes so unless you give up the old ones I cannot buy you new ones!...So I threw them out! So is the way i treat ideas, I think them up, access them, improve them teach them and THINK UP new ones daily. It selfishly gladdens my soul (so I forget the money I could have made) but also inspires me when I get an opportunity to think up a new one.

But on improving upon other peoples ideas I have grown to becareful lest I escalate it beyond their strenghts. Many an individual have I pushed into that and yet am not available to man the process of implementation; and they lack the emotional attachment to the new heights to implement it effectively. so yes LIFE FLOWS! but be weary of how you build upon other peoples ideas.......unless you are willing to help them carry it from scratch there and then. Dont leave no vacuums.

Ruddy Kwakye
Rave Media Group

i think what you are pointing out is a habitual compulsive need to add value whenever someone comes up with an idea in order to stay one up. Sometimes some people may feel like 'oh why didnt I come up with this idea in the first place' and therefore add value and dilute the credit of the other person. There are two things you are pointing to:

1. Listen to the idea, empathise with it, understand the content, where the person is coming from and acknowledge and appreciate the person and the idea/effort.

2. Restrain from adding anything to it unless one really feels that it is really a value add.

3. Without taking away the credit add the point/value

4. Leave the option with the person to decide what to do with it so that the ownership lies with the person.

Uma Arora
idam learning
Gurgaon, India

I am the daily reader of all these articles. The articles are really inspiring and I want you people to continue with this becauase it is really making diffrence in our lives by implementing these practises.

Some bitter facts, I have this distinguish experience of how Managers evaluate and appreciate Ideas coming from their subordinates. They openly praise you in meetings to give you that boost and keep the team spirit up, while in reality doing just the opposite, meaning the Manager implemented and recommended an solution without even discussing it with his team. Now doesn't this qualify for double standards ? There is nothing one can do about this situation except that letting it pass and move on. Where does all the philosophy of mentoring, coaching etc play a role in such a scenario? Comments welcomed.

Ruddy - Thank you! You seem to have found a strategy on ideas that is working for you.
Uma - Thank you! I love your summary.
Devendra - Thank you for reading our columns. I am glad that this is helpful for you!
Dhukiram - Your example is an excellent case of bad management. Although I have met some managers who act as you describe - others are the opposite. Don't give up on all managers because you have had some negative experiences. Find a company with good ones - and work there!

When should you keep your ideas to yourself? This very question speaks volumes. Have you ever reflected on the most influential people in your business career? I would venture to guess that the best role models in leadership were also great teachers who relied on the Socratic method to inspire and develop the positive qualities they saw in you, their gifted student. Isn't it possible to add value by asking valuable open ended questions?

Very interesting discussion - I just listened to the podcast today (so many downloads, so short a drive to work!)

How can this concept relate to giving advice to my directs.
For example, I have a particular way of editing a particular kind of video that we make a lot of. My directs, who learned from me, are just as creative, but they of course do it their own way. I hesitate to give too many overt orders on exactly how they should do similar tasks, so we have uniform quality across the board. As the original speaker said, an idea from the boss is an order. I find that if I give too many ideas/orders, none of them are followed - only one or two at a time and I am more likely to see results happen, slower over time, but still moving in the right direction.
Thanks for the great article.
Mike

I like your idea. That is one reason that I give all of my ideas away!

Depending on the the manager and his team, a great manager/teacher will help their employee/student discover a better answer on their own. In such cases, a diamond of an idea may be found.

One unmentioned factor is that pitched ideas can either spark exploratory discussions or they can chafe the egos of its listeners. Oftentimes your group will be mixed with both kinds of people. Thus, group dynamics are an important consideration on the receptiveness of an idea.

Theories, meetings, discussions, seminars and teachings are available in abundance about new iedaes, strategies, problems, solutions, morale, and so on so forth. Still we are on the search. The question is what then we achieved before with all that.

The end result, my original situation wasn't compounded, her suggestion ended up becoming a project on it's own, and our mutual respect and ability to communicate has been improved. If she had failed to make her suggestion we would have lost a lot and never even known it.