How the ID loop can change the way we view ideas ‘blockers’
Ever get fed up in meetings when someone shoots ideas down with ‘what about…’, or ‘have you thought about…’, and is seen as a blocker to change and innovation? Somehow it always seems to be the same person doesn’t it? It’s just as frustrating to be seen as that person when you’re just coming up with thoughts on the reality of the situation in order that things are thought through properly, so that time and resource can be allocated most effectively.
I was working with a client recently to further develop resilient decision-making skills with their middle leaders. We used an activity that tackles this common problem head on, and shows the importance of the ‘I-D loop’ in the Six Working Geniuses model of work, and therefore how to even more effectively employ the geniuses of Invention and Discernment. It’s a lot of fun and gets people thinking differently about the way they approach ideas generation and evaluation, and reduces the judgement of members of the team.
People with the Genius of Invention get joy from taking challenges and generating solutions. They enjoy innovating from scratch and love a blank whiteboard or piece of paper on which they can brainstorm. Invention is the most commonly recognized Genius, but all six Geniuses are needed to get work done. People with the Genius of Discernment have a natural ability to evaluate the workability of ideas. They are good curators of what’s going on around them and can recognize patterns. They know how to connect the dots and give people good feedback across a broad range of topics.
A team without the genius of invention among its members feels frustrated or demoralized with their inability to create new solutions to frequent problems. They keep relying on the same products, services, or ideas which means they can easily become irrelevant or out of touch. Equally, a team without discernment is surprised by failures. They fail to evaluate, identify, and dismiss bad ideas before they get implemented. They don’t spend enough time refining good ideas to make them better. This means that ideas fail repeatedly which is frustrating, disappointing, and ultimately not good for business.
The activity sees everyone responding to a ‘what if’ question, so ‘wondering’ how to solve it, and generating as many different ideas as possible – each on a separate piece of paper. The group then splits into two teams and the ‘invention’ team comes up with as many different possibilities for taking those ideas forwards. The invention team is the only team to be able to reject ideas as they consider them all. When they have come up with as many possibilities as possible for the ideas, they get passed onto the ‘discernment’ team, who evaluate them, and either accept them or send them back to the inventors with questions to be answered and considered. The invention team considers the questions posed by the discerners and either answer the questions with new ideas or reject them. This can happen several times – which is why it is called the ID loop. Arguably the more loops it goes through the more carefully an idea has been considered, although there is no optimal number, and great ideas may go through only one or two loops.
This shows teams a new way of working – as it is the inventors that reject ideas, not the discerners, and the discerners accept ideas, not just reject them. This moves us away from seeing people with lots of creative ideas as ‘pie in the sky’, and people with great evaluative skills as ‘blockers’. It helps to build trust and ensure effective implementation of new solutions. This is what we need to help leaders to understand in order to harness the geniuses of invention and discernment most effectively, and to reduce the frustration, guilt and judgement of members of the team.
Once ideas have been thoroughly thought through using the ID loop process it is much easier to then galvanise others into action because everyone is behind the idea and the possible pitfalls have been properly addressed. Great possibilities are polished and are workable and much less likely to fail while being implemented. Ideas are thoroughly understood, and alignment is created behind them amongst the team.
I added a competitive element and had several different teams of linked inventors and discerners, and we compared how many ideas were accepted and rejected by each team. My clients loved the activity and the middle leaders found themselves thinking about the different ways they would employ this in the future with their own teams. It also helped team members see their skills as critical and have an appreciation for others’ geniuses too. So, when you’re finding ideas getting blocked, try and take a different approach together and work out how the individual skills can better be used.
Reflection:
Is there judgement in your team towards those who seem to be ‘blockers’? And/or towards those who are coming up with ideas – which are critical to any business development? What are you doing about it if so?
How does the ID loop work in your team and business?
How else can you refine the process?
Need any help developing resilient decision making? Why not contact us to discuss some possibilities?