Page 75 - Free the Idea Monkey

SYMPTOMS OF BEING IN THE JAR
You know you are in the jar when you hear the following:
“We’ve tested that idea. It didn’t work.” What idea exactly?

People who are in the jar interpret ideas based on how they last saw
them. When they hear about a scooter, they think skateboard, not
Segway. When someone says “auction,” they think Sotheby’s, not
eBay. They’ve literally judged the idea before it has been re-envi-
sioned. Their experience blinds them to the possibilities of the future.

Silence. When your team is trying to
brainstorm new ideas, the room gets eerily
quiet. The reality is that they are prob-
ably desperately trying to be creative, but
they keep seeing hurdles. They don’t want to
appear negative, so they decide to be silent and
nod a lot.

“Yes, but ... ” Trying to be polite, people will just “but” other
people’s ideas to death. (“It is a really interesting idea you are pro-
posing, but it will never work because ... ”) This is usually not about
intent—they really want to be helpful—but they are too busy think-
ing about regulatory issues, manufacturing issues, political issues,
budgetary issues ... deadening their ability to be creative. Not only
are they in the jar, but the lid is really tight.

An idea for (yet another) safe line extension.
Line extensions and evolu-
tionary innovation should be
a part of your plan. But when
that’s all your team is produc-
ing, it probably means they
have lost the ability to recog-
nize big ideas, or worse, they
no longer have the fortitude to
push the rope up the hill, given
all the resistance they have
faced in the past.

60 I N S I D E O U T A N D O U T S I D E I N - N O V A T I O N