Sutton’s #9 from 12 Things Good Bosses Believe has significant, daily application for the military leader. You definitely need to read his expanded blog post on #9, which provides details on how successful companies become more effective at cultivating the right ideas. Here is #9:
“Innovation is crucial to every team and organization.
So my job is to encourage my people to generate and test all kinds of new ideas.
But it is also my job to help them kill off
all the bad ideas we generate, and most of the good ideas, too.”
“Sure…Yes!…Absolutely!”
Innovation in the military is crucial, as it is in any industry. But we have a habit of saying YES to just about any idea that ultimately helps Soldiers. (Check out the April 21, 2014 post on why military leaders are poor delegators.) We have the tendency to support staff members and subordinate commanders who show enthusiasm for growth and are eager to make their mark on the organization. We let them try their pet ideas and “learn the lesson on their own,” typically while exhausting resources and pulling the organization in too many directions. The result is often mediocrity in lots of things instead of proficiency in the most important things.
“No!…Not a priority…Thanks but it’s not happening.”
Because the military is a commander-centric model, staffs and subordinate commanders often won’t/can’t kill an idea without the boss’s permission, which leads to a stagnation, frustration, and wasted resources if the boss is not ruthlessly decisive. Robert Sutton’s explains that leaders must execute a deliberate campaign to:
- Find and kill the organization’s activities that are outdated or came from bad ideas to begin with
- Block the bad ideas – those that are not in line with the organization’s priorities
- Kill or refine the good ideas that are not the best ideas
- Focus on best ideas – the ones that achieve effects that are precisely in line with the organization’s priorities
How do you know when you’re starting to prioritize effectively? …when people start complaining that there is no room on the calendar for their good ideas. At that point, it’s important to give guidance on how to refine the idea or let it go. “The very best bosses teach and inspire their people to accept defeat gracefully and move forward to implement the selected ideas, even if none of their pet ideas made the cut.”
Take a look at your calendar. Is it precisely in-line with your unit’s mission? Your command philosophy? Your boss’s command guidance?
Bottom Line
Arguably, we have to be good at combat…and we have to be good at taking care of Soldiers and families. All else is bonus.
Questions for Leaders
- How effective is your organization at killing off bad ideas? …and good ideas?
- What would your team be able to achieve if it wasn’t committed to so many ideas?
- Have you prioritized Leader Development but not given it due consideration on the calendar?
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