Going after good ideas

Every organisation needs a ‘detective’ to spot all those untapped business possibilities

Why do we need a “Detective of Good Ideas”?

We need one, because every organisation is a gold mine of good ideas. It does not matter whether you are in marketing, HR, production, supply chain, or finance. There are ‘good ideas’ lying around. They don’t rise to the surface on their own. It requires just a little effort to find them.

What kind of ideas might you find? Business building ideas. Customer acquisition ideas. Cost reduction ideas. Time saving ideas. Effort reducing ideas. Productivity improvement ideas. Process simplification ideas. You might find many of these and more. If that is so, why is it that we don’t find them? We don’t find them because we are not looking for them. Or even if we do, we are not looking for them in an intelligent way. Like a good detective would.

What does a good detective do? What qualities does he have?

1. He is curious. If he finds something different or interesting he will explore that. He does not worry about what he may find. He digs like a good miner. He follows clues. He reads data like a good researcher.

2. He asks simple questions. He uses the ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions very well. (Why does this happen? or How do you think we can set this right?). He also uses the ‘what’ question to good effect. (What do you think is happening? What do you think can be better?)

3. He is happy to find problems as much as he is happy to find solutions.

4. He is interested in people. He relates to people at any level.

5. He observes things and often sees things that others miss.

6. He has an open mind. He does not let his bias come in the way.

7. He is flexible in his methods. If one method does not work, he simply dumps it and tries another.

8. He has opinions on many things but has an open mind.

9. He has the ability to follow trends and patterns and is open to receive new information from anywhere.

10. He has persistence, never gives up.

11. He is constantly looking for new possibilities.

12. He is not judgmental and is not quick to jump to conclusions.

13. He believes that if one door closes, another will open.

14. He has a good network of informers from all levels of society.

15. He attracts information about crimes/criminals like a magnet attracts iron filings.

16. He does not shy away from dealing with ‘authorities’.

What if you want to be a ‘Detective of Good Ideas’? What should you do?

1. Walk around. Meet people. Talk to them. Simple casual conversations. What they like. What are they good at? What is their passion, etc.

2. Speak to people close to the ground, close to customers. Salesmen. Customer service people. People who handle customer complaints. Telephone operators. Dealers. Delivery boys. Ask them about what customers love. What they hate. You will get a wealth of information.

3. Look for people who are known for their mad ideas. Talk to them.

4. Look for people known as ‘quick fix experts’. Talk to them.

5. Who are the unofficial ‘go to people’ that people talk to? Why? Make friends with them.

6. Talk to people in the front line. Share one of your current challenges. Ask them what they would do if they were in your position.

7. There are many ‘unofficial’ experts in every organisation. At every level. Find out who they are and find out more about their expertise.

8. Ask for improvement ideas — saving money, reducing process time, etc. People who do the work have a wealth of experience and knowledge. But nobody ever asked them.

9. Ask people for ideas rejected in the past. There could be several good ideas buried there.

10. In your hunt for ‘good ideas’, you might stumble upon ‘good challenges’.

A good challenge is one which, if solved, could open up new opportunities, generate revenues, improve productivity or cut costs substantially. They may have remained unresolved for a variety of reasons. Collect a list of good challenges. Choose a challenge you find interesting. Use your ‘Good Detective’ techniques to find some initial possibilities. Sometimes you may end up opening a Pandora’s box. Persist, handle with sensitivity and care. Remember your focus: solving the problem. A bull in the china shop only breaks crockery, never solves problems.

Good detectives are good communicators too. Once you identify a challenge or a solution you need to understand how to communicate to the stakeholders. Stay focused, be objective. Address issues from their perspective. This would require that you deal with facts, feelings and opinions.

Which departments might benefit from the work of a “Detective of Ideas”? I believe every department and function will benefit from it. One word of caution. Don’t rush into this and launch a new “Good Idea Detectives” initiative. It will work best in an informal set-up, in an undercover sort of way.

How do you benefit as an individual? If you have been an effective ‘Detective of Good Ideas’, you will know a lot about the people, processes, systems and the culture of the organisations. You would also know how to make things happen. You will be a valuable resource to any ambitious CEO.

You will be on the radar screen of people who matter. You will be on top of the list for any new challenging assignment.

Source | Business Line | 24 July 2015