How to Interrogate Ideas Before they’re Put into Action

Brief 

New ideas should be scrutinized according to such concerns as what’s not included, how critics might respond and whether front-line employees have the knowledge they need to support it, writes CEO coach Sabina Nawaz. “Checking our assumptions and ideas, especially with those who will be affected, doses us with the reality that the way forward isn’t just expertise-based, but also rooted in the experience it creates for others,” Nawaz writes.

Insight

It doesn’t take much for us to be energized by new things, whether it’s a product we’re working on, a book proposal, or a process in need of revitalization.

Elated by shiny new ideas and excited to move fast, we grab the opportunity to think big and go big. We gather our teams and plunge into action, presenting only the benefits of our brainchild and creating a plan to deliver on its promise. Our goal is to dazzle and persuade while blinding ourselves and others to possible downsides.

But in doing so, we court the perils of limited perspective. Isolated in our own echo chambers, our drive for fast impact can hit a snarl. We may encounter unexpected hurdles at the last minute or leave other promising routes unexplored. Our work is prolonged or crashes and burns altogether.

If you want the best ideas to flourish, then instead of languishing in the confines of your own head, open your mind to different perspectives — from people beyond your team, whom you don’t usually talk to. Ask them open-ended questions to illuminate how they think. The following questions can help you expand your horizons.

What stands out to you?

When we present ideas or propose a path forward, most of our work precedes the conversation as we prepare our pitch. After we speak, the idea rests with the collective.

Instead of guiding the conversation closely, discover what others have already absorbed by asking this question. Your audience may have picked up on your main threads, or they might underscore a completely different angle. An additional benefit of asking this question is feedback on your communication.