Finding Great Ideas (1)

We all have those moments when the big idea, inspiration just refuses to come. It doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to solve a complex strategic problem, develop a new approach to marketing or trying to work out how to get people to work more effectively together.

Most of us tend to battle on and often find ourselves becoming tense and anxious, and staring at our computer screens or our pieces of paper filled with seemingly meaningless hieroglyphics, until our eyes glaze over and our brains shut down. Ironically most of us realise that this isn’t an effective way of dealing with the situation. Before you grind to a halt, there are some things that you can do.

For example, you could

  1. Take a walk.  Even just a a few minutes taking a stroll outside will revitalise your brain, ease your tension, and give your mind the the space for a solution to slip in.
  2. Park the issue.  Put the problem aside to be tackled at another time. Let the unconscious mind work on the problem – we often do this when we say “sleep on it.”
  3. Talk it over – with a friend, colleague, or your kids.  It’s amazing how often a fresh perspective a can lead you to a solution a problem – especially a someone who has no interest in the outcome.
  4. Explain it to someone from another field.  Go back to the basics, and explain your context in a way that others will clearly understand the problem and what you’re trying to achieve. They may or may not be able to help you, but your process of review can work wonders in putting the problem in perspective.
  5.  Let someone else solve it. Give it away.  What seems irresolvable to you may be perfectly straightforward to someone else.  Pass the problem on to a colleague – that inspired solution may be just waiting to be unleashed

The imperative of being ethical

The world is challenged today by the unethical behaviours of leaders. But is it just at the top that we have problems?

Organisations (governments, businesses, sport and community groups, any type of organisation) can create an environment conducive to ethical behaviour.  It all comes down to how people – both inside and outside – perceive the way they are being treated by the organisation and its leaders, and the extent to which they can influence what happens.

Three factors come into consideration.

  •  Purpose:  use values, hopes, and a clear purpose statement to determine what is acceptable and unacceptable (fair, reasonable, responsible) behaviour.
  • Preparedness (Professional):  by knowing as much as we can about our job/role/reponsibility and striving to perform effectively we develop an identity with the purpose and pride ourselves and of our organisation.  Knowing what is at risk can help you resist temptations to behave unethically. Making certain that you are informed and as knowledgeable as you can be.
  •  Perspective: be reflective in our practice. Make time to pause and reflect, make yourself aware of what is going on around you. See the big picture and all the impacts. Respond and adjust, using purpose as your reference point. Be aware of how you and what you do and say impacts on others.

There is a lot to unpack in the following quote from Ludwig DC and Longenecker CO (1993)  The Bathsheba syndrome: the ethical failure of successful leaders. Journal of Business Ethics 12(4):265-273

Ethical leadership is simply part of good leadership and requires focus, the appropriate use of resources, trust, effective decision making, and provision of model behaviour that is worth following.  Once it is lost it is difficult if not impossible to regain.

Christopher Wren’s convictions, not his structural columns, support London

The noted English architect Sir Christopher Wren once built a structure in London.  His employers claimed that a certain span Wren planned was too wide, that he would need another row of columns for support.  Sir Christopher, after some discussion, acquiesced.  He added the row of columns, but he left a space between the unnecessary columns and the beams above.  The worthies of London could not see this space from the ground.  To this day, the beam has not sagged.  The columns still stand firm, supporting nothing but Wren’s conviction.  Leadership is much more than an art, a belief, a condition of heart, than a set of things to do.  The visible signs of artful leadership are expressed, ultimately, in its practice.

De Pree M O (1989)  Leadership is an Art.   Melbourne: Australian Business Library, Information Australia. pp.   135-136  

Think about it:  The visible signs of  leadership are expressed in its practice.

This moment is your life

If only we looked at now
If we looked, only, at now
Now?
This moment is our life
But as I sit and reflect
in comes regret
Why?
What is it about “what could have been been”?
Or “might be”
As I sit and reflect
in comes regret
and doubt……………………………………..
Why rehearse the past
And create what should have been
It’s gone, the past, gonenot forgotten
Just gone
Now is where I live
As I sit and reflect
Enjoy, don’t regret
The future is yet to emerge
Unknown at first, but ….
But what of now?What do I observe?
Not the past
Note the future
Just now, here, at this moment
What do I see
As I sit and reflect
I neglected
to observe
to make sense
to know what it is that I do
when I do what I do
Don’t sit and reflect
Observe, then reflect
Make sense of now
Live…………..
My life is this moment
Shaun Coffey 17 September 2014