How to destroy an idea in 10 minutes. . .

You wake up one day and you decide that you have had it with change. You commit to avoid anything that looks new or different. You don't quite know why, but it is as real to you as the steaming coffee you hold in your hand. You say with conviction, "Today I am going to be happy with the same things that I enjoyed yesterday!"

Once you arrive at your the office, and you settle into your chair to go through emails. But to your dismay, the first thing to pop up in your email box is a note from one of your "innovative" co-workers. You hesitate to open it, but in the end your curiosity gets the best of you.

So you click, you read and then you sit back in your chair and think. In the email your friend shared with you a new idea. The friend shares it with passion and with quite a few BOLD words and !!!!!!!! - you can tell he is excited.

You also know that this idea will change your world. If you join him on this adventure, the whole department will be impacted. The whole organization might adopt this concept and change.

So you think . . .

Then it comes to you. Instead of doing all that work to join this friend and his new idea, there is an easy out. You look at the email again and you say, "Wow, he has guts recommending this. I wonder what his motives are? I wonder if he really has our best interests in mind or if he is just looking for some more of the limelight?"

You continue your internal interrogation of this co-worker and within a few minutes you have accomplished your goal. Your mind convicted him of being self-centered, ambitious and prideful.

You say, "There that was easy!" and you continue on going through your email.

Change averted . . . idea destroyed . . . innovator tarnished.

Author Note: We have all had moments like I have written about above. You can admit it, don't be afraid. In those moments where we fear a new idea or a change, we decide to turn someone's passion into pride and in the process we turn our own status quo behavior into a humble badge of honor. By judging motives we hold great power to destroy people and ideas.

Why do we do this? There are many reasons. The important thing is that we understand our fears and our reactions so that we can change them. If this little story connects with you, share your experience . . .

Mission Next Idea 8 - Motives

One of the things I have seen at this meeting is the tendancy to question motives. I think this is natural. People question motives based on actions that they see. The challenge we have is that actions cannot always be understood because cultures are so different. So we see someone say or do something and in our culture their action would indicate inappropriate motives. However, that person may not actually have bad motives.

So we have to get beyond guessing about motives and really get to know people. As we get to know people then, we will see their hearts and their passions. That doesn't mean that many times people do not have bad motives. But until we know people intimately we will not understand what drives them.

One of our panel members said, "We want what is best for you." If all of us assume we want the best for each other then we can build the relationships that will allow for understanding the dynamics that are going on.

Close connections will allow us to be honest with each other and will allow us to come alongside each other in strategic ways.