{"id":1896,"date":"2010-06-07T13:33:51","date_gmt":"2010-06-07T17:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/?p=1896"},"modified":"2010-06-07T14:01:47","modified_gmt":"2010-06-07T18:01:47","slug":"guest-post-let-ignorance-be-your-advantage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/guest-post-let-ignorance-be-your-advantage\/","title":{"rendered":"( Guest Post ) – Let Ignorance be Your Advantage"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Roy H. Williams:<\/span><\/p>\n

Ignorant people aren\u2019t stupid<\/strong> but merely uninformed; a marvelous advantage when you need a perspective from \u201coutside the box.\u201d<\/p>\n

The truly na\u00efve<\/strong> are so thoroughly \u201coutside\u201d they\u2019re not even sure what you mean by \u201cthe box.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you consult specialists<\/strong> within your industry, you\u2019re talking to the builders of the box, the guardians of the box, the faithful defenders of THE BOX.<\/p>\n

So when specialists fail to provide the innovative thinking you need, ask the opinions of intelligent people who have no experience in your industry. This is the second quickest shortcut to successful innovation. (I\u2019ll tell you the quickest shortcut later.)<\/p>\n

Each suggestion you hear will tempt you to say,<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you don\u2019t understand\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bite your tongue. Don\u2019t say it<\/strong>. The goal of this exercise isn\u2019t to drag people into your box but to get a fresh perspective from outside it, remember? So just listen and ponder all that would have to change if you were to implement the suggestion made by your na\u00efve friend.<\/p>\n

The na\u00efve suggestion<\/strong> won\u2019t be workable. What you make from it will be.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Frank Kern<\/strong> is senior vice-president of IBM Global Business Services. On May 19, 2010, he released a new survey of 1,500 chief executives conducted by IBM’s Institute for Business Value. Are you ready for this? According to that survey, today\u2019s CEOs identify “creativity” as the most important leadership competency for the successful enterprise of the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s creativity\u2014not operational effectiveness, influence, or even dedication. Coming out of th e worst economic downturn in their professional lifetimes, when managerial discipline and rigor ruled the day, this indicates a remarkable shift in attitude.\u201d \u2013 Frank Kern, IBM Global Business Services<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

BUT we\u2019re not getting more creative<\/strong>. As our society moves deeper into this Civic cycle (2003-2023) we\u2019re becoming more deeply committed to following the rules. We\u2019re becoming more regulatory, less tolerant of divergent thought. Under the guise of \u201cworking together for the common good,\u201d our young men and women are choosing to become guardians of the status quo, especially when it comes to problem solving. In short, we\u2019re \u201cplaying it safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to advertising and marketing<\/strong>, \u201cplaying it safe\u201d is the least safe thing you can do.<\/p>\n

A report just released from M.I.T. reveals<\/strong> a surprising connection between progress and \u201cplaying it safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

When bonuses were given for<\/strong> increased performance, the bigger the bonus, the better the performance when only mechanical skills were required. No surprise here, right?<\/p>\n

But when bonuses were offered for cognitive skills, even rudimentary ones, higher incentives led to poorer performance<\/span>. I swear I\u2019m not making this up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese findings have been replicated over and over and over again by psychologists, by sociologists, and by economists.\u201d \u2013 Prof. Daniel Pink<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Daniel Pink speculates that we respond most strongly to offers of 1.<\/strong> autonomy, 2.<\/strong> mastery and 3.<\/strong> purpose.<\/p>\n

Watch this video:<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2666\u00a0 \u2666 \u2666<\/p>\n

I agree with Pink<\/strong> but I interpret the M.I.T. data with a slightly different twist; it seems to me that the higher the reward, the greater the tendency of respondents to second-guess their creative right-brain impulses.<\/p>\n

In other words<\/strong>, they over-thunk it and “played it safe.”<\/p>\n

Fear is a terrible master.<\/p>\n

It is by attempting the ridiculous<\/strong> that we accomplish the miraculous.<\/p>\n

“If you will expand your world, you must crawl on your hands and knees, get on your belly and squirm under the fence that surrounds your insulated life.” – Inside the Outside, Wizard Academy Press<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rita Mae Brown says it more colorfully. \u201cAs a woman, I find it very embarrassing to be in a meeting and realize I’m the only one in the room with balls.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u2014 \u2014<\/p>\n

To learn about Roy and what he and his staff have cooking up at the Wizard Academy, click here…<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2666\u00a0 \u2666 \u00a0\u2666<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Roy H. Williams: Ignorant people aren\u2019t stupid but merely uninformed; a marvelous advantage when you need a perspective from \u201coutside the box.\u201d The truly na\u00efve are so thoroughly \u201coutside\u201d they\u2019re not even sure what you mean by \u201cthe box.\u201d When you consult specialists within your industry, you\u2019re talking to the builders of the box, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal-achievement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1896"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1906,"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896\/revisions\/1906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}