If your business can invest $10,000 today in a venture that will earn you $20,000 in six months, should you make that investment?
A senior leader where I worked once asked that question. Many people voted “Yes!”
But the correct answer is … there’s not enough information to know.
What are the consequences of losing access to that money for the next six months? What are the non-financial costs that are required to make that venture work? What other ventures might you have to forego that could have provided a return of a greater amount or in a shorter timeframe?
The point of his question was help the company understand that not every good idea is worth pursuing.
In a healthy workplace, your team will constantly be bringing you ideas. Sometimes those ideas sound like complaints, but they’re still ideas. And leadership often involves saying “No” to good ideas.
But when people find their ideas rejected too often, soon they may stop bringing them.
To keep the flow of ideas open even when you can’t accept them all, first reward the offering of ideas. That reward can be as simple as sincere gratitude. Let them know that you value their ideas and want them to keep sharing, even if your current context doesn’t let you implement those ideas. Second, as much as you’re able, explain what is true about your current context that drives you as a leader to decide against implementing their idea. Help them to learn how to make better business decisions the way the senior leader at my company did.
And if you’d like a thinking partner to help you evaluate ideas that you’re considering, let’s talk. Visit https://stevedwire.com/talk to schedule a complimentary conversation.
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