Three Simple Ground Rules when Introducing New Ideas

By setting a few simple ground rules in advance, you can help smooth the path when trying to introduce positive change into your organization. In early group meetings, in which you'll attempt to explain your visionary plan for change, consider asking your audience for the following three things:

1. Don't dispute concepts. Let's try to understand. Let's try to apply.

By definition, since the "new" thing you're trying to introduce is outside your people's experience, it will not fit into their current world view. Consequently, they will feel justified in challenging the ideas, in dismissing them, since the ideas don't fit with the way things are done here. Simply asking for a shift in thinking - away from dispute and challenge, towards understanding and possibility - can make a big difference in the progress of the conversation.

2. Grasp the basic ideas. Don't dig into the details.

Especially with complicated concepts, initial discussions can often get fatally bogged down in discussions of tiny details which would naturally sort themselves out further into the learning cycle. When introducing Lean Thinking, for example, the conversation can often get bogged down as people try to understand how inventory is a waste, or how making a process less efficient can actually be better. Pull back to the basic ideas, leave the details for when there is deeper understanding and more common language.

3. Try to get experience in using the concepts.

Without experience using new ideas, it is often hard to see their value. Rather than passing judgement on something new based on what you know already, ask people to play with the ideas, explore them, use them; ask them to seek some experience using the concepts so they will develop an appreciation of their value for themselves.

This helps even with very complex and controversial topics. It's not magic, but it might help ease the start of your next initiative.