Idea Generation - Intuiting for Success

Bright Ideas. Big Ideas. Small Ideas.

Ideas. Ideas. Ideas.

In recent years, organizations have pushed for employees to brainstorm and express ideas in almost every job title and function. If you aren’t coming up with an idea, you might possibly receive a “does not meet expectations” on your performance appraisals. You might be considered low talent/low potential on a talent management tool. Managers may tend to think an employee is low-performing if they are not generating at least one “bright idea’ every six months.

Before you jump to the conclusion that your employee is a “dead head” and can’t generate an idea to save their job, let’s think about Idea Generation from a gift perspective.

Idea generation comes from our Intuiting mental function. This function may be Extroverted and you may see this as the ability for an employee to effectively brainstorm with others in large or small groups. This function may be Introverted and you may see an employee not actively participating in a team “group think.” Be cautious about your observation. Still waters may run deep. Individuals with dominant or well-developed Introverted Intuition may be carefully reflecting. An idea may come later at an odd time – in the middle of the night, jogging or cutting vegetables while preparing dinner. So be ready to follow-up the next day and see if anyone has additional input to a prior brainstorming discussion.

What are some things you need to consider about Idea Generation in your workforce?

Here are five things:

1) Think carefully if Idea Generation is a required job function or competency in an employee’s job before you evaluate performance.
2) If you want to encourage Idea Generation in an employee or team, consider their MBTI type into the equation.
3) Where does Intuiting “sit” in the employee’s conscious mental functions? Is it a “more natural” function or a “least natural” function?
4) Is Intuiting dominant or auxiliary (Great! Easier to observe and assess) or tertiary or inferior (may be more difficult to develop or demonstrate).
5) Be patient with employees whose most natural mental function is Introverted Intuition– allow time to process and follow-up at a later time. Provide them opportunities to develop Extroverted Intuition as a comfortable and more natural mental function.

If you want to development Idea Generation in your employees, either Introverted, Extroverted or both, you can develop these skills in an employee or team through some simple activities targeting these specific mental functions.

Hitting “the wall” with Extroversion

Caroline works hard. She finishes her projects on time and within budget. She loves brainstorming ideas and coming up with solutions to solve problems. She is the “go-to” person when the business needs to get things done. She can make it happen.

Caroline applies energy and excitement to everything she does -so much so that she becomes frustrated when she just doesn’t seem to “connect” with some people. Sometimes her ideas are discarded and she feels disheartened. She feels disappointed when others aren’t as excited as she is about an idea and she tends then to push harder to influence acceptance of her idea. Others then perceive her as abrasive, intrusive or sometimes even demanding. High-performing Caroline wants to enhance her interpersonal style so she is effective with as many people as possible in communicating, sharing and accomplishing business goals.

If your preference for Energy is Extroversion, like Caroline, others may not be quite ready for your approach. People with preferences for Introversion, may tire quickly when observing and gathering information from an individual with a preference for Extroversion. Some Introverts may need additional time to process information, a quiet environment to ponder and reflect, and patience to think, consider prior experiences, possible solutions and ask questions.

Some quick tips for managing Extroversion:

• Observe your audience and preferred styles, in meetings and in 1:1 appointments. Does the person prefer to collaborate, cooperate, direct or be directed?
• Who’s doing most of the talking?
• What does the energy preference of the person appear to be? Extroverted or Introverted?
• If the person appears Introverted or has a type code that includes Introverted energy, re-think your approach.
• Temper your energy level – tone it down a bit. Match verbal tempo to tempo.
• Be patient. Allow time for reflection. Then questions. Then answers.
  

Remember! we tend to be born with the type preference of (BLM) Be Like Me, but as you know, we are all different and approach life differently through our personalities.

For more information on Type, visit our website at www.talent-innovations.com or contact us at iservices@talent-innovations.com.: