"I have learned the novice can often see things that the expert overlooks. All that is necessary is not to be afraid of making mistakes, or of appearing naive."Abraham Harold Maslow, Psychologist and Writer
Not sure who Maslow had in mind when he spoke of the "novice" but to me applied to business it is those with limited experience who are intelligent who may or may not be managers. Individuals whose fresh view made lead to things that more senior people would never see. The trick is to create an environment that encourages their input; one that will process rather than just listen to what they have to say and does not penalize them for being wrong.
Unfortunately I haven't seen a lot of companies who do that well.
Not sure who Maslow had in mind when he spoke of the "novice" but to me applied to business it is those with limited experience who are intelligent who may or may not be managers. Individuals whose fresh view made lead to things that more senior people would never see. The trick is to create an environment that encourages their input; one that will process rather than just listen to what they have to say and does not penalize them for being wrong.
Unfortunately I haven't seen a lot of companies who do that well.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI think I understand this view quite well.
Once I was completing my Engineering degree with the classical mandatory "training period" of 4 months in an industrial company, I was assigned to the qualification (mperformance measurement) of a very high tech electronic device in the military dmain.
There was a kind of "mad cap genius" who was the father of that stuff in the lab, multiple patents and the result of 10 years of research.
And as soon as I made the first measurements, it appeared clearly that something was wrong, as the performances were far less than expected.
So my genius mentor and his colleagues went through many different hypothesis, all more and more demanding as regards mathematical modelisation of what was may be going on.
But I saw that there was a kind of "signature" of this bad performance. It was no randomly messed up, but very "well organized failure".
So I tested my intuition by introducing only 2 very simple parameters in the theorical model. Much, much simpler than what was proposed by the experts.
And it revealed that the updated theorical model was now showing exactly the measured behaviour from the physical model !
I would say I've been welcomed like a hero, but the father of the invention ad the lab's boss were quite impressed, as they told me
They even asked me for some recommended evolutions to reach the initial performance target, which I did.
I think this illustrate well the "fresh look" added value.
Fresh look is exactly what painters are doing when then feel stuck and exhausted at improving their work : they leave it hidden somewhere for some time, then come back to it may be one or 2 weeks after, ad then all the flaws to be corrected re-appear obvious.
My 2 cents,
Bruno.
As humans, I think we will inevitably be wrong at times. And I agree that being wrong is OK. If I'm never wrong, I'm not risking - or growing, learning, and challenging myself.
ReplyDeleteAt an individual level, you can learn something new (or avoid a mistake); at a team level, the collaboration is enhanced; at a corporate level, the organization is vigorous and creative when the efforts of all members are valued, not stifled by the hierarchy.
Good ideas and fresh vision are not synonymous with seniority or high positions. Being able to solicit, hear and value these contributions is one characteristic of an effective leader.
Regards Bruno's comments.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like the senior mentor was open to the views of a younger, less experienced associate. Do the rest of you find that to be generally true or is it the exception? I'm guessing I find such openness only in about 50% of the managers I've met.
I think it takes a very secure manager to foster a truly open and collaborative environment that allows good ideas to rise to the surface regardless of their source.
ReplyDeleteManagers are human and are thus threatened at times by good ideas that don't originate from them (or that they can't ultimately take some credit for). I've unfortunately been guilty of feeling this way at times.
But as I've gained more experience over the years, I've come to embrace the practice of always trying to hire people smarter than I am and then getting the heck out of their way. I am now very, very comfortable with the belief that when people who work for me succeed, that their success ends up reflecting positively on me.
Me too (guilty).
ReplyDeleteLooking back I see that early in my career I sometimes worried about being out performed by someone who reported to me but fortunately for me, I soon learned that was not the way to look at it. As a manager it was in my best interest to get the best possible employees whose great work would then reflect well on me.
All part of the maturation process.