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Iâm sure you would never tell someone on your team that their idea was stupid (even if you thought it). As a technical leader, you want your team to bring ideas and solutions to your attention, and not all of them will be great. In fact, some of them will be too expensive, too shortsighted, too hard, or may take too long.
And Iâve told you before that itâs especially important to react well when the idea comes from a) someone new to the team, or b) someone new in their career (No, I didnât say âmillennial,â but I was thinking about them.)
Ten New Ways to Respond
Without further ado, here are ten positive ways you can respond to ideas that make your eyes roll.
1. âTell me more about that idea, and what appeals to you about it?â2. âWhat pros and cons do you see with that approach?â3. âWhat are some of the ideas you decided against, and why?â4. âWhat aspect of the problem does this idea address first?â5. âWhat is the time/budget/learning-curve cost of this idea?â6. âHow does this solution fit into the teamâs current skills?â7. âAre we willing to live with this solution for the next two years, or is this a stop-gap?â8. âCould you write your idea into a proposal so I get the full picture?â9. âHow many days have you slept on this idea?â10. âWhat reaction do you think the team will have to this idea?â
Each response is a question, and that carries with it a particular challenge:
To make these a positive response, you must actually want to know the answer.
Any of these could be delivered with dripping sarcasm, which humiliates the other person. Instead, learn to become curious and ask these questions with an attitude of humble inquiry.
Just lean in and become curious. You remember curiosity, that thing which you had early in your career? Without it, youâd never have stuck with the hard work of learning computer languages, software development, and all the rest.
Itâs time to re-cultivate your curiosity, but this time about your teamâs ideas.
And I guarantee they can tell this difference between when youâre curious, and when youâre not. That will make all the difference.
Re-cultivate your curiosity was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.