Forget

Ownership is an exceptional innovation diagnostic. Specifically, who came up with the good idea?

A dysfunctional team will have a very clear memory of who the idea owner is. On such a team, attribution is perfectly clear, and the “innovator” who “came up with” the idea makes sure to remind others of their ownership and genius.

Outstanding teams, on the other hand, are a little less clear about ownership. They can’t really remember who had the idea, because the best ideas almost “happen to” them. It’s low-ego collaboration at its finest.

Ideation spirals out of control when teams stop being precious, and paradoxically, when they stop trying to be clever, and allow themselves permission to follow one another’s lead. Never mind false starts and dead ends. “Make your partner look good” is an improv rule for a reason.

The best ideas and innovations are the product of a team humble enough to stop trying to be creative, and present enough to be obvious.

I once heard someone say, “Creativity is forgetting where you heard it first.”

Exceptional teams are great at this.

Related: Entertain Trivialities
Related: Be Obvious

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