Don’t silence the trouble-maker.
There are roles in a team that everyone aspires too; joker, baker and candlestick maker. Very few consider the trouble-maker as a prominent role. Why? Because this individual is always stirring up trouble, asking the awkward questions, raising the anxiety levels of the team and killing creativity. Is creativity depended upon them?
Some may argue they see the world differently? Others say they use a wider lens.
Some may argue they possess deeper insights? Others say they hold back judgement and listen.
Some want to silence them and still be creative,…..BANG!!! ……
I played that role once too, not for long though.
5 comments:
I tried that to, and I ended up in the poo. ( oh and now I am a poet as well)
ONe is tempted to say that creativity can do without this role, because they tend to stifle discussion, silencing other less strident voices. The devils advocate operates from the protection of "honest critique" allowing him/her to take the most negative view possible, Tom Kelly, the then faces of innovation.
I think that there is a place for this role, since it improves the quality of what we do, but we have to structure their participation to prevent them damaging the process.
Therefore this role should be limited in the initial formative phase of creativity. Rather you need to suspend judgement, and the personal critique, until the creation is ready to see the light.
Provided a safe space has been established, there is certainly a role for everyone. I believe that within this safe space, even the "trouble-maker" will be challenged by the " silent one"
Creativity is about expressing one's uniqueness and I am quite sure that it would be difficult to impose ones creativity.
Isn't the trouble makers role more important to get the conversation started than the role they play in the conversation?
But some people don't want to have the conversation, so - BANG!
I recently had the opportunity to observe a group which had as a member one particularly negative guy. At every turn he'd criticize the direction the group was taking. As they progressed, quite unexpectedly he acknowledged that he was a habitually negative person. This gave the group the opportunity to show him how to give feedback in a more positive manner - to chase solutions rather than find problems. When he wasn't landing his observations as outright criticism, it emerged that they were actually very astute and valid.
I think in the phase of bringing the idea to fruition, the person who sees it and says it as it is, is invaluable. The person who can enter into inquiry and ask disruptive, uncomfortable questions is also great for sparking off creativity.
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