WEBVTT - Make friends for your ideas

0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:09.360
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:16.160
<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:21.119
<v Speaker 1>tip is to make friends for your ideas. Most of

0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:23.560
<v Speaker 1>the time, we are better off testing how other people

0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:27.800
<v Speaker 1>connect to our ideas before we share them broadly. It's

0:00:27.880 --> 0:00:31.520
<v Speaker 1>usually not the best approach to develop an idea completely

0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:37.320
<v Speaker 1>on our own and then make a grand reveal, So

0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:43.479
<v Speaker 1>people sometimes talk about socializing ideas. That is, informally talking

0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:48.960
<v Speaker 1>with people about an idea before presenting it. Formally, Socializing

0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:52.760
<v Speaker 1>an idea lets you gauge people's response to it, so

0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:55.040
<v Speaker 1>you can make an informed decision about whether or not

0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:59.080
<v Speaker 1>to pursue it. If nobody seems to connect with an idea,

0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:03.560
<v Speaker 1>you could perhaps drop it, But if an idea is

0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:06.120
<v Speaker 1>well received, you can refine it based on feedback you

0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:09.720
<v Speaker 1>get when you tell people about it. Socializing an idea

0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:13.160
<v Speaker 1>may also help you garner support for an idea. People

0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:16.920
<v Speaker 1>are sometimes more likely to support an idea that feels familiar.

0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:21.480
<v Speaker 1>You could see how this could play out. Maybe you

0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:25.800
<v Speaker 1>are leading the committee that is scheduling the conference for

0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:30.360
<v Speaker 1>your professional association. You could socialize your idea for the

0:01:30.400 --> 0:01:34.440
<v Speaker 1>conference theme. Do other people understand what you mean by

0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:37.520
<v Speaker 1>that catchy phrase you are thinking of using. Do other

0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:40.680
<v Speaker 1>people connect with the topic. If you ask around and

0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:42.760
<v Speaker 1>people seem to get the theme, you are more likely

0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:45.880
<v Speaker 1>to build support for it even before you propose it

0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:49.680
<v Speaker 1>to the larger group. If you are a nonprofit leader,

0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:52.960
<v Speaker 1>you could socialize the idea of a particular person becoming

0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:55.960
<v Speaker 1>chair of the board. When you chat with key leaders

0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:59.000
<v Speaker 1>about the possibility, you will hear what they are enthusiastic about.

0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:02.720
<v Speaker 1>You can address concerns. By the time there is a

0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:05.760
<v Speaker 1>vote on it, lots of people will already see her

0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:09.520
<v Speaker 1>as a natural choice. Or if you discover there is

0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:13.000
<v Speaker 1>no widespread support for this person, you could pivot away

0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:17.840
<v Speaker 1>without ever nominating her. Or suppose your team is feeling

0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:21.600
<v Speaker 1>stretched you are wondering whether you could reduce the time

0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:26.240
<v Speaker 1>spent in meetings. You could socializing the idea of going

0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:30.320
<v Speaker 1>from a weekly department meeting to a monthly one. In

0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:32.600
<v Speaker 1>talking with people about this, you might find out that

0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:36.280
<v Speaker 1>they think the weekly meeting creates accountability when they know

0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:40.800
<v Speaker 1>they are meeting the next day, creates momentum to reach milestones.

0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:45.400
<v Speaker 1>People may also mention appreciating that right after the team meeting.

0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:48.960
<v Speaker 1>When everyone is there together, they can ask any colleague

0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:52.560
<v Speaker 1>a quick question and don't need to resort to lengthy

0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:56.800
<v Speaker 1>email correspondence. You may decide that, in fact, you don't

0:02:56.880 --> 0:03:00.120
<v Speaker 1>want to go from meeting weekly to monthly instead, but

0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:03.120
<v Speaker 1>perhaps you socialize a new idea of putting some of

0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:06.120
<v Speaker 1>the meeting content into email and meeting for a shorter

0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:11.280
<v Speaker 1>amount of time. People who love planning may sometimes be

0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:14.080
<v Speaker 1>inclined to spend a lot of time in our heads

0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:17.680
<v Speaker 1>to work out compelling proposals, and that can be great.

0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:23.040
<v Speaker 1>But by informally socializing an idea making friends for it

0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:26.359
<v Speaker 1>early on, you can get a sense of whether or

0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:30.240
<v Speaker 1>not others will support it. If others support seems unlikely,

0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:34.200
<v Speaker 1>you can just let the idea go. If others do

0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.080
<v Speaker 1>seem supportive, you can develop the idea based on their feedback.

0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:40.920
<v Speaker 1>What's more, when some people hear about the ideas that's developing,

0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:44.000
<v Speaker 1>they may feel a sense of ownership. That way, you

0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:47.120
<v Speaker 1>can build buy in before you even offer a formal proposal.

0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:52.280
<v Speaker 1>Making friends for your ideas is really a good idea

0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:58.920
<v Speaker 1>all around. In the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks for listening.

0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:09.840
<v Speaker 1>Here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for

0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:14.680
<v Speaker 1>listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:24.320
<v Speaker 1>you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:28.520
<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts

0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:33.120
<v Speaker 1>from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:35.000
<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen to your favorite shows.