Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,
Speaker 1: the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the
Speaker 1: new world of work or location, and ours are more
Speaker 1: flexible than in the past. Today's tip is about one
Speaker 1: way to identify and refine your team's best ideas, play
Speaker 1: Believing and Doubting. Believing and doubting keeps us open to
Speaker 1: a range of ideas and enables us to identify shortcomings
Speaker 1: we should address. The Believing and doubting game comes from
Speaker 1: Peter Elbow's book Writing Without Teachers. The book aims to
Speaker 1: help people strengthen their writing, and as with so many
Speaker 1: writing strategies, these strategies can help our thinking too. Here's
Speaker 1: how it works. The doubting part is probably familiar. It's
Speaker 1: just critical thinking. The doubting game, Elbow explains, seeks truth
Speaker 1: by indirection seeking error. When we play the doubting game,
Speaker 1: we identify shortcomings or blind spots in an argument or plan.
Speaker 1: This is valuable for appointing us toward ways to improve it.
Speaker 1: In the believing game, on the other hand, we choose
Speaker 1: not to hunt for problems. Instead, according to Elbow, we
Speaker 1: are trying to find not errors, but truths. He suggests,
Speaker 1: thinking of the believing game is trying to get inside
Speaker 1: the head of someone who saw things this way. Why
Speaker 1: does the person really like and believe in this proposition?
Speaker 1: By playing the believing game, we deepen our understanding of
Speaker 1: other people's ideas. By doing this with multiple ideas, we
Speaker 1: identify what's most attractive and useful, so you can stick
Speaker 1: with the ideas we love the most. So when your
Speaker 1: team is trying to find the best way forward, whether
Speaker 1: that's how to approach a marketing campaign, how to pitch
Speaker 1: work to a client, or how to solve a problem
Speaker 1: with the service you offer, try playing believing and doubting. First.
Speaker 1: Capture all the ideas people have shared, and work as
Speaker 1: a group to really believe in each of them. What
Speaker 1: works about them? How do other things fall into place
Speaker 1: or make more sense in light of this idea. Take
Speaker 1: your time with each idea, really getting inside it. Notice
Speaker 1: which ones you find compelling. Your focus is not on
Speaker 1: eliminating ideas, but on finding the ones you love the most.
Speaker 1: And once you have an idea you're excited about, then
Speaker 1: try playing the doubting game looking for errors. Notice any
Speaker 1: limitations or weaknesses in the idea. Any blind spots. If
Speaker 1: this idea didn't work out in the way you hope,
Speaker 1: what would be the reason? Can you find ways to
Speaker 1: address these issues? You can play believing and Doubting with
Speaker 1: a single idea too. It's a great way to consider
Speaker 1: whether or not to go with a proposal and how
Speaker 1: to strengthen it. First, believe the idea, recognize its insights
Speaker 1: and benefits. How could this go really well? Then doubt
Speaker 1: how could this go badly? After believing and doubting? Does
Speaker 1: the proposal seem attractive? If so, how can you improve it?
Speaker 1: One reason I like us approach is that the believing
Speaker 1: and doubting game helps create an open culture where people
Speaker 1: are willing to share their ideas because they know that
Speaker 1: their colleagues will try to love their suggestions rather than
Speaker 1: just shooting them down. The believing game helps us be
Speaker 1: receptive to a wider range of ideas, to including ones
Speaker 1: that are bold or unexpected. Then the doubting helps us
Speaker 1: refine ideas no matter who proposed them. The more you
Speaker 1: play this game, the more you normalize feedback. People become
Speaker 1: more comfortable with pointing out possible issues. Because doubting isn't
Speaker 1: being critical, it's just part of the process, and it
Speaker 1: lets us make good ideas better. Likewise, treating doubting as
Speaker 1: a game depersonalized as critiques so people are less likely
Speaker 1: to feel hurt. The whole process is not about an
Speaker 1: idea winning or losing, but rather about deeply appreciating ideas
Speaker 1: and honestly critiquing them all in the interest of making
Speaker 1: them better. And who doesn't want better ideas? In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is low us. Thanks for listening, and here's the
Speaker 1: succeeding in the New Corner Office. The New Corner Office
Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts,
Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you get your favorite shows. M