So why can't I just solve this on my own!

In my earlier post Decision making and having your ideas heard (12/5/20), I referred to the importance of bringing others along in the development stage of an idea, whether something new or involving a change to the business.

Consultation, influencing, agile problem solving, stakeholder management – you will find hundreds of publications on these topics and why collaboration is important. (We will talk in detail about agile problem solving later).

Many women, myself included, are natural “doers” and like to just get on with it, solving a problem without feeling the need to involve others. I am too busy, or “it will take too much extra time to involve others. I know the answer, why can’t I just solve it myself?”

This was a very late career lesson for me. Trust me, your life will be a whole lot easier if you consult with others, so spend the time early and start making this part of how you operate. It will test your thinking, help create a well-rounded view, give your idea the best opportunity to be heard and prevent you from spending precious time on something already underway within the business. Equally important is, you will be thought of as a team player, problem solver and innovator.

Being effective will mean you need to find the balance between collaborating and over-consulting. Over consulting can lead to either losing sight or confidence in your original idea (if your evidence is solid and your intuition is strong – stay with it), or getting bogged down so it all gets too hard and you give up.

It will feel a little clunky at the start so I suggest you start developing some basic stakeholder maps – once you get used to using them they will be your “go to” for life.

I usually have 3 maps tucked away and who you approach will be based on what you have in front of you. Make this whatever you need it to be and what feels comfortable for you – maybe a visual diagram or spreadsheet.

As a suggestion, the following maps have worked well for me. You will want to include quite a number of people to choose from – for each idea you will typically identify and select only a small consult group.

1 – Your group that you really need to influence. They can either be your greatest advocate or in the worst case a blocker. This is the group that are well connected and respected across the organisation or industry and/or in senior roles. Seniority is not always the case – we all know of people that just seem to know everyone and influence well. These are the people that you need as your advocates and will usually have a wealth of experience to learn from.

2 – Your group of experts ie technology, product and specialists. You will often need a technical view as to whether something can or cannot be done. If it cannot, then think about and debate what environment do we need to make this happen?

The question for this group would be “what has to be true to make this a reality”? Scenario and hypothesis discussions can be energising and powerful.

3 – This will be a specific group you need based on the actual idea. This is the group that will be directly impacted or have specific experience or skills, so important to really think about who they are. This is likely your peer group or a more senior level – this is a group who will not like surprises, in particular if there is a direct impact to them.

Finally there is the very important group I call the cheer squad. These are your trusted people who will give you an honest view and tell you if they think there might be something better to focus on.They are also the group whom, when you are having those last doubts about putting yourself out there, will give you that push of encouragement that you need. If we didn’t have our little cheer squads I wonder if we would be brave enough to do anything!

Have a play with this, remember this is not about being on the defensive or ticking off a list of people, it is about working with others to create a great outcome. If you are known as the person who involves others in finding great solutions – you will be the person that others come to for your views. If you are ambitious or want to be considered a thought leader in your organisation or industry, this is an important way to build your profile. Who doesn’t want to be someone respected and sought out for their views?

Once part of your tool kit, you will be able to whip around a small group of people quickly without adding layers of complexity (and you may even enjoy it!). As with anything, give it a try and see how it feels. In a large organisation there are always more people to think about in your mapping process – it does get easier, however just remember to not always have the exact same group.

In a smaller organisation or in your own business – go to your trusted industry network.You need to protect your own IP of course however a trusted, relatively broad group to challenge your thinking is just as important as being able to navigate and influence a large business. Less about getting agreement from others in this case, however enabling you to really stretch your thinking.

Regardless of business outcomes, you are also going to meet some great people and build some lifelong connections along the way.

I look forward to seeing how you go with this. Please let me know if you do need a hand.

Until next time

Lisa