We’ve been talking about organizing data your team generates from brainstorming sessions and other creative processes, and
how to use the Decision Matrix to do this. In this post, we’ll wrap up the Decision Matrix process. In fact, we’ll pick up right where we left off, at the point where your team had determined criteria to plug into the Matrix.
When the assessment and tally is completed, allow everyone to review the information silently first, jotting down their thoughts about those results with which they strongly disagree. Conduct a large group debriefing to see if you can address and resolve these key points of disagreement or concern. See if reinforcing a both/and mindset to take the best parts of several alternatives helps to shore up some solutions that might have scored high overall, but might be missing some critical pieces that other solutions scored more favorably on.
If you are still having a tough time reaching a decision as to which idea/solution to move forward into the implementation phase, then you might want to consider taking on another person’s perspective-such as the CEO or the customer- and see how that lens might impact the ratings these ideas receive. If all team members are not in full agreement, find a definition of consensus that can be fairly used for making the final decision, such as “I can live with that and support it” or “I believe this is the best decision for the organization at this time, and I will support it.”
Just as fireflies flash in patterns that are recognizable to other fireflies, we also can see when someone is on fire with a new idea, a new project, a new job; it is contagious to others. If the light is strong enough, then we become part of this glow.
Remember how creative we were when we were capturing fireflies as children? It was fun to discover new ways to catch them, what to keep them in, and how to keep them from getting out. We felt a greater sense of freedom as children, especially on those warm summer nights when anything felt possible.
Try to reconnect with that magical, creative time- even when you are addressing some of the most challenging problems of the team and the business. The more your mind is open to seeing the creative talents of your teammates, the exciting opportunities for improvement, and the new ways of solving problems, the more effective, collaborative, and engaging the work of your team will be.
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