Are You Blinding Your "New Eyes"?

The concept of “new eyes” is a common theme among companies looking to infuse their organizations with fresh perspectives. Every time a new employee joins a team or organization, they bring a new perspective, shaped by a unique worldview and organizational lens. They can often see what is right in front of you, the very things you have grown blind to over time. 

Finding people with new or fresh eyes is refreshing. After all, companies that don’t evolve and innovate often find themselves antiquated before their time. Evolution is one of the linchpins of business. Those that can remain fresh and tied into their customers’ needs while simultaneously finding new ways to increase productivity and reduce costs possess a significant advantage over those organizations that remain stagnant in their services and processes.

While the concept gets plenty of airtime during meetings and planning sessions, the implementations of allowing “fresh eyes” to flourish in an organization is more hit and miss. All too often, organizations are plagued by managers more concerned with holding onto the status quo than developing their business. I don’t blame these individuals at all. For years the prevailing culture at most companies rewarded “keep your head down” and “don’t rock the boat” mindsets. Most employees have witnessed the backlash associated with “stepping out of the box”, “sticking your neck out” and pushing against the “way we do things around here”.

Consider these scenarios: 

• Paul is a mid-level manager who proposes a radical switch in how the operations team schedules production runs. He has found a method to reduce costs and increase production without sacrificing any quality. Because he doesn’t work in operations, the ops team views his proposal as “meddling” and takes his proposal as an insult. Not only does Paul’s proposal never receive serious consideration, but Paul’s department begins to receive added scrutiny and criticism from the operations team.
• You just recruited Mary to leave your largest competitor. Her division at your competition has consistently outperformed the same division at your company. Shortly after she comes on board, she suggests tweaking a few processes to make the department more efficient. Her direct supervisor, aware that Mary is now a rising star in your organization based on her track record with your competitor, dismisses her suggestions by telling her, “That may have worked at your previous company, but we don’t do it that way around here”. Six months later, unable to gain any ground on making changes in her new division, Mary resigns and returns to her previous employer.
• Alex just joined your organization and in the first six weeks, he’s become the most productive employee in your logistics department. He brought with him a set of transferable skills that enables him to see the whole picture, not just the task at hand. His “new eyes” have identified numerous ways to significantly revolutionize the logistics process. Unfortunately, Alex’ peers have noticed his performance and how he compares to their performance. He is pulled aside and explained how good the logistics team has it and why his “revolutionary” methods are ruining a good thing. Over the next month, Alex is seen in heated conversation with many of his peers. By the end of his first year with your organization, Alex’ productivity has fallen in line with the lower productivity standards of his peers and he has focused his attention solely on the task at hand.

How familiar do these scenarios sound to you? Have you lived through a similar situation? Which side were you on; the innovator or the status quo keeper?

Each one of these new employees brought “new eyes” to their positions with your organization. Paul used an outsider’s perspective to shed light on an issue that wasn’t readily apparent to those in operations. Mary had a proven track record of running a division that consistently beat your company and brought concepts and processes with her that could have narrowed the gap between you and your competitor. Alex brought a new perspective and standard to a department that was clearly underperforming.  Unfortunately, while all three had the ability and drive to grow your organization through evolution and innovation, all three were denied that opportunity.

Every organization faces these same challenges, “How do we maintain our culture while also allowing our new employees grow and our business to evolve?” Instead of being recognized for their good ideas, instead of having their supervisors support their questioning ways and innovative solutions, each employee in the previous examples was met squarely with repercussions for their “new eyes”. How does your organization treat threats to the status quo?

Yes, it is true that you need rules to run a successful business. Without rules, you would have chaos and anarchy. But think about where we would be if those before us had not asked questions and challenged the status quo. We wouldn’t have personal computers, laptops, air travel, satellites or even electricity. Companies such as Apple, Amazon, Wal-Mart, Facebook, and IKEA wouldn’t exist if nobody ever questioned the way things were. Innovation is the currency of organizational growth. Are you ready to cash in your employee’s innovation?

Over the next fifty years, the landscape of innovation will be impacted by technology at a rate never before seen by mankind.  During this same period, the American workforce will undergo its most dramatic shift ever as we move past Baby Boomers and Generation X workers. There will be a significant shortage of skilled workers to fill the voids left behind by the most populous generations in our history. When that happens, how will your organization survive? Will they continue down the path of least resistance, content to keep doing things the same way, time and time again? Or will you open your eyes to innovation? 

 

Ask yourself, “Am I willing to blind these new eyes, or am I ready to invest in other people’s perspectives? Does my very survival depend upon letting their insights become our new path, or am I willing to hold fast to my current path, regardless of where it takes us”?  Choose wisely, because every time you run an innovator out of your company, you run one more customer out of your company, and move one step closer to extinction.

 

 

Scott Brown, MSOL, is the Founder and Chief Engagement Officer at Hardie Consulting, a Fort Lauderdale, FL based management consulting firm.  Scott is a coach, a consultant, an author, and an award winning speaker who has successfully helped countless organizations learn how to meet shifting customer and employee expectations. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottBrownMSOL, connect with him on LinkedIn, visit his company’s website:  www.HardieConsulting.com, and check out his new book, Alignment: How to Transform Potential into Performance, Productivity and Profit, available on Amazon or CreateSpace to learn more about how employee engagement and organizational alignment can become the linchpin to your success.