Eliza Farri ended a really good article, “What makes a great executive retreat” (HBR – July 4. 2022) with a great conclusion:

“The most important takeaway is that even the most traditional, deeply rooted practices in large organizations can be innovated — especially those that you might think cannot be changed because it’s the way things have always been done. Sometimes great strategy needs a bit of creativity.”

The way things have always been done… And to her quote, I would also end with, “…and the implementation of innovation”

Reading her article confirms my thinking about how things really work in my simple model of the world:

I also note that the common reality of most senior managers, the wagon pullers, are just too distracted and busy to really listen to good ideas for doing things differently. I mean, how valuable would a subordinate’s ideas be anyway, right?

Her point is that if we are going to take the time of the people to share information with them, at least make it a two-way street and allow the people to share their ideas about issues, possibilities and opportunities to really impact the organization and how things work. Innovation is going to come from the fringes and there are a lot more people pushing the wagons than pushing them. And the reality is that they see things differently from the back of the wagon than the wagon pullers at the front. They have more hands-on reality.

Why not choose to use our simple and effective Square Wheels organizational development tools in your next management or executive retreat or your next onsite event with your remote workers? Why not give them the opportunity to look at things differently and to make some suggestions about real innovations that can be implemented?

It is far better to ask and receive than to tell, and generate resistance and pushback when you are trying to implement change.

Square Wheels are some really easy-to-use, highly impactful, and very memorable tools and metaphors for improving engagement. We’ve been using them for organizational development since 1993.

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For the FUN of It!

Dr. Scott Simmerman is a designer of team building games and organization improvement tools.
Managing Partner of Performance Management Company since 1984, he is an experienced presenter and consultant who is trying to retire!! He now lives in Cuenca, Ecuador.

You can reach Scott at scott@squarewheels.com

Learn more about Scott at his LinkedIn site.

Here is a 2-minute overview of our new online, virtual team building game: https://youtu.be/6sFUOTjdUVg