One of the best ways to ensure that your planning is successful is to create your own R&D (research and development) group. All truly successful businesses have departments or teams specifically dedicated to finding and developing new and better ways to do whatever it is the company does, so why not you?
At it's most basic, and R&D group can be a small group of friends that you bribe into helping you with problems by offerings of pizza and beer. At it's most complex, it can be a worldwide network of e-quaintences who have signed on to receive email newsletters from you outlining the projects you are working on, and who in return offer feedback or creative help from hundreds of different perspectives.
Wherever your group falls along this continuum, to be effective they must have a clear idea of where you're going and what help you need. Be clear and clean in your discussions, and accept all feedback openly and without defensive posturing. Of course, if someone is taking advantage of your goodwill by scarfing up your pizza, but offering only bland or even hurtful critiques in return with no real effort at being helpful or creating solutions, don't invite them back - just be sure it's them, and not you, who are the problem!
Don't forget to keep your R&D team up to date on the progress of the projects they helped on. After all, it's their baby too, and no one likes to help out and then be left behind - if you pull a "thanks for all your help, b'bye now" routine on them, they will get frustrated and won't want to play any more, leaving you to do all that work by yourself. Reciprocate in kind by joining in their R&D teams if they ask (or offer first, to be really nice).
Creating and using R&D teams can save you much wasted time, pointless effort and avoidable pain. No one of us knows as much as all of us put together, and the group dynamic is a good example of a behavior known as "emergent phenomenon" - it often generates results that are greater than the sum of its parts. By sending your ideas and problems through your R&D team, rather than attempting to handle it all yourself, you'll end up with a far greater number and higher quality of ideas to work with (even if you do end going with your original plan) than you could ever hope to come up with on your own.
(Fun note: Even mad scientists and evil overlords, the two most basic "one-man operations" there are, take advantage of this stress-relieving concept. Remember - you, too, have minions. Use them!)
(c) Soni Pitts
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Soni Pitts is the Chief Visionary Butt-Kicker of sonipitts.com. She specializes in helping others reclaim "soul proprietorship" in their lives and to begin living the life their Creator always intended for them.
She is the author of the free e-book "50 Ways To Reach Your Goals" and over 100 self-help and inspirational articles, as well as other products and resources designed to facilitate this process of personal growth and spiritual development.
disinfecting cleaning services Highland Park ..One of the best ways to ensure that your planning... Read More
Survival: The Name of the New Economic Game People rarely... Read More
Everyone knows, works or lives with "innies." Who are they... Read More
1. Humor reduces stress levels and stress is the number... Read More
We all know someone who just drives us batty. Perhaps... Read More
A Successful Team is built around mateship, around respect for... Read More
Abstract: Based on significant research, Entelechy has defined characteristics of... Read More
Have you seen the tee-shirt with the slogan, "Talk to... Read More
Last month's edition of Footprints and Monuments illustrated a parallel... Read More
There are few industries or service type businesses, which are... Read More
People who lead the best teams realise early on that... Read More
The feedback I'm talking about here isn't some sort of... Read More
Many believe a leaner government promotes better freedoms with respect... Read More
1. Involve them. Many employees want to be involved in... Read More
Maybe you find yourself in a new team environment and... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
"Asking questions can be a means of establishing authority, fulfilling... Read More
TEAM LEADERS WORKSHOPAlice asked Cheshire cat "which road should I... Read More
The Sales Director had organised a great conference; the venue... Read More
One of the most memorable quotes that I heard from... Read More
The Dance of ConflictWhen faced with the prospect of meeting... Read More
Multiculturalism is a reality in North America and for those... Read More
Perhaps you're a small business owner wondering how you and... Read More
Young minds are quite easy to shape. International Terrorist recruiters... Read More
Why do we human beings complicate things? Is it that... Read More
best cleaning company Winnetka ..Team Building Question:A team is full of animosity, pretended interpersonal... Read More
Teams don't have to be aligned with the goals of... Read More
Why do we human beings complicate things? Is it that... Read More
Last month's edition of Footprints and Monuments illustrated a parallel... Read More
On the trail in Northern Canada "Marche" was the word... Read More
A grassy field, two nets, a soccer ball and some... Read More
Survival: The Name of the New Economic Game People rarely... Read More
In the constantly changing world of Call Centers, asking agents... Read More
One of the most memorable quotes that I heard from... Read More
Ever lost for ideas while working in a group? One... Read More
Teams run most businesses and teams work best if each... Read More
Let's look at the detail of giving feedback. Whether you... Read More
It's not true in every organization, but it is true... Read More
A tight knit team is a group of competent individuals... Read More
Team Building Question:I'm a manager of a team of 20... Read More
A lot of effort has been carried out in the... Read More
So much has been written on this subject; Team Work,... Read More
Abstract: Based on significant research, Entelechy has defined characteristics of... Read More
Managing a small business continues to become more challenging. However,... Read More
It's a great sunny day so it's time to get... Read More
Have you seen the tee-shirt with the slogan, "Talk to... Read More
Teams, teams, teams. They're all the rage these days. Whether... Read More
Did you know your work environment can actually make you... Read More
Everyone knows, works or lives with "innies." Who are they... Read More
One of the greatest challenges a coaching manager has is... Read More
Team Building |