The Smartest People I Know Ask for Help

Find people who have had experience in areas you haven’t.  ASK THEM for help. These may be folks on your team, in other departments, or who work in similar positions at other companies.  Assuming it’s not confidential information that can’t be shared, many will be open to sharing ideas, a process, or mistakes they’ve made along the way.  Seeking this help will be hugely helpful.

Here’s an example:  My family recently started a charity that benefits teachers and students.  We were pretty sure we had the concept correct and had done a good amount of homework.  Before taking the next huge step, I asked several people I knew to recruit teachers, principals, and other administrators and educators to come and talk with us.  We had a couple of large focus groups, and it was terrific. The young teachers had different opinions than those with a lot of years under their belts, and both sets of opinions were most helpful.  As we move ahead, we will keep checking and rechecking.

When the Harvard Business Review published an article about the culture change we had implemented at Alberto Culver, we were amazed at how many large corporations and organizations came calling for advice.  It was refreshing to realize that smart people will take ideas from anywhere they can get them.  We spent many months trying to help others learn how we had made all that significant change.  The worst thing in organizations is what is often called the “not invented here” syndrome. And it is everywhere.  In other words, if it was not the idea of the person in charge, it was discarded. And all those potential good thoughts were never even considered.  Even when the idea comes from “the boss”, all too many people just find a way to discard even those thoughts. Hopefully you live and work with people who are smart enough to take good ideas from anywhere they come.  Don’t be afraid to ask!