Explore the ideas from your team, for real !

Dear boss

We are writing this letter to ask you why you don’t ask us to solve problems by ourselves. When is the last time you really asked us to solve a company problem other than the company travel day destination or the theme for the New Year’s party ?

We love this company as much as you do. Yes, you have a lot of experience all over the world, more than we do. And it is true that the consultants are smarter than we are, and they explain things more clearly. And they have fantastic Powerpoint slides that we don’t know how to make (and frankly, even if we did, we don’t have the time). These consultants have experience in other industries, and they know about state-of-the-art and best practices.

But we really have ideas.

You tell us you want our input, but very quickly you explain why our ideas won’t work. You explain that you have tried them before, in a previous assignment. Or you just know that this won’t work. In a culture where hierarchy is respected, it is a challenge for us to express our thoughts. And when the person in authority then explains us , with reasons and facts and figures, that this is not really such a good idea, how do you think we feel about speaking up in the future (not to say losing our face and self-confidence) ? Have you  gained your experience by executing the ideas of others, with your own being squashed ?

Give us a chance. Give us a problem. Really give it to us. And let us implement our solutions, make some mistakes, and learn from that experience. Isn’t that what the leadership books write about ? Maybe this can be applied to real business problems and not just the company entertainment activities.

Best regards
Your team in Asia