While working on a collaborative writing project the other day, my co-worker came up with some new article titles.  I took one look at them and dismissed them out of hand.

These kind of interactions happen all the time in project management.  A teammate comes up with a great idea, approaches a manager with it, and is given an immediate “no.”  The reason?  Because sometimes in the thick of stress and focus, managers lose sight of taking a bigger picture approach to problem solving.  They look at a foreign idea and have a negative gut reaction.

This is neither healthy nor productive as a whole.  You lose a lot of insight and creativity in a project when you constantly employ the gut reaction response.  That’s why I went back to my co-worker and told him I’d take another look at his ideas.  Turns out, he was onto something, and our combined writing is better because of it.

Hooray for taking the time to collaborate.

-Deborah Fike

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