Driving Innovative Ideas Without Breaking Relationships

We tend to view entrepreneurs and innovators as mavericks. The lone hero taking risks and changing the world. But here is the paradox. The best innovators don’t just think differently, they work well with others.

The ability to build relationships is the defining characteristic of the serial intrapreneur.

The Myth Of The Risk Taking Entrepreneur

The perception of entrepreneurs as mavericks may be based on the idea that they are natural risk takers. But this is not the case. The research tells a different story. Entrepreneurs may be more risk averse than we think.

In one study entrepreneurs and employed adults were presented with three choices:

1. A 20% chance of making $5 million

2. A 50% chance of making $2 million

3. An 80% chance of making $1,25 million

If entrepreneurs were more risk-taking than employed adults, we assume that they would pick the highest possible reward regardless of risk. Interestingly, the results showed that the entrepreneurs were significantly more likely to pick the last option — the safer option.

This tells us something important. Entrepreneurship is not recklessness. It is a systematic process for finding ways to create value for others and get value back for ourselves. It is, therefore, impossible to succeed without the help of others.

Bold Ideas Require Strong Relationships

In the context of innovation within established companies, it is even more important to work well with others. We want our ideas to be bold — may be even a little crazy. But we don’t want to create chaos around us.

The bolder the idea, the better we need to be at building relationships.

The mistake innovators make is assuming that because their ideas are radical, their approach to working with others needs to be radical too. They crash into meetings talking about shaking things up and blowing up the status quo.

It sounds cool. You might even look cool. But it’s not very effective.

If you want people to support your ideas, you have to earn their trust first. Here are five ways to work on bold ideas while keeping your relationships intact:

1. Speak Their Language, Not Just Yours: People feel nervous when you use words like transformation and disruption. It is better to frame things using the language that people speak in their day-to-day work. For example, you can speak about benefits for customers, reduction in costs or increases in revenue. Social scientist Justin Berg’s research shows that promising ideas start with novelty and then add elements of familiarity. You have to find ways to frame your bold ideas in terms that are familiar to your colleagues.
2. Address People’s Fears With Kindness: People resist bold ideas due to fear of uncertainty. In many cases, their concerns are valid. You are not Elon Musk, and you don’t work in a company full of idiots. According to clinical psychologist Caroline Fleck, the best way to build relationships is to acknowledge people’s perspectives by making them feel heard and understood. Validate the fact that people are right to be concerned and show how your idea may not disrupt everything they care about.
3. Give Ownership To Others: Give others a role in shaping your idea. Let them add their thoughts and tweaks. Allowing people to shape and co-create the initiative with you will give them a sense of ownership. Research on the IKEA Effect shows that when people put effort into co-creating something, their perceived value and emotional attachment to it increases.
4. Be Open To Evolving Your Idea: Acknowledging people’s concerns and allowing them to co-create with you, means that you are open to evolving your idea. The ability to use feedback from others to reframe your ideas is a key part of collective collaboration. Additionally, there is a humility premium that comes with asking questions. This makes people more forgiving when leaders make mistakes.
5. Be Relentlessly Patient: Change takes time. Don’t assume you will get buy-in instantly. People need to hear about an idea multiple times before they accept it. Be prepared to share the same concepts with people over and over before your idea starts to resonate.

The Bottom Line

Breakthrough ideas don’t have to create broken relationships. The best innovators are good at both coming up with crazy ideas and building good relationships. If you want to change the world, start by changing how you work with people.

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