Making the most of “Pet Ideas”

Unless Independence Day was a documentary, most of the organic beings reading this text are human. Ergo, we have human emotions. In a team environment, we’re often asked to put our emotions away in exchange for rational discussion. By and large, this is a good thing. Through brainstorming and other collaborative efforts, we can often surface the best idea to the top.

But remember, we’re human. We all think we’re good at letting the best idea bubble to the top, but the truth is, we don’t always do that. We have opinions, strong ones, and when push comes to shove, we really, really want the team to adopt our idea over all the others.

I call these biases “pet ideas,” and I’ve encountered them on every team I’ve ever worked on. Hell, I’ve even carried a few of them around myself. Since we are trapped inside our own minds, we stew over these ideas to the point where we can’t imagine anyone not thinking it’s the most brilliant idea on the planet. Problems arise when the teammate across the conference table from us also has a “pet idea” in direct contrast to ours. It’s an open invitations for office place debating season, and usually everyone loses.

The best thing to do when this happens is to put some criteria in place to evaluate all these pet ideas. Below is a process I’ve used to evaluate all pet ideas to come to the most optimal team solution.

Let every interested team member pitch a pet idea. Give each team member equal time to talk to the rest of the group about their idea. At this stage, don’t let anyone else argue whether it’s good or bad, just let them talk. Then write the idea on a white board or piece of paper.
Discuss the pros of each pet idea. Once everyone has had a chance to pitch their idea, let everyone else have a go at saying all the good things about an idea. Explore all possibilities of how the pet idea could solve the problem. Don’t shoot any idea down yet, until all the ideas have positive comments.
Next discuss the cons. Now it’s time to let everyone have time looking at the downside of a pet idea. This is the trickiest step. If there are heated people in the room who want to argue all day about the “cons” of an opposing pet idea, make sure they get their point across and then let someone else talk. Nobody wants to hear someone repeat the same point over and over again, and it can demoralize the team.
Sit on it. This is a crucial step, especially if the decision at hand is a big one. Don’t make any quick calls during the meeting you discuss pros and cons. Let everyone take a step back and think about it. Having a sleep period before you re-discuss can really help people absorb the ideas.
(If necessary) Re-group with new ideas. After the timeout period, people often come up with new ideas. If there’s one that merits discussion, put it on the candidate board as well and make sure it gets steps 1-4 due process.
Make the decision. Every team makes decisions differently. Sometimes it’s via consensus, sometimes there’s a primary decision maker(s). Whatever the case, make sure you discuss why the decision was made, especially in regards to whomever lost their “pet idea.” (Bonus tip, you can always remind the team that having lots of great ideas that get killed is not necessarily a bad idea, if you message it correctly.)

With this process, even if a person loses out on their pet idea, it’s fair and you’ve given the idea real thought. That’s the best you can ask for as a manager.

-Deborah Fike

P.S. A final note: If you are the one who’s idea doesn’t get chosen, don’t be a sore loser. Or, worse for yourself, don’t beat yourself up about it. Ideas are, in the end, a dime a dozen. If you had one great idea, you’ll have more.

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