Earlier on this year, I composed a post where I postulated that all ideas are created equal...even the stupid ones.
What I've learned since is that equal at birth does not necessarily mean equal treatment at development.
To be more specific, in the workplace, ideas born "elsewhere" seem to be treated better than those born "at home."
This reverse snobbery is something I lived through at Airborne Mobile, particularly in the years after we "made it big" by being sold to Japan's Cybird.
And now, after six months at Just For Laughs, I'm beginning to experience it once again.
I'm sure that if I had more time on my hands, I could conjure up studies and University psych dept. experiments to support my claim, but in a nutshell, I argue that ideas dreamed up outside company walls are paid greater importance and respect than those thought up within.
Now I don't know if such a perverse attitude prevails at Apple or Google or any other harbinger of high-tech (sure hope not), but just over the past week alone, in a number of meetings regarding everything from new TV concepts, a new live stage set design, advertising creative conceptualization to the development of a new Christmas card, I was asked in each one, in a very Dilbertian way:
"Is that something we/you dreamed up, or was it from him/her/them?"
Oy.
Instead of answering directly, here's what I did (kind of Machiavellian, kind of dishonest, but necessary):
While no double blind, random controlled study, in discussing two of the aforementioned concepts, I told half my staff that the ideas were mine (which they were). For the other half, I credited an agency we are working with (but on completely unrelated projects).
Same ideas...but two very different reactions. Excitement for, and pride in, the external; slight doubt in, and resistance to, the internal.
I could take this personally, but this is a battle I've fought before (which may be why I really SHOULD take this personally...but I digress). I really don't think it's me; I think it's a prevalent negative attitude that permeates too many businesses.
This might explain why there are so many rich consultants out there.
Both aforementioned concepts drop this week (the first one appears as a traditional newspaper ad as you read this). I'm going to measure the reaction to 'em from both groups and see if there's a difference between those to whom I told the truth, and those to whom I lied.
And then, no matter what the result...I'm gonna start a fight.
You see, ever since I turned this blog over from its previous incarnation as a support for my POW! book into a personal journey of knowledge-gathering, I've learned many lessons. Unfortunately, not all of them are good and happy and cheerful ones.
So what did I learn this week? Yeah, I learned that ideas seem to get bigger, stronger, wiser and rise in importance if they're deemed to be created elsewhere.
But more importantly, I learned that in 2011, I have to fight that malaise and bring a pride back to my in-house idea machine. And I'm gonna do so with a plan I call DRIMBY.
You've heard of NIMBY, an acronym for Not In My Backyard? Well, 2011 at Just For Laughs will be focused on DRIMBY...
Damn Right, In My Backyard!
And if it doesn't work...well, I'll just blame some random agency or consultant out there ;)