“That Won’t Work!”
Imagine the scene: Several people are discussing a problem that needs an urgent solution. Everyone is deep in thought, and one person proposes a solution. “We could…” and everyone listens intently. As soon as the person is done talking, or perhaps even before, somebody speaks up. “That won’t work!” he says. The Solution Proposer is stymied, and the group is no closer to a solution that they were before.
In any group, there can be one person who frequently interjects with such a phrase. Have you been in such a situation? What can be done about it?
When a group is trying to solve a complex problem, it is likely that not all members of the group knows all of the nuances of the system being examined. The problem is that they don’t know what they don’t know, to get all Donald Rumsfeld about it. As a result they are overconfident, and feel that their own opinion and analysis are perhaps even more important than that of others in the group.
This blissful ignorance, complimented by an overzealousness for being helpful and further coupled with a smattering of arrogance is enough to turn anybody into the “That won’t work!” person. I am of course describing a younger version of myself. So I suppose in that sense this post is a bit of a confessional!
