It’s a decoration, not a toy
While walking my dog, I watched a mother yell at her toddler rolling a small pumpkin across the lawn. He had disturbed her graduated pumpkin display on the front steps. How often do we shut down someone exploring or innovating because it conflicts with our ideas about how things should be done?
I watched the delighted expression on the toddler’s face as the pumpkin rolled along. Then his disappointed face as Mom grabbed him and put the pumpkin back in its designated spot. I felt disappointment myself.
How different it would have looked if she’d come out and joined his spirited exploration. “That’s interesting. What else can you think of to do with it?” she could have asked. She could have asked questions to engage his imagination, encouraging spontaneity and creativity.
It was such a quick shut down. I thought about how often we make people play by the rules and shut down spontaneity without asking questions. We lose in so many ways.
For one thing, we lose the opportunity to collect information.
- Perhaps the rules, or the process we’ve put in place doesn’t really work all that well for the user and there are better ways to make it work.
We create a culture that shuts down rather than celebrates innovation.
- Each time we criticize exploration, we decrease the likelihood that anyone will take risks trying something new in the future. Curiosity isn’t worth it.
And it’s also possible we create a widening gulf between ourselves and those who are trying to do something better, or something new.
- We get seen as a threat, rather than as a mentor or a supporter.
Look around this week and see if you’re shutting anyone down, for whatever the reason. Think about asking questions, and more questions, not criticizing. And think about a toddler trying to see how far a pumpkin would roll. If left to his own devices, maybe one day he’d invent something that would save the world. And in the meantime, he’d have a lot more fun.