It’s not what you say it’s the way that you say it!
12/03/2010, Author: Ruth Williams
Creativity is part of innovation; the idea generating part; the licence to be wacky and different in our ideas and contributions. A key part of innovation is finding application for our ideas, and this is how it differs from creativity, where there may not be any obvious or business-related application.
Accessing the creative part of ourselves requires, for the majority of us, a relaxed state of mind that includes a belief that we are not going to be judged negatively for our contributions and are being listened to as valued individuals.
As human beings we pick-up on clues about whether we are being judged negatively or listened to both consciously and sub-consciously with the latter often being the source we respond to most strongly and emotionally. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book ‘Blink’ describes the mental processing that we achieve outside of the conscious as ‘rapid cognition’. This is a relatively new but fast expanding area of psychology that can provide a wealth of insight into how we create a climate for innovation through our subtle behaviours as leaders.
Rapid cognition allows us and our teams to make often very accurate decisions about the motivations and intentions of others without consciously processing. This includes how we pick up on how intonation changes in speech, the emphasised or repeated use of particular words and the pace of speech. Examples include:
• Rising intonation at the end of a sentence suggests hope, positivity and openness to new suggestions.
• Falling intonation at the end of a sentence suggests defeat or that the decision has been made and further contribution is not invited.
When facilitating a discussion where you want to encourage innovation, listen out for the intonation you use at the end of your sentences and experiment with alternatives then notice the effect this has.
• When we listen to the speech of others we do so in a way that is similar to skim reading; we focus on key messages and ‘zone out’ the information we don’t find relevant. Just as underlining and bold print can draw attention when skim reading so an increase in volume or pause after an important word or phrase will draw attention.
Try using increased volume followed by pause on the key words you want people to focus on, for example:
“This is about YOU (…) and YOUR (…) ideas. I am interested in hearing what YOU (…) think about how we take this forward.”
In addition try to make eye contact with people around the room during your pause. This is likely to make them feel as if you are talking to them and you want their personal response. Remember to then go back to making that eye contact when they speak (no looking at your notes at this point).
These are just a few tips on how we as leaders can create a climate for innovation by tapping into the rapid cognition of our followers. Try experimenting with other variations in pace and intonation of speech – you will be amazed by the power of such subtle changes!
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