Negative Brainstorming | Reality-Based Toolkit

Summary

In this leadership training session, Alec introduces a powerful tool for managing change within organizations. The 'negative brainstorm' technique is designed to shift focus from resistance to problem-solving by identifying and addressing potential risks associated with changes like software updates. Leaders are guided to facilitate this process, encouraging team members to voice concerns, assess probabilities and impacts, and collaboratively develop mitigation strategies. This approach not only fosters a proactive mindset but also enhances accountability and team engagement in the face of organizational shifts.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker introduces a tool to help teams shift their focus from 'why we can't' to 'how we could', especially in the face of organizational change.
• 🌟 The 'negative brainstorm' is presented as a powerful method to make the team's concerns visible and address them constructively.
• 📝 The process involves writing down all the concerns as they arise without disagreement, to make them tangible and less abstract.
• 🔍 It's important to get specific with concerns, avoiding vague statements and focusing on what can be addressed.
• 🤔 The facilitator should encourage the group to exhaust all concerns, even if it takes several pages, to ensure no issues are left unaddressed.
• 🛠 Once concerns are listed, the group reassesses them as 'risks', shifting the perspective from problems to potential challenges that need solutions.
• 📊 The facilitator guides the group to assess the probability and impact of each risk, focusing on how it affects the business and customers, not personal preferences.
• 🔄 The process includes eliminating low probability, low impact risks, and focusing on high probability, high impact ones that require action.
• 💡 After identifying key risks, the group brainstorms mitigation strategies, encouraging creative solutions to potential problems.
• 🗣️ Accountability is established by assigning tasks to individuals and securing verbal commitments for follow-up.
• 🚀 The negative brainstorm tool is emphasized as a way to enhance leadership effectiveness, promote action, and reduce workplace drama.

Q & A

What is the primary purpose of the 'negative brainstorm' tool discussed in the script?

The primary purpose of the 'negative brainstorm' tool is to help teams shift their focus from why a change or decision is not possible or desirable to exploring how it could be implemented effectively, by making conscious and addressing the concerns and potential issues.

How does the speaker describe the typical reaction of teams when a change is announced?

The speaker describes that teams often react negatively to change, focusing on why it shouldn't or can't be done, rather than embracing the change and looking for ways to make it work.

What is the role of a leader when faced with negative energy from the team regarding a change?

The leader's role is to recognize the negative energy, facilitate the 'negative brainstorm' tool to make the concerns visible and specific, and then guide the team to shift their focus from the problems to finding solutions and mitigating risks.

What should a leader do when they notice concerns arising from the team about a change?

A leader should stand up, acknowledge the concerns, and start writing them down without arguing or disagreeing. This process helps to make the concerns visible and specific for the team to address.

Why is it important for a leader not to argue with the concerns raised during the negative brainstorming session?

Arguing with the concerns would only reinforce the negative energy and prevent the team from openly sharing their thoughts. The leader's role is to facilitate and acknowledge the concerns to create an environment for constructive problem-solving.

What is the significance of getting specific with the concerns during the negative brainstorming session?

Getting specific with concerns helps to break down ambiguous issues into manageable concerns, allowing the team to focus on addressing each one individually and effectively.

How does the speaker suggest leaders should approach the task of assigning responsibilities after identifying risks?

Leaders should identify the top risks and then ask the team for three potential mitigation strategies for each risk. Once strategies are proposed, leaders should assign responsibilities to team members, ensuring they commit verbally to their tasks.

What is the importance of the 'probability' and 'impact' columns in the negative brainstorming process?

The 'probability' column helps to assess the likelihood of each risk occurring, while the 'impact' column evaluates the potential effect on the business or customers. This helps prioritize which risks to focus on and develop mitigation strategies for.

How does the speaker suggest ensuring accountability for the tasks assigned during the negative brainstorming session?

The speaker suggests getting a verbal 'yes' from the team members as a commitment to their assigned tasks. This allows the leader to follow up on the progress and hold individuals accountable for their responsibilities.

What is the final step the speaker suggests after assigning tasks to mitigate risks?

The final step is to follow up on the commitments made by team members, check on their progress, and provide coaching or support as needed to overcome any obstacles they might encounter.

Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of getting concerns and mitigation strategies on paper?

Writing down concerns and strategies helps to make them visible, clear, and actionable. It prevents misunderstandings, reduces internal drama, and ensures that everyone is on the same page regarding the identified risks and their mitigation plans.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introducing the Negative Brainstorming Tool

The speaker introduces a leadership tool aimed at shifting team focus from resistance to problem-solving. After a change or decision is announced, the speaker observes negative reactions and suggests using 'negative brainstorming' to make these concerns visible and address them consciously. The tool is exemplified with an organization's transition to Microsoft 10, where initial resistance is turned into a list of specific concerns, fostering a more constructive discussion.

05:02

🔍 Shifting from Issues to Risks

The speaker emphasizes the importance of reframing concerns as risks to change the team's mental process from passive to active problem-solving. By identifying and listing risks associated with the Microsoft 10 update, the team moves from focusing on why the change won't work to considering how to mitigate potential issues. The process involves assessing the probability and impact of each risk, which helps in prioritizing actions and aligning the team's efforts towards addressing the most significant challenges.

10:04

🛠 Mitigating Risks Through Action

The speaker outlines a strategy for dealing with high-impact, high-probability risks by brainstorming mitigation strategies. Using the example of potential bugs in the new system, the team is encouraged to come up with three actionable steps to address each risk. This leads to concrete commitments from team members, such as forming a pilot group, creating a FAQ sheet, and producing a tutorial video, thereby transforming concerns into actionable solutions.

15:05

🗓 Accountability and Follow-up

The speaker discusses the importance of accountability in the implementation of the brainstormed solutions. By securing verbal commitments from team members and following up on these commitments, the leader ensures that the mitigation strategies are executed. The process also reveals the team's willingness to contribute to the change and helps in coaching and supporting team members to overcome obstacles, ultimately reducing drama and increasing the likelihood of a successful transition.

🚀 Embracing the Power of Negative Brainstorming

The speaker concludes by highlighting the transformative power of negative brainstorming, which not only surfaces hidden concerns but also promotes a proactive approach to change management. The tool is presented as a fail-safe method to enhance leadership skills and improve team dynamics, encouraging listeners to adopt it with courage and confidence. The speaker also invites the audience to follow for more tools and insights, promising to support them in their leadership journey.

Keywords

💡Reality-Based Leadership

Reality-Based Leadership is a concept that focuses on practical and actionable leadership strategies that are grounded in the real-world challenges and opportunities that organizations face. In the video, the speaker is a trainer at 'reality-based leadership,' which implies that the content of the video is about leadership tools and techniques that are directly applicable to real organizational scenarios.

💡Negative Brainstorming

Negative Brainstorming is a technique used to identify and address potential obstacles or concerns that could impede the success of a project or initiative. The speaker discusses this tool extensively in the video, emphasizing its power to shift the focus from 'why we can't' to 'how we could' by making concerns visible and manageable.

💡Change Management

Change Management refers to the process of preparing, supporting, and helping individuals and organizations to cope with and benefit from change. The video script discusses how leaders can manage change effectively by using the negative brainstorming tool to roll out decisions or policy changes within an organization.

💡Mental Process

The term 'mental process' in the video refers to the internal thought patterns and cognitive processes that individuals go through when faced with change or challenges. The speaker mentions that the team is in a 'poor mental process,' indicating that they are generating negative thoughts and stories that may not be based in reality.

💡Accountability

Accountability is the responsibility and obligation to report, explain, and be answerable for one's actions. In the context of the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of gaining verbal commitments from team members to take on specific tasks, which is the first step towards holding them accountable for their contributions to the project.

💡Facilitator

A facilitator is someone who helps a group of people understand and solve a problem or set of problems by providing structure and guidance for the group's discussion. The speaker describes the role of a facilitator in the negative brainstorming process, where they are responsible for writing down concerns, guiding the discussion, and helping the group to focus on solutions.

💡Risk Management

Risk Management is the process of identifying, assessing, and controlling risks to minimize any negative impact. The video script uses the term in the context of evaluating the probability and impact of potential issues arising from the implementation of a new system, such as Microsoft 10.

💡Ego

In the video, 'ego' refers to the self-centered aspect of an individual's personality that may influence their thoughts and actions in a way that is not conducive to problem-solving or team collaboration. The speaker mentions that the negative brainstorming tool helps to move the team away from ego-driven opinions and towards a more objective assessment of risks.

💡Implementation

Implementation is the act of putting a decision, plan, or strategy into effect. The video discusses the challenges and resistance that can arise during the implementation of a new policy or system change, such as an update to Microsoft 10, and how negative brainstorming can be used to address these challenges.

💡Probable

The term 'probable' in the video refers to the likelihood or chance that a particular event or risk will occur. The speaker uses this term when discussing the process of evaluating the probability of each risk identified during the negative brainstorming session to understand which issues are most likely to impact the project.

💡Impact

Impact in the video refers to the effect or influence that a particular risk or issue will have on the business or project. The speaker emphasizes the importance of assessing the impact of each risk on the business, rather than on personal preferences, to ensure that the mitigation strategies are aligned with the organization's goals.

Highlights

Introduction to a top tool for shifting group focus from 'why not' to 'how to' in the face of organizational change.

The importance of a leader's role in rolling out changes and setting responsibilities.

Addressing the negative energy and resistance that can arise from change announcements.

The concept of a 'negative brainstorm' as a powerful tool for managing change.

An example of an organization transitioning to Microsoft 10 and the resistance encountered.

Leaders not initiating change to cause discomfort but in response to market or technological shifts.

The facilitation of negative brainstorming to identify and address concerns about change.

Writing down issues without disagreement to make them visible and tangible.

The importance of being specific when identifying concerns to avoid ambiguity.

The shift in perspective from issues to risks, focusing on expertise rather than opinion.

Evaluating the probability and impact of each risk identified during the brainstorm.

The significance of focusing on customer impact rather than personal preferences during change.

Prioritizing risks based on their probability and impact to determine focus areas.

Engaging the group to come up with mitigation strategies for high-impact risks.

The power of assigning tasks and gaining verbal commitments for accountability.

The revelation of group willingness and the importance of commitment in change management.

The facilitator's role in following up on commitments to ensure progress.

Encouragement to try the negative brainstorm tool and its potential to transform leadership and decision-making.

Transcripts

everybody it's Alec's store and I'm a

speaker and trainer at reality-based

leadership today I want to run through

one of our top tools that I talk about

often in my sessions to really help

groups get away from talking about why

we can't or why we shouldn't have to and

get focused on how we could specifically

when there's a change or when a decision

has been made by the organization and

you as the leader are just responsible

for helping kind of roll it out and give

responsibilities set and so oftentimes

when this happens you kind of lay out

what's gonna happen as a decision or as

a change in policy or whatever and you

just drop the news and what you see in

your teams instead of just embracing it

and saying thanks for letting us know

and let's make this thing happen you

start to feel the energy of the room

getting into oh that's impossible or

here's why we shouldn't have to and in

that moment you might be thinking I just

dropped a pebble into the pond and I

expect a little Ripple

and instead you get kind of a tidal wave

of a negative energy back and when that

happens it's a great time to realize

that the team is in a poor mental

process they're thinking all over the

place about what could happen and

they're getting into stories that are

probably not true and so your role as a

leader is to not bargain and plead with

them and try and talk them into it

is instead to recognize that energy I

want you to stand up and get into a tool

to make it conscious invisible so our

teams can think through it more clearly

and that's what the negative brainstorm

does it's one of our most powerful tools

and so I want to get into that right now

and so a simple example that I just

recently had in a session was that an

organization is moving to an update to

Microsoft 10 and the first thing that

was interesting about this situation was

that most people were unaware that they

were even moving to Microsoft 10 now one

thing to keep in mind is you guys might

know now after one of my sessions is

that these leaders didn't just dream up

in the middle of the night I want to

switch to a new software I want to

update our software to make everyone's

lives miserable that's not what happened

what happened is a change in the market

place a change in Microsoft has now fed

us a new decision in our reality and we

have

execute this thing and so what's

happening is as they're getting ready to

roll this out there's a lot of

resistance and they can feel the energy

from a lot of people going into here's

why we can't or why we shouldn't have to

or why it's going to be a disaster and

this is a perfect juicy moment to get

into some negative brainstorming with

the group and so let's go through this

example and I've started it here that

when you notice that energy I just want

you if you have a team meeting to stand

up and just say I'm really noticing that

we have some concerns here and I

actually have some concerns myself

because I want to make sure we keep

those top of mind and so what I'm gonna

do is I want to just make sure we

rewrite these down and so what you do is

take a piece of paper and just write

down issues and then start writing down

the various issues that are being said

some examples here are you know we got a

lack of training people need to get

trained up we have hardware

compatibility issues with the new system

we have to look at the timing of the

rollout make sure it's not in one of our

busiest times and so as the facilitator

you write all these down the last one I

have is scope expansion and now I want

to go through the things to keep in mind

as the facilitator they're very very

simple the first thing is you don't have

to announce that I'm gonna do the

negative brainstorm everybody so give me

a second and this is something I learned

that Alex tours I Wakemans training you

have to do any of that just naturally

casually stand up get something on a

whiteboard or a piece of paper and just

start writing I don't really say that

much number two whatever concerns come

out as issues you don't disagree with

them you don't argue with them you don't

bargain and plead or any of that you

just say thank you for sharing and you

write those down because those are

concerns in that person's mind and so

you don't disagree with any of those

concerns next make sure that the

responses aren't so ambiguous or so

general try and get specific so if

someone throws out lack of training for

example get specific on is it you know a

lack of time to do the training people

aren't skilled up try and get as

specific as possible and break those up

into concerns because we want to look at

each

specifically because our minds our egos

want to keep it really general and

ambiguous so we can't really focus on

moving it forward so remember to get

specific and so you want to do that

there lastly as you're listening you

keep saying things like anything else

why else is this not gonna work why else

is this gonna be a tough implementation

and make sure you exhaust the list this

can be two three four five pages and as

the facilitator don't get concerned

about that just keep writing

now finally you'll get to a point where

the whole group has exhausted all of

their concerns all the issues all the

reasons why it won't work and just thank

everyone for sharing their negative

brainstorm their ideas there and then

here's the point where we start to

switch the energy say thank you so much

for sharing I am so glad you actually

brought up these aren't issues but they

are risks

thank you for identifying all the risks

involved with our update to Microsoft 10

I'm glad we have them all up here so we

can look at it so what's happened here

subtly is in the team looking at the

secured mental process that we've

started we've gotten things visible it's

not under the spell of our ego where you

can manipulate all these things we just

started to change the energy away from

both issues and why it's not gonna work

which is really about our opinions and

our preference and opinions are trying

to stop the action now we're into wrists

which is using our expertise to identify

wrists and we're talking about how we

could get through this given the risks

we've found so we're starting to shift

the energy now in your own words or

however feels most natural to you the

next step is pretty key I like to say

something that I'm so happy we've

identified these risks now what I know

about change is that so often what we

fear is false events appearing real it's

not the change itself that causes us a

lot of stress but it's the stories we

make up about the change it's the things

we make up that could happen about the

change and so given that knowledge what

I want to do is check and see the

probability of each of these risks that

they will happen and so I want to write

a column here Pete

for probability we want to make sure

it's probable that what we're concerned

about is gonna happen and then lastly I

also want to look at if it does happen

what would the impact be on the business

now this is key many people want to talk

about what the impact will be under

their comfort zone on their preferences

but who are we trying to serve when it

comes to a change we're usually trying

to serve our customers our patients so

we want to make sure that we're worried

about and looking at what's the impact

on them and not our personal preference

and so we're gonna add a column I for

impact now that you have this all set up

now as a leader you just start looking

at them one by one and take your time

here it's like team let's look at this

first one we have a lack of training

when it comes to Microsoft ten what's

the probability that we have a lack of

training right now and you just listen

for the group consensus

now here's another key what will happen

is if someone set it oftentimes they'll

yell out right away oh that's high

that's a big deal but then start to wait

for the group because some people in the

group might be like oh well that's kind

of low actually we have a lot of people

already trained up or oh that's more of

a medium because we can easily train

people we got fast learners and so you

just kind of listen neutrally for the

consensus and make sure you get from

different parts of the room or the

meeting area what people are saying and

so let's say people started hi some said

low and so we just say would you guys

agree medium and you kind of asked and

most people are like - sure we'll go

with medium and then you say well what's

the impact if people weren't trained up

on the system what would the impact be

and they're like oh I think that'd be

high if they don't know how to use the

system and so you just take the

consensus you don't disagree with

anybody you might even know the answer

or you might want to negate it as a

facilitator not your role here you're

just taking the input and facilitating

next one we have some hardware

compatibility challenges now your IT

people might jump in and be like holy

cow it's huge issue and maybe we should

listen to them a bit more but let's wait

to see what other people say let's say

this one does come out high that this

could be a big issue now what's the

impact that it would have on the

business if

the hardware didn't merge together they

say that be high let's take that as the

next thing here now tie me to the

rollout people are concerned or we can

do this right in our busiest time and

say yes what's the probability that

that'll happen

now most people were freaking out when I

did this one about that the to mean our

busiest time I t's gonna decide to do

this in the worst time but now that we

get it out there and everyone has now

sees how somewhat ridiculous that is

everyone agrees that the probability of

them doing that at the worst possible

time was pretty low now what's the

impact it have on the business if the

timing wasn't that great they agreed

that it would be medium to low because

they could still get by and so we got

that down now now scope expansion they

were talking about how there's so many

options with the new system that you can

do so many things there's all these

golden features you could add in and so

what's the probability that that's gonna

happen and the group consensus was

medium now what's the impact on the

rollout if we have too many of these

they all agreed it was medium could slow

it down and there could be a bug in the

system now what's the probability that

that'll happen I just waited for the

group now my instincts as a facilitator

was the same we're getting a brand new

system from Microsoft they probably

thought about bugs but the group thought

differently they thought that you know

there's gonna be a high chance that

there's gonna be bugs in the system and

so I didn't disagree now they said when

I asked him about the impact that would

have on the customers the people we

serve they said that be really really

high really high we got a look at that

now people are unaware what's the

probability that people are unaware at

the moment that we're making this change

they actually said most no but there was

a few that were not aware so there was a

medium and then the last one here impact

they said it was low because we could

just let them know pretty quickly okay

and so now that you've done all of this

you do it for all three pages you're on

to the next step where you don't let

people off the hook now what do you guys

think you should do with the low low

ones the ones that are low probability

low impact if you have them most people

immediately

get it cross them out let's start cost

about let's say this ones down there as

well cross them out now look at what's

happening here we are really combining

this mental process we're narrowing it

down to see what we actually need to

focus on so now let's take a look what

do you think we should focus on most

would say hi hi so what I like to do is

circle those bug in the system these are

both hi hi given what we have here those

are the only two that are hi-hi and when

we did this we had two or three pages

only about four of these were hi-hi and

so the next step is where it starts to

get really powerful you say everybody

let's just do this one for example let's

say there could be a bug in the system I

say guys given this risk is a big one

that could happen in and have a big

impact on our customers what are three

things we could do to mitigate this risk

and you just let it sit we got everyone

in here what are three things we could

do and pretty quickly you guys will be

so surprised we go down here

someone will jump in and what I heard

when we did this they said you know what

we could do we could take a dream team

and start a pilot group they could give

the system a shot for about a month and

come back with great feedback on where

the bugs were I said perfect I write

that down it sounds like a great idea

any idea I write down and then I'm like

what else could we do they said well

given the pilot group we could come up

with a frequently asked question sheet

of like ten things that might come up

that you can be aware of when you are

using the system so frequently asked

questions sheet and lastly so much of

didn't said well I like making videos I

can make a YouTube video to show kind of

a tutorial of navigating the system with

most of the basics I thought that was

another idea to write down now here is

the fascinating part we have now gotten

into the top risks we now have three

things we could do to mitigate the risk

and so we're getting closer and closer

to moving to how we could with this

implementation

and then I didn't let him off the hook

here's where you going for the clothes

as a leader you know let's look at

number one a pilot group who out there

would love to take this one and try and

reach out to a few people to get a dream

team pilot group started and you stay

silent now in this particular session

what was so fascinating about this is

that when we got down to here no one

jumped in to volunteer and me as the

facilitator didn't panic I just sat

there and they still in volunteer it was

quiet now what does that show you about

their level of willingness throughout

the session there was some hints that

they were frustrated that their team

wasn't willing to jump in a lot of times

but what does that silence show you

about their own lack of willingness to

make this happen it was a big lesson for

the group they weren't all that willing

to help out even though they were

telling others are not willing and so

that was a good start finally we had

someone jump and they said you know what

I can take that one I'll start coming up

with a group that can be in our pilot

group to take this on about a month

before they roll out the final launch

date I say perfect thank you so much can

I get that list in a little bit of like

a one-pager from you by next Tuesday say

her name was Sammy Sammy says absolutely

I go can I count on you to bring that in

my next Tuesday

she gives me a verbal yes boom I have

commitment which is the first step in

accountability

I have something to cochon and follow up

on moving forward so I say Sammy by

Tuesday I think I said awesome a

frequently asked question sheep I know

could anybody get that started first

what anybody would like to take that one

well it was funny about this is someone

in IT jumped in and said we already have

that done we're planning for that it's

already done I go oh my goodness thank

you Jim for being on that now the power

of this is I knew that was probably

being done but if you don't put it on

paper the rest of the group has no idea

and it becomes drama in their heads and

so getting that out loud and looking at

this now the group's seen that I t's

working on some of these challenges they

start to not be so fearful and sort of

already on it I say Jim can I get that

final her first proposal first draft of

it - to me by next Thursday Jim's like

absolutely it's already done

and so I say Jim by Thursday can I count

on you get the verbal yes last one a

tutorial video that that was a great

idea and they thought that was funny

until I started to say who would like to

take that one and I let people know who

would like to take that one and no one

really wanted to jump in and so then

finally someone said you know what I

think I could do one on my iPhone it

wouldn't be the best but I think it

would help people at least see that

we're trying I said perfect you know

Steve sounds like a great idea can I

count on you to give that a shot it

seems like absolutely so I got Steve in

three weeks saying he will have a first

draft of a tutorial video look what just

happened there we have now mitigated

this risk we have assignments out there

and then as a leader here's the best

part

if you end with that verbal yes the

first step in accountability I can five

days later be walking around and have no

idea what I had people clothes on with

their verbal yes and I can just go hey

Sammy I remember our conversation what

did I have you working on last time what

were you committed to and if Sammy says

I have no idea that's not a very good

sign that she was truly all in to get me

a pilot group set up but if Sammy goes

hey you know what I was supposed to work

on a pilot group and it's not going so

well

well what else have you tried what

obstacles have you ran into I can coach

on that final commitment there and so

that is the power of the negative

brainstorm and what would I do next not

let people off the hook I'll say here we

go we're gonna go on to the next one and

we're gonna look at these hardware

issues and we'd go through those and

assign out some tasks whether it's to

look at other vendors whether it's to

look at who do we got to bring in for IT

support I would do the same thing all

the way through and what starts to

happen is you start to see the whole

group jump in and talk about how we

could and we start to narrow down how

hard this is truly going to be because

if we

put it on paper in the form of a tool

and I don't facilitate that guess where

it stays here in everyone's head and

they're out there to kind of roam in the

workplace with all this drama there and

so that's the power of the negative

brainstorm tool I want you guys to know

there's no way to really screw this up

because no matter what it really exposes

people's level of willingness and as

long as you just get it on paper it's

gonna get us closer to talking about how

we could instead of focusing on why we

can't and so give it a shot I believe in

you guys lastly if you guys liked this

tool or want some more tools follow me

on social media at Alex M door and reach

out I can get you guys some great

information and answer any of your

questions and you got this there's no

way to screw it up you get Mulligan's

you you will screw this up but only

daily I do as well get out there have

some courage and start facilitating some

of these tools I promise it'll change

your leadership and your life and let's

keep ditching the drama