Help from the Trenches: Where Great Ideas are Born

Getting an idea should be like sitting down on a pin; it should make you jump up and do something.
- E. L. Simpson

In his book, Rules of Thumb, Alan M. Webber shares a story about the most unlikely place for where your best ideas come. In an illustration he references what took place at Xerox when faced with an economic downturn and were ready to lay off a bunch of tech reps.

The company knew it had too many of them because they always seemed to have time to stop and have coffee between service calls. But before the company pulled the trigger on the reps, it got in touch with JSB and asked his advice: did it make sense to lay these guys off?

JSB came back with his answer: “First, let’s hire some anthropologists.” That’s right, anthropologists, who would ride around with the reps and see what they actually do.

What did they find out? That the reps were bona fide knowledge workers. They didn’t follow the company repair manuals-they used them to prop open the doors of the trucks. Instead they invented work-arounds to the problems they found in the field, then, over coffee, they shared their best practices. They were technical innovators.

Instead of laying off the tech reps Xerox invested in communications technology so they could more easily talk to each other-and the company could capture what it heard. The result: design solutions to problems that had plagued the machines for years.

And where did the great ideas come from? They came from the guys with the dirty fingernails, working in the trenches. It is important to place value in your trench workers and what they contribute to your organization. It is from them that some of your best ideas will come. Here are three observations from the story above that will help you place proper value.

People in the trenches are knowledgeable. The tech reps used company repair manuals for door stops. They found more practical ways to solve problems. And this is the value of trench workers. Conceptual ideas born in your board room are only as good as the ability of your team in the trenches to perform them.

Hortense Canady said, “If you don’t realize there is always somebody who knows how to do something better than you, then you don’t give proper respect for others’ talents.” As you respect the talent of the people in the trenches who make you shine, you will increase your level of performance in more tangible ways. Are you asking for ideas from your people in the trenches? Some of the best ideas your company has will come from them.

People in the trenches are communicators. The stops at the coffee shops were not spent in idle conversation. The tech reps were exchanging best practice ideas that would improve the quality of their work. What a novel idea. Here is the painful truth – those closest to the front lines often know more than you do. It is when you embrace this fact and listen to them that you can become a better leader.

William Butler Yates said, “Think like wise men but communicate in the language of the people.” And this is the challenge for leaders- to listen to your people –in their language. It’s not the burden of your people to know the language and every managerial issue that is yours, but if you want to grow your company you will make it a priority to understand theirs. Are you listening to them?

People in the trenches are innovators. It was when the leaders at Xerox discovered the ideas from the techs that they solved design problems that had plagued them for years. The frustrations at Xerox were erased when the right innovators in the trenches connected with the right leadership at the top.

Innovators in any organization are invaluable. It is when you discover them among your own ranks that it can make a significant difference. Helpful ideas are within your reach when you appreciate that they can come to you from places and people you might have overlooked; people in the trenches. Meet them at Starbucks; it could be the most profitable cup of coffee you buy.

© 2011 Doug Dickerson