You, in your enthusiasm and wide-eyed excitement, have a “What if…” moment and explain your idea to your leader.

“What a novel idea!” comes the agnostic reply.

You know that idea is in trouble, or that you work for the wrong leader.

In his book, Seeing What Others Don’t, Gary Klein notes research that found that if an idea is novel, people automatically assume it isn’t practical or reliable. Novel ideas are associated with failures. 

Creativity was connected with uncertainty and generally, managers dislike uncertainty and unpredictability, and therefore distrust creativity. Ugh.

This “perfection trap” is debilitating to breakthrough thinking and actions. As Klein notes, encouraging insights becomes limited to “hanging inspirational posters on the walls.”

Ouch.

Disorganizers choose their leaders and organizations wisely.

This Much We Know.