Barrier:
Tone will Make or Break an Innovative Venture

By Ellen Weber - Director at MITA International Brain Center

September 16, 2010 at 1:25pm

Moonshots

Focus the work of management on a higher purpose

Summary

While keen tone skills offer more opportunities to collaborate - as we draw from people's excellent ideas and insights in any discussion - innovation loses when tone is lost. Tone here - includes words spoken, images created, spaces to disagree with humility, communication engaged, goodwill generated, questions posed with curiosity rather than bias in mind, and respect evidenced for opposing views that emerge. Good tone requires a learned and highly developed skill. It rarely sees in black or white only, but looks to change self rather than blame others. Poor tone, demands that others agree with one view, and subtly or openly diminishes those who differ.

Could tone become the top new smart skill that ensures an innovative future? One where genius talents can rise to the surface as diverse tools forward together!

Description

Given innovation’s need for conversation within highly gifted groups, a new question arises. How can good tone help to prevent personal attacks that literally shut down innovative operations in the brain and in business?

It’s easier to teach brain-compatible tone, than for leaders to model it in tough situations. Innovative executives I have known, though, possess an unusual awareness of how one can help folks disagree, build goodwill, and learn from opposing views on any topic – as all look to research, and as people collaborate to implement brain compatible communication skills together.

Have you seen it happen in the MIX?

Few would disagree that an organization that disagrees well, is often one that prospers and you can trace tone problems to the root of many organizational failures. Einstein put it this way … “Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions."

It doesn’t need to be that way, and I am keenly interested in how to implement tone so that opposing views can emerge because all participants can speak and feel heard, without barriers from poor tone.

Illustration

That barrier lead me to develop tips for tone skills to help leaders disagree at http://www.brainleadersandlearners.com/mita-question/merger-mita-question/a-brain-on-disagreement/. The tone skills we use were developed among many cultures in which we work. In contrast, we all still meet those subtle barbs from a few folks who may lack tools to disagree, or who lack skill to show respect for all who engage diverse angles.

Tone takes different shapes in different settings, and yet its facilitation can lead to growth in most discussions With Online life increasing, for instance – online tone is more critical than ever too. Survey tone skills at http://www.brainleadersandlearners.com/mita-question/what-do-your-tone-skills-say/ to see areas involved at work.

Rarely easy at first, tone, in successful circles, allows people to disagree openly, and yet learn from others at the same time. Good tone enables people to show opposite angles of an issue with respect for all speakers, regardless of their views.

Root Causes

In talented circles, differences among people can segue each participant into a broader vision for an innovative workplace.Unforunately though, communication breakdowns too often stop that growth from happening in some groups. So differences rarely emerge as learning tools to advance the group.

The result? People fail to draw upon multiple talents for innovative solutions often needed in these tough times.

Instead, folks shut down intelligent voices, through lack of good tone tactics, and in so doing they also truncate brainpower that innovative communities desperately crave.

As we all help to rebuild very broken systems, we also face tone problems in today’s western cultures, where people battle other people rather than learn skills to pull the innovation train along together for shared dividends.

Solution

The Solution?:

Tone is a top new smart skill that ensures an innovative future where genius talents can rise to the surface as tools forward! Luckily we can overcome our brain’s default for ruts that foster poor tone as evidenced in many conflicts – to create instead - tone for an innovative world order forward.

Here are a few tools proposed as discussion points, for disagreeing in ways that build goodwill.

Most agree it’s a daily choice though to use tone Solutions for tonic or toxins in tough times. http://www.brainleadersandlearners.com/tone/tone-disagrees-without-toxins/

Those who tend to avoid disagreement or run from conflict, rather than express their insights with confidence and courage, may enjoy tone tools MITA implements in groups it facilitates:

1. Affirm another person’s thoughts before sharing your views on the other side - to show that you really heard, sorted, and valued them. (notice I did not say agree with them)

2. Thank people for different ideas presented and show how you’ve tried or considered them further. Toss your own ideas into the ring to show and explain differences you see.

3. Share personal experiences respectfully as another angle to think about together – rather than as a need to replace the original ideas that were presented. Remember you are looking to stir and learn from diverse sides of the issue.

4. Ask two footed questions, rather than offer your own opinion too quickly. For instance… Have you thought about…? What if…? Could another possibility be …?

5. Add unique ideas to the mix – to inspire with confidence – more as part of a good discussion – than a need to top the original points. Make sure you support your best ideas with concrete examples to help people see possibilities presented.

6. Avoid meta messages – that suggest for instance, I regret that your ideas stink! That message masks poor tone and would be better stated, by a sincere, question such as: Have you considered…? Or ask a person to elaborate and suggest ways you are considering the ideas. Better still learn from the ideas by trying them out, and then share the results as a way of tweaking how you roll out the person’s ideas so they obtain better results.

7. Welcome opposing views so that people can trust they will not get attacked when they use good tone to offer opposing views for consideration.

8. Support others by cheerleading more than criticizing what does work well, more than attacking parts you disagree with in any exchange. If you have developed ruts for demanding opinions, try staying silent when you differ and offering encouragement where you agree. That practice in the opposite direction of needing to be right, allows for tone that engages many views without attacking people who differ.

9. Collaborate with different people, in ways that bring in different beliefs, backgrounds, genders, and ages. Use a tone that offers inclusion for differences, rather than one that prioritizes top voices that agree with yours.

10 Facilitate goodwill among those who differ, by adding ideas of value from both sides of people on opposite poles of controversial issues. Think of it as the skill that would help political leaders to focus more on shared ideas that build a finer future together, than wasted energy given to fight one another – in order to come out on top – while avoiding the shared insights that help people they serve.

What do you think?

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September 22, 2010 at 6:34am

Dhiraj Gupta

I am left wondering whether tone is what is essential for innovation. I look at man's charge to the moon. It was set off by the scientists of Peenemunde, members of a war time facility that was possibly run with authority where tone likely played second fiddle. Next the Russians beat the Americans to put first a satellite and then Gagarin in orbit. I do not associate tone with the Russians. In fact, the Germans helping with the design were virtual prisoners. Finally, USA put a man on the moon, expressly to beat the Russians in the game. Tone may have been there but tension management may have dominated it in importance.

I believe the guiding spirit of Innovation is the Will and I do not think it is tone or rewards that create the Will. Tone only helps to conserve the creative energy at best. I say at best cause the energy needs stimulation and that may come from occassional destruction of the tone.

September 22, 2010 at 2:53pm

Ellen Weber

Thanks Dhiraj, You make some compelling points to show where tone (or respect for humans) was not considered and it in fact yielded to competition without tone. In each instance you cite here, I agree with your assessment. Thanks for the thoughtful historic look at tone! Refreshingly we are headed to a new era where the stakes are changing in several ways that open new doors for tone to win. Simply stated -- Brain science shows its relevance to increased serotonin, for finer creativity, and finer team opportunities. I covered this dynamic new approach in a post titled: Power up Brains for Consensus at http://www.brainleadersandlearners.com/general/power-up-brains-for-conse... to show it requires the new language tone skills offer. What do you think?

September 24, 2010 at 1:03pm

Stav Tapuch

See Daniel Goleman - Working with Emotional Intelligence. Tone is an important managerial skill, but there are other emotional skills of equal importance.

September 24, 2010 at 3:05pm

Ellen Weber

Many thanks Stav, yes I am aware of Goleman's works and see their value as you suggest,. MITA uses multiple intelligences, of which intrapersonal intelligence includes emotional, and tone is part of that intelligence. It's about morals, and values, and confidence, and integrity and courage. Yes, there are deeply needed - I agree:-)