Christie JungeA Plus Solutions Inc. · CEO | Profit First Professional

🧷 Prompts help employees shine #smallbusinesshacks #brainscience #smallbusinesslife

4 Jun 2024 · 1 min

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In this brief leadership tip, the speaker outlines a two‑part experiment using a paperclip to illustrate how simple, role‑based prompts dramatically increase idea generation. First, a colleague is asked to list as many uses for a paperclip as possible within a minute, yielding a modest set of ideas. Then, the same colleague receives targeted prompts—such as how a clown, a thief, or a grandmother might use the paperclip—and the number of ideas explodes. The speaker concludes that great leaders provide basic prompts or guidance, which unlocks team creativity and performance.

Chapters

Here's an experiment you can do to elevate your leadership. Grab a colleague and grab a paperclip. Give that colleague as much time as they want, but I wouldn't do more than a minute, to give you as many unique ideas on how to use a paperclip. Then in the second experiment, the same colleague, give them simple prompts. Say, give me your ideas of how a clown would use this. How would a thief use this? How would my grandmother use this? And you'll notice when given prompts, they have an explosion of ideas. Great leaders give basic prompts, basic guidance, and it elevates the team.