Teams are critical to innovation, but teams get stuck. Why? The authors talk about F.U.D. – Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. (Another trilogy…we should have an entire section dedicated to trilogies.)
Fear, uncertainty and doubt are a 3-legged stool sitting with the legs up in the air. This stool is really painful. Try to avoid it.
What good nuggets can be taken from this section of the book? The author’s talk about champions “TRANSFORMING” FUD. I like that.
Fear, uncertainty and doubt are all natural reactions to real stuff – stuff like delays, changes, budget cuts, pressure, poor product performance, team shake-ups. These reactions must be reframed in order to avoid FUD. Uncertainty can be reframed as opportunity. Pressure can be reframed as motivation. Change can be reframed as, well, positive change. The authors say that innovation champions and team leaders will always reframe events for themselves and often for others in order to persevere and keep moving forward. But, I’d like to add that there is no monopoly on supporting and leading other people. When you work to help others avoid FUD, you’re a leader. It’s a boss move and you don’t have to ask permission to do it.