I Never Would Have Thought of That

Our conversations with each other are often collaborations. Consider the situation where one person has a problem they are facing. As they describe it and you listen, ideas come. If you’re on a team, and the conversation is related to your shared work, then many ideas will arrive as you listen.

As the person is thinking out loud with you and venting or sharing the story your brain connects with theirs. Your neurons and theirs work together to generate ideas, solutions, and approaches.

If you pay attention to this phenomena, its likely that you’ll see ideas formed between the two of you that neither person would have thought of on their own. The collective knowledge, skills, and experiences of the two of you come together as you talk. You may not see it, but energy is transferring back and forth and creating something which didn’t exist before.

I experienced this in a one-on-one conversation recently and it was exhilarating. She had a problem and I offered to help. She talked quite a bit. I listened carefully; while I did so I brought my own related experiences and ideas to the forefront of my brain. Once she was done with her story, and had shared the possible solutions she wanted my input on, I threw out a completely different, but related idea. I never would have thought of the idea if I didn’t listen to hers first. Mine was “out-of-the-box”, but guess what? She loved it!

This is the true magic of a team. I just shared a one-on-one story, imagine the power of the many connections possible when you have a team of 5, 10, 100, 1000 or more! As long as there are listeners, and strong collaborative relationships, the neural power you tap into will transform the work you and your organization do in the world.