Warning: Genius at Work
When you think of geniuses, you’re likely to come up with such names as Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, and Spider-Man.
Hang on – the webbed wonder may be many things, but a genius?
Well, yes, according to Dr. Alan S. Gregerman, author of the newly-published book "Surrounded By Geniuses: Unlocking the Brilliance in Yourself, Your Colleagues and Your Organization" (SourceBooks, Inc.). As indicated by the title, Gregerman’s approach is that “We all have the potential to be geniuses in ways that matter to ourselves and those we serve.”
No theorizing about relativity, inventing the lightbulb, or producing overbaked Tom Hanks movies required, then; the key is looking for inspiration in new and unlikely places – including fictional comic-book heroes.
“Spider-Man’s greatest gift was his ability to detect danger before it happens,” he told me, “but he has a big city that’s filled with more danger.” Gregerman makes the point that Spidey can teach us all lessons in how to anticipate customers’ needs and help them avoid danger, after which, he joked, “You can relax and have a pizza and a premium-quality beer. But then you need to get back at it, because the world keeps changing.”
Another unexpected area of inspiration was the Girl Scouts. With two GSA daughters, Gregerman witnessed up close how pleased and excited most potential customers around the neighborhood became when the Thin Mints and Tagalongs made their annual appearance. In the meantime, he was counseling “some very high-paid salespeople who were still finding it difficult to get their customers’ attention.” An approach for how to better create more meaningful conversations with customers was born.
Gregerman’s seemingly intuitive approach was developed over his 25-year career as a corporate consultant, which previously served him well as the author of the 2000 best-seller "Lessons from the Sandbox : Rediscovering the Keys to Business Success" (McGraw-Hill).
“We went through a period of organizations saying ‘Let’s brainstorm,’ with the notion that they could put a bunch of smart people in a room and suddenly unlock the genius within them,” Gregerman recalled. “But in a lot of cases you have people who have been with organizations for a long time, and they tend to start thinking the same way. It’s not realistic to expect them to flip a switch and start thinking in a radically different way.”
Having done a lot of volunteer work with children, “I’ve seen how kids make connections that are totally different from what adults do, because they are not wired to think the same way.” Gregerman sees his task as trying to “un-wire” adults.
“We’re all given the gift of curiosity, and it’s at absolutely full speed with kids,” he said. As we become adults, that gift often gets misplaced or subsumed. “We need to rediscover that curiosity, because it can be so enriching for your personal and business life. It’s not actually that hard.”
Gregerman recommends taking employees out of their natural work habitats and on field trips to companies that are completely unrelated to the business at hand, museums, zoos, and even movies.
“The key is to see what people do in other areas – or even other eras -- and determine if there’s something applicable to your business,” he said. “The whole world is an oyster of possibilities.”
Peter Parker himself couldn’t have put it better.
