write the dangerous memo. share it.
You have an idea about how things could go better around here. It’s like a mosquito that hovers around your brain. You swat it away even when it isn’t biting you; it somehow floats back.
The thing you could improve is not really your job. It’s not in your lane or your wheelhouse or your department or your silo. Maybe you haven’t built a relationship of deep trust with the person who is responsible for this thing. Maybe the person who is responsible for this thing is one or two or three layers above you in the org chart.
You have two paths:
You can sit on your idea and let it sour.
You can share your idea and see what happens next.
My sense is, if you’re the kind of person who has mosquito ideas, you’re the kind of person who cares, who believes things can be better, who has not tumbled into a vale of jadedness and resentment.
That’s a really good kind of person to have around.
That kind of person becomes essential when they release their mosquito ideas from their own brains. When they refuse the satisfaction of being right about something (before testing it) and take the generous risk of bringing their idea to someone who can implement or improve it.
The reasons to stick to the first path and sit on the idea are usually political, defensive reasons. You’re trying to protect yourself, maybe even protect your job, and you’re trying to protect the ego of the prospective reader.
You’re scared. Hey, that fear may be altogether rational.
This leads me to a second guess I have, built upon the first one. If you’re the kind of person who has mosquito ideas about things, you feel best and go furthest in a culture that welcomes and encourages idea sharing and mostly ignores the niceties of “staying in your lane.” You’ll probably feel stifled and resentful in other kinds of cultures.
Writing the dangerous memo, the one where you present your mosquito of an idea, is a move worth making. Almost all of the potential outcomes put you and your team in a new and better place. Assuming you offer the memo with kindness and a genuine desire for feedback, you will either:
See your idea get implemented and make things better. A win for you, a win for the org.
See your idea get improved. Sometimes improvement takes the form of “not now or not in this way, for these reasons, which can inform your next idea.” Now you’re smarter. A win for you.
Get ignored or criticized for offering the idea in the first place. You’ve learned something here about the culture you’re in. It might not be for you. This knowledge, while painful, is also a win for you.
-Eric
