Published September 2005

What can you do to get
your new ideas accepted?

Q: I am a young executive who was promoted to my current position in part because I’m regarded as an “idea person.” I do enjoy problem solving and discovering new ways to accomplish tasks and projects. But lately it seems every new proposal or idea gets shot down by older managers almost as soon as I have presented it. Is it my age and inexperience or is there something else going on which I can’t see?

A. New ideas usually mean change, and there are some who throw up defense shields whenever the status quo, especially their status quo, feels under attack. Age differences may be a factor, but since nothing can be done about it, I suggest you try new ways to get your ideas at least considered by other managers.

Since one of the most daunting business challenges is successfully presenting new ideas to a skeptical audience, I turned to Shelle Rose Charvet, a linguist and business communications consultant who coaches “idea people” to help them become change agents.

Whether selling a product or service, a major policy shift or anything you want people to be wildly enthusiastic about, how the message is delivered is the key to gaining initial acceptance or, at least, consideration, said Charvet, author of “Words That Change Minds, Mastering the Language of Influence,” (Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 1997).

She suggests avoiding a blunt, direct style — telling them what you want, why you want it and when you expect the change to take effect. That approach usually engenders resistance. Instead, clear “mental space” so that your audience can better identify with the idea you’re introducing by following four steps:

• Create your main message. Decide precisely what you want to get across and how best to articulate it. Avoid the word “change.” That scares too many people, she said. “If you’re introducing a new system or policy, for instance, stress how much you want their buy-in to improving what your organization is doing.” It’s easy for people to be against “change;” it’s hard for them to object to improving the organization, she said.
• Identify objections. Any change begets resistance. “I’m too old to learn a new technique.” “It’s a waste of time.” “We’ve always done it the old way.” “Sometimes merely acknowledging the objections before they’re stated is enough to defuse them,” she said.
• Numbers and statistics alone aren’t always persuasive in a presentation. Think of universal experiences everybody can relate to that bring others into the process. To advocate a department goal-setting process, you might say, “remember when you wanted something so badly (a bike, a date, a job) that you made it happen despite all the barriers in front of you?”
• Use language that engages your audience. Phrases like “as you well know,” “we all realize,” “in my experience,” couch your message in a friendly tone as opposed to “this is probably news to you,” “we (management) have just learned,” or “the best way to go is.” Create a dialogue by asking for audience feedback or ways others have dealt with the issue at hand.

“When presenting change,” said Charvet, “you want your approach to create a sense of curiosity rather than engender (a feeling of) annoyance.”

Business columnist Eric Zoeckler operates a marketing communications firm, The Scribe, and writes “Taming the Workplace,” which appears Mondays in The Herald. He can be contacted at 206-284-9566 or by e-mail to mrscribe@aol.com.

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