{"id":45,"date":"2015-03-09T23:25:23","date_gmt":"2015-03-10T05:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/?p=45"},"modified":"2015-03-09T23:25:23","modified_gmt":"2015-03-10T05:25:23","slug":"everything-i-do-doesnt-have-to-be-my-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/2015\/03\/everything-i-do-doesnt-have-to-be-my-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything I Do Doesn’t Have To Be My Idea"},"content":{"rendered":"

I want to take advantage of others’\u00a0experiences. But isn’t it phony for me to use some technique I read about in a business blog?<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, I might come across a podcast at Manager Tools<\/a>\u00a0that talks about how to give feedback. \u00a0The podcast tells me rules to follow, words to say, and how to behave. If I do this, then aren’t I a phony?<\/span><\/p>\n

Yeah, no. Maybe this concern doesn’t even make sense to you. It was a real one for me. \u00a0I’m still recovering from some of the bad stereotypes that\u00a0some software types foster.<\/p>\n

People who write software often drift to an overly-simplified world view. \u00a0We believe that good ideas win more often than not. The decision is based on merit. All you need is a fair overview and logic prevails. The failure of good ideas is often because of sneaky word bending by salesy types.<\/p>\n

Again: yeah, no. People aren’t so smart. \u00a0We often make decisions based on feelings and only then start rationalizing. Yes, even you \u00fcber-logical programmer types.<\/p>\n

It’s legitimate to worry about becoming a better people person, not just a better logician.\u00a0I understand that the people I work with are not objects to be fixed or discarded. They are people with their own motives and needs.<\/p>\n

But, back to using other people’s ideas.<\/p>\n

I read because I’m anxious to become better. \u00a0As a new manager, I can’t possibly know all the best ways to do things. \u00a0I will use systems and techniques I learn about from others.<\/p>\n

Manager Tools<\/a> is a great site because they think through a lot of issues beforehand. They explain to you their relative importance and inter-workings based on their own<\/i> experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ideas are Better Stolen than Borrowed<\/h2>\n

I always try to give credit to the source of my ideas. For example, the source of this heading (for me) was my High School German teacher, Mr. \u00a0Kerry Moore. \u00a0He told me, “Tyler, the truly great performers don’t borrow: they steal.” (Oh yeah, he was also the musical director.)<\/p>\n

I read articles. I apply my<\/em> understanding.\u00a0If I believe it then I use it. \u00a0I make it my own. I give full credit to those that gave me the idea. Then I use it as my own.<\/em><\/p>\n

As important as attribution is, over the long-term I hope to gut, rebuild, and internalize good ideas so that they are mine — much like thieves might strip down a stolen car to\u00a0sell its parts. We shouldn’t keep the ideas we find in mint condition waiting for the day that we can give them back to their “true” owners.<\/p>\n

If you see me using a tool you’ve seen elsewhere I freely admit I’m not that smart. I thank you for letting me benefit from others’\u00a0experiences.\u00a0<\/span>I plan on stealing from every good source I can find.<\/p>\n

If I believe it, I’ll use it. If I use it, I believe it. No phonies here.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I want to take advantage of others’\u00a0experiences. But isn’t it phony for me to use some technique I read about in a business blog? For example, I might come across a podcast at Manager Tools\u00a0that talks about how to give feedback. \u00a0The podcast tells me rules to follow, words to say, and how to behave.… Continue reading Everything I Do Doesn’t Have To Be My Idea<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-45","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-executive","tag-policy","wow fadeInUp","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions\/48"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}