Don't Fear the Hammer

At the NeuGroup offsite last week, I again challenged my team to think anew about why we do what we do. To get them thinking, I shared my description of our why based on a critical element of what drives me: 

 I am driven to see clarity in a sea of ideas and to find truth by hammering at the rock (the truth is what’s left).

This applies to NeuGroup directly in the sense that, as its founder, my vision is to bring together peers who will give to get and create value through knowledge exchange. The purpose of this knowledge exchange is to create clarity for action and continual improvement by hammering away at the current approach. Ultimately, this empowers people and the organizations they work with to realize their potential. 

My team asked me to put away the hammer. It may be fine to hammer at ideas, they said, but people will get hurt if we hammer on them—or what they do. 

Challenge instead?

They make a good point. Challenging people to think about what they are doing and improve is a safer form of facilitation for knowledge exchange. Safer still is to shy from the challenge. Most people are looking for validation, not true potential. Plus, we usually don't have time to find the truth and we can't always handle it when we do.

Challenging people, or ideas, is not what creates the most value, however; it is the hammer that brings out true potential. My challenge, then, to my team, our customers, indeed everyone and their organizations is don't fear the hammer. If you don't want others to hammer you, let them instead help you learn to wield the hammer yourself. Then, make time to hammer at your why and hammer at why you do what you do until you find your true potential.