Returning from Toronto a week or so ago, I was watching the new documentary about the Rolling Stones recording Exile on Main Street. One of the most interesting moments was listening to the recording engineer, who spoke of how he would sit for hours, as the musicians would play around and riff on various ideas, and then he’d notice Keith Richards look directly at Charlie Watts on drums, and then Bill Wyman would move his base ot a particular angle, and that was ‘the moment’, the engineer would reach over and press the “record” button; something was brewing.

I’m curious about how do we spot good ideas? I think that the recording engineer offers a good insight, there is something physical that occurs when you and I see/hear a good idea, and a crucial competence for leaders is to spot those moments. Here are things to watch for in your team to help you spot a good idea:

1. There will be a shift in the physical responses of people. The late Canadian boradcasting and cable entrepreneur Ted Rogers spoke of watching the heads of the engineers, if a critial mass of engineers were nodding their heads, he would buy in. Watch too for people moving from leaning back in their chairs, hands behind their heads, and then moving forward in their chairs to speak; they’ve likely been imagining while they were leaning back.
2. There will be a shift in the volume of the conversation. Excited people will often speak more loudly and quickly. Pay attention to the volume and the speed of speech on the team.
3. Listen for action commitments; the best ideas will often have a champion, or even a few champions offering to take on various parts of the next steps in the development; they see the idea as something they want to be part of, and so offer their own commitment to the work.

If ideas don’t get these physical responses, especially if they are your ideas, they are more than likely not good ideas. Best to leave them be. If they are getting these physical responses, move them to the next step. Always remember though, even good ideas are sometimes not the best ideas. Even though Exile on Main Street was a ‘double album’ when it was released in 1972, the reissue in May of 2010 had 10 new tracks, based on recordings made at the time that didn’t make the cut. The engineer had pressed “record” at the time, but that didn’t mean the idea was destined to see the light of day. Part of our jobs as leaders is to spot the difference between a good idea and a great idea. More on that next week…