You are at a meeting to discuss ideas for implementing a new program in your department. After some discussion, you tentatively throw out an idea to the group. It is ignored.
Ten minutes later, one of your co-workers says "Hey, here's an idea ..." and restates your suggestion almost word for word.
This time, "your" idea is met with a chorus of "Great idea!" from your colleagues.
If this has ever happened to you, you are not alone.
By Tag Goulet
Dr. Sonia Herasymowich, Ph.D., a university instructor and consultant on mental diversity, says one reason ideas are sometimes not acknowledged the first time they are stated is because of differences in thinking styles.
Right-brained thinkers (most of whom are women) tend to be intuitive. They may jump to a conclusion and express it before their left-brained colleagues (most of whom are men) have arrived at the same conclusion. It is only after the discussion has logically led to the idea that it is likely to be embraced by the left-brained thinkers.
Dr. Sonia, as she is known to her clients and students, suggests that right-brained thinkers can get credit for an idea by writing it down on a flipchart or white board immediately after expressing it. While the group continues its discussion, the right-brained thinker can be working backwards, writing the steps leading up to the idea.
"At some point, the group will look up and say 'oh great, you're writing it down'," says Dr. Sonia. "At the very least you will be seen as someone who has helped the team reach its conclusion."
Whether or not your ideas are listened to may also depend on how clearly you express them.
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