Deborah and I recently attended a classical music recital. As we were finding our seats, the orchestra members were coming on stage. After they’d settled in, each player picked up his or her instrument and started noodling around.

A multitude of notes: skills, arpeggios, and melodic lines rose from the stage like a swarm of fireflies swirling in the night sky. There was no coherence. No music. Just lots of notes.

This jumble of notes continued until just before the conductor walked onto the stage.

Tuning up and noodling was over. It was time to play the evening’s music. Every member focused on the same music. As the piece unfolded, each player added his or her part to the whole.

Is there a place in your organization for this kind of noodling around? Do you make time for brainstorming solutions, inventing alternatives, and exploring options? Because you need some chaos before the music.

When you invite everyone to throw his or her voice, ideas, opinions, and insights into the mix. This kind of conversation can be kind of a jumble. It can sound like a lot of unrelated notes. But, it’s needed if you want to generate new ideas and directions.

Some leaders have little tolerance for this noodling around.

The unstructured nature of kind of conversation makes them uneasy. If the team leader is uncomfortable with the creative chaos of brainstorming – she’ll tend to squelch this vital form of communication and push for closure or make a decision in order to relieve her discomfort.

This will teach the team to hold back – so the boss doesn’t get anxious.
Creativity drains out of such teams. It’s hard to focus on new products, designs, solutions, or processes when you’re trying to manage the boss’s anxiety.

Of course, noodling can’t continue forever.
At some point a direction needs to emerge. A decision needs to be made. And a plan needs to be developed – so everyone can play a part in bringing the vision to life.

How do you encourage noodling around in your team?
When you’re exploring ideas, as a team, are there people who dominate the conversation and others who remain silent?
How can you encourage all the voices to participate?

How comfortable are you with the creative chaos of brainstorming?

• If it makes you uncomfortable – how does this shape the way you behave, communicate, or structure your meetings?
• What are ways you can begin to encourage a bit more creative chaos?
• How can you become more comfortable with allowing ideas to generate – before making a decision?

One way is to realize that just as the members of the orchestra need time to tune and warm up their instruments – team members need time for freewheeling discussion, open dialogue, and creative brainstorming. It makes for beautiful music.

Related posts:

1. Is it consensus or conflict?
2. Don’t mistake silence for consensus
3. How to un-Zen your meetings
4. Lean into Your Discomfort