Here is not a bad article from HBR about “unleashing overlooked talent,” and I’ll just direct you to the part that matters before we get into this more deeply:
Leaders everywhere are desperate for new insights, new products, new sources of energy and creativity. One way to find those things is to embrace new ideas about who gets to contribute and how, whether they are inside or outside the organization. The talents and passions of your colleagues and customers are too valuable to waste.
I think all that is largely true and I don’t think many people would disagree with it. Right? OK. Let’s move on.
Here is the “cool anecdote” section of the article, which all business journalism needs to have. The problem with “cool anecdotes” is that oftentimes it allows executives to dismiss an idea or concept by simply saying, “Well, that’s not my vertical.” Sad, but true. Anyway, this is cool:
Now, try to imagine an executive in a company doing that. He would probably set himself on fire before he let security guards do anything except the $14.55/hour he was paying them to do, i.e. “Don’t let anyone seemingly random inside our fortress here.”
