The first thing we learn in our family and/or pre-school is how to share our toys. And yet, as adults, we still often struggle with this concept of sharing. Nowhere is this more evident than in teams where the need to share resources is so critical to success. For most mature teams, sharing the tangible resources such as people, materials and equipment is not the big challenge. Often it is the intangible resources like ideas, innovation, encouragement and enthusiasm that we withhold, generally without intention or malice.

This is part 3 of a 6 series post that will be featured for the next 3 Mondays to follow. This series is broken down in our "Coaching Performance Management Roadmap"

A couple of years ago UPS launched this ad, which depicts two executives pitching their solution to a problem to a prospective client. After careful review, the client says “Great. Do it.” The presenters look at each other in wonderment before responding, “Sir, we don’t actually do what we propose. We just propose it.” It turns out they only identified problems but had no concept of executing on solutions. Could this be you? Are you guilty of an ivory tower mindset of strategist and planner while relying on others to execute?

When you hear the word “innovation” what do you think of? The mad professor, the genius inventor, or the creative department where everyone wears flip flops, eats bean sprouts and colors their hair in various shades of neon?

We live in a world of automatic fixes. If your computer is acting up, call up your anti-virus software, push a button and run a scan. Or if your car is experiencing troubles, take it to the dealer. They will plug it into their computer, get a read out and tell you what the problem is.

“Honest Ed” Mirvish was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist and theatrical impresario who lived in Toronto, Ontario. He is known for his flagship business, Honest Ed's, a landmark discount store in downtown Toronto, and as a patron of the arts, instrumental in revitalizing the theatre scene in Toronto. Ed was one of Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs.  And yet, he was once quoted as saying “I never had a plan for anything I did, just a feeling.” Mark Burnett, producer of a number of reality TV series including “Survivor”, subscribed to the same belief. He articulates this in his 2005 book called “Jump in Even if You Don’t Know How to Swim.”