Do you have friends that you simply cannot motivate to decide on a place to eat?
Try this trick: recommend you eat at McDonald’s.
Most people will immediately begin to protest and throw out better recommendations in retaliation to the terrible suggestion.
Applying the McDonald’s theory (coined by Jon Bell) is a great way to get people contribute good/alternative ideas and not fall into a cycle of continuous non-decision-making.
In its essence, the theory allows people to create good ideas to combat bad ones presented to them. While applying this technique works great for having friends decide on a restaurant, it can be applied to business as well with good results.
When coming up with an idea for work, or beginning a new project, getting started and taking the first step is often one the hardest things to achieve.
So once you have the first inkling of an idea, do not hesitate about it for days, but just start sketching it out or brainstorming about the idea.
Encourage your employees/teammates to do the same in the workplace.
The next time you’re in a room discussing/brainstorming something during the early phases of a project and find that things are moving slow, just get up and write down any ideas you have in your head.
Even if the idea you begin pursuing is not very good when originally presented, it will help kick start the group into responsive action, where they will add some great or at least better ideas to the discussion. (You might want to mention at some point that you were trying the theory, so it doesn’t look like you come up with bad ideas all the time 🙂 )
You will be surprised at how well this idea works once you put it into action.