I look forward to sharing with you how urban analytics can be a critical capability for cities to help solve urban problems through my time as a GovLoop contributing writer. Despite our best efforts, sometimes we succumb to our human tendency to react emotionally when teams respond to our guidance with frustration, skepticism, and resentment.
However, here are some food for thought for
The sake of team building. I’m not sure where the phrase “Shut up and color” came from. But I heard of a manager using this phrase when communicating with a group of his directives. The intended message was, “Shut up and do what you say. Be careful.
His manager defended himself when his
Team responded to his guidance about an upcoming change with “That doesn’t make sense” and “Why can’t we just do X, Y, or Z?” ” However, the phrase “Shut up and color” shows that they really don’t want to share ideas or look for overseas chinese in uk data alternative solutions. Essentially, it creates a paradigm shift in the relationship. Can you imagine how frustrated a professional who solves complex problems and thinks “outside the box” will become when they are relegated to coloring?
The problem with telling a group of
Smart professionals to “Shut up and color” is that they can color. They can color with the crayons provided. As a result, the likelihood of creating success stories reallife examples provide a a thoughtful and contributing work of art decreases. They will happily color the entire canvas with the few crayons provided. You know. Like the three crayons given to kids in a restaurant that come with a fold-out sheet that requires more colors than are available.
They will color like crazy and lack imagination.
These smart subordinates will color the trees blue, the clouds magenta, the grass orange, and the sun green. When asked “why”, they will quip, “Well, you told me to shut up and color. I thought if you wanted the grass to be green and the rich data clouds to be blue, then you would have told me.