I think I need an official poo-flinging monkey for some of the meetings I attend. You can see it happening– someone’s face will start to go slack, a dreamy grin spreads across their features, they look around at the various peers and colleagues and start measuring things up: who will support them? Who will oppose them? Who can they sway to their side?

Yup, someone’s been bitten by the Good Idea Fairy.

You need to shut that down immediately, and the best way to do that is probably releasing a poo-flinging monkey on them. If you don’t have a poo-flinging monkey available (and let’s face it, poo-flinging monkeys are generally frowned upon in most polite society, which technically is supposed to include Staff Meetings) then you need to find a way to channel a poo-flinging monkey as a sort of spirit animal.

How do you know when it is time to unleash your in PFM? How do you know when an idea is a Good Idea Fairy idea, and not an actual good idea that might help improve things for real? Most of the time, when someone gets bitten by the Good Idea Fairy, you have to do a very quick cost-benefits analysis of the idea.

In my not-so-humble opinion, Good Idea Fairy ideas typically elevate the person who came up with the idea– it will make their life easier while others shoulder more of the burden, or they may actually take on more responsibilities, but in a way that will make them look good, while others don’t benefit much (if at all).

An actual good idea will address something that is troublesome, eliminate a redundancy, or improve the overall workspace for most of the people involved, without necessarily elevating any one person or section. Actual good ideas tend to be selfless, whereas GIF ideas then to be selfish… and worthy of a good poo-fling.

Until next time!