A Simple Script to Reconnect with Humans & Step Toward Innovation
Many folks are still slowly warming up to being back in the office, in the community, with people, and connecting again in-person. The past couple years have forced a level of insularity–where we’re keeping our networks small and doing a lot of nurturing at home base. It was important and necessary to direct our energies to our immediate circles.
It’s still a good idea to invest your time, energy and funding into your immediate team. And, it’s also important to reconnect with people outside your circle of comfort—especially if you still may be feeling a little stuck. *You can also check out How to Get Unstuck in Your Leadership.
Why connect with people outside of your typical group?
Because diversity of perspectives, different ideas, scenarios, situations, solutions can help shift you out of stuckness. Check out my friend Bill Stainton’s work on innovative thinking for inspiration. Bill, who produced the show Almost Live! in 1990s Seattle, used his quick thinking and out-of-the-box connections to help create the character we know today as “Bill Nye the Science Guy”. In his keynotes, Bill Stainton encourages folks to connect with people from other backgrounds, listen to their stories and solutions, ups and downs and then ask yourself: How can I apply this to my situation?
Where do you start?
You can start getting some inspiration, motivation and innovation by reaching outward. Who can you connect with? Think about people like:
A peer in another organization like yours or an organization very different from yours
A person you met on an advisory committee or task force pre-pandemic
A former colleague you enjoyed working with
A mentor from many years ago or more recently
A friend of a friend who you’ve been meaning to call
Then what?
Simply schedule a coffee date or a 30 minute reconnection phone call. Here’s your outreach email or text:
Hey. I hope you’re doing well. I’d love to reconnect if you have a little time. When could we talk next week?
Chances are, they will be happy to hear from you. You are not the only one feeling disconnected, isolated and stuck.
What if they don’t respond?
Yes, that is possible. Maybe even probable. Think about the number of emails you get each day and what you respond to! It’s easy to miss some outreach and easy to mentally deprioritize things like reconnecting. My friend Theresa French is a sales and marketing expert. In her industry, she recommends 12 emails to a potential client before you give up. 👉👉👉TWELVE! 👈👈👈Now, that’s outreach to people you *don’t* already know. So, at the very least, I think you should feel fine sending at least two or three emails to people you do know.
Put a reminder on your calendar to follow up in 7 days. If you haven’t heard back after a week, drop another line. This time, offer a specific date and time that you are available.
Hi. Hoping we can connect sometime soon. Would Friday, September 30 at 10 am ET work for you?
If you still don’t hear back after another 2 weeks, try again. Offer something more specific like:
Hey, Bob, sorry for the multiple emails. If you have a minute, I’d love to touch base. I’ve been thinking about our last conversation on xxxxxxx and wanted to get your thoughts on some new developments here. Do you have a few minutes to talk on Friday, September 30 at 10 am or is there a better time?
So then, let’s say, you still haven’t heard back. Then, let it go. No offense taken. {Seriously}
What do you talk about with people you don’t know or haven’t talked with for awhile?
Maybe you were better at this a few years ago. Enter your conversation with curiosity. Some good starter questions are:
What have you been working on?
How has that been going? How have you been navigating challenges?
What does that look like in your community?
What are you doing to stay energized in this work?
How does this help you at all?
When you reflect on your conversation, ask yourself:
What can I apply to my situation?
How can I apply this to my situation?
I’m a big fan of journaling, or at least writing down ideas as they hit me. A simple template for your note taking would be
Name of person I talked with
One idea they made me think about
How does this apply to me/my work/my situation?
If you were to have just 3 conversations a week, that’s 12 potentially new ideas, re-frames, shifts for you this month. THAT is called innovation. And this approach is WAY more fun and a better return on investment than the podcast you’re listening to or books you haven’t had time to read yet.
Right? Right. 😅
