Rule #4: Encourage and Solicit Input at All Levels

I've received some very valuable information throughout my career and it wasn't shared in a conference room. It came from casual conversations in a hallway, during a field walk, over lunch, or while standing beside someone actually performing the work.

Those conversations have shaped countless decisions I've made as a supervisor, construction manager, and oversight professional. Looking back, many of the most significant improvements I've seen on projects didn't begin with a formal meeting or a management initiative.

They began with someone saying,

"Can I show you something?"

Or...

"There's probably a better way to do this."

The challenge is that those conversations don't always happen on their own.

Leaders often say they have an "open door" policy, and that's a good start, but I've learned that an open door doesn't guarantee anyone will walk through it.

• • Some people don't want to interrupt.
• • Some assume leadership is too busy.
• • Some aren't comfortable speaking up in front of others.
• • Some have shared ideas before and watched them disappear into a black hole.

Eventually, many stop trying - Not because they stopped caring, but because they stopped believing it mattered.

That's why I've never believed leadership should wait for information to arrive, they should go looking for it.

Effective leaders don't just create an environment where people can speak up, they actively seek out the people who have something valuable to say.

That requires intentional effort. It means leaving the office and walking the job site. Stopping at the work and engaging the craft, asking questions, and listening far more than talking.

Most importantly, it means asking questions because you're genuinely curious—not because you're looking for confirmation of what you already believe. I've found that's an important distinction.

There are leaders who ask questions because they already have an answer in mind and they’re actually just seeking self-validation or recognition, and then there are leaders who ask questions because they're genuinely prepared to learn something.

-And people recognize the difference almost immediately.

One builds compliance.

The other builds trust.

Another important lesson I've learned is that valuable ideas aren't distributed according to an org chart.

I've seen outstanding ideas come from project managers, and equally valuable ideas come from engineers, and I've seen first-line supervisors identify risks that no one else recognized. And some of the best ideas I've ever seen came from the craft—the people with the tools in their hands, performing the work every day.

I've also learned not to overlook the newest members of the team. Ironically, they often see things the rest of us have stopped noticing. They haven't yet become conditioned to think,

"We've always done it this way." Fresh perspectives have a way of exposing blind spots that experience sometimes overlooks.

On a successful project, every voice deserves to be heard. Not every suggestion will become a better solution, but every suggestion deserves to be understood before it's dismissed.

Throughout my career, one question has consistently produced better conversations than almost any other: "If you could change one thing to make this job safer, easier, or more efficient...what would it be?"

It's a simple question, but it communicates something important.

It tells people their experience matters, and it demonstrates that leadership isn't simply interested in directing the work, it’s interested in learning from the people performing it.

Sometimes the answers involve a minor procedural change, or about missing tools or materials.

Sometimes they uncover communication gaps between organizations, and occasionally, they identify risks that could have become significant problems if left undiscovered. But perhaps more importantly, asking the question sends a message;

It tells the organization that expertise isn't reserved for people with titles - It's earned through experience, and it’s valued. (Ref Insights Article 7 “Institutional Knowledge”).

I've observed that organizations usually know far more than their leadership realizes.

The problem isn't a lack of knowledge, it’s that the knowledge is scattered throughout hundreds of people, each seeing only one piece of the puzzle.

• • No single engineer.
• • No single superintendent.
• • No single manager.
• • No single executive sees everything.

Leadership's job isn't to become the smartest person in the room, it's to connect the knowledge that already exists throughout the organization. That's why I believe leadership is less about providing answers than creating conditions where better answers can emerge.

Regardless of the answer, something else almost always happens;

• • Trust grows.
• • People become more willing to speak openly.
• • Future conversations become easier.

Ideas begin flowing more freely because people see that their input isn't simply being collected, it's actually being considered, and when appropriate...It's being acted upon.

And that's where many organizations unintentionally miss an opportunity.

Soliciting input isn't the goal - Using that input to improve execution is.

Nothing discourages participation faster than asking for ideas that disappear into a black hole.

Likewise, nothing encourages participation more than hearing,"That's a good idea. Let's see if we can make it happen."

People notice, and once they realize their observations can influence the project, they become far more invested in its success.

I've never believed good ideas belong to management, they belong to the project, and the responsibility of leadership isn't to have all the answers, it's to create an environment where the best answers have an opportunity to emerge—regardless of who offers them.

Looking back over more than three decades in construction and complex industrial projects, I've become convinced that organizations already possess far more knowledge than they realize.

The challenge isn't finding better people - It's finding better ways to hear the people you already have.

Because the next great idea, probably isn't waiting in your inbox.

…It's waiting in the field.

For me, that's always been Rule #4: Encourage and Solicit Input at All Levels.