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Sniper Trap

March 21, 2001

"They're out there...they lie in ambush and soon as you present your well-honed idea, they attack.  They're ruthless...'Ha, we tried that last year.' 'Yes, but...' 'Where do you expect to get the money?' 'Do you think manufacturing will ever go for such an idea?'  They are the 'snipers' who sit in the dark clutching their guns- guns loaded with their very strange and very secretive thoughts as ammunition...'How come my group didn't think of that?' 'That's a feather in their cap, not mine.' 'This could make me look bad.'

That's not all.  Sniper shots can come from other unexpected sources: traffic jams, snow storms, a missed phone call, and a host of other obstacles can send your best intentions into a tailspin.  Your job at this stage is to anticipate and intercept or re-direct as many of those potential bullets as you can.  It can be a real challenge, so you'll have to bring your best talent to it.

A Spiper-Trap is designed to provide a plan of action, if something or someone gets in your way.  If this happens, you have one of three courses of actions.

* First, you can abandon the plan altogether.  That's a dandy action if there was not much value in the idea to begin with.  You should know this well before you reach this stage.
* Second, have a preventative plan in your pocket that you can pull out and execute if things start to come unraveled.
* Third is to have a contingency plan that will allow you to come in through another door to accomplish an acceptable (though not necessarily the best) solution (Hurt, 1999, p.111)."

Reference: Hurt, F. (1999).  Rousing creativity: think new now!  Menlo Park, CA: Crisp Publications.

Do you have a sniper trap?

Rousing Creativity is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center.  A complete listing of all the Leadership Center's resources is available on our website leadershipcenter.osu.edu

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Created: 2009-01-02, Updated: 2009-01-15