How to kill any good idea?

Every human being likes to think. Each and every one of us is creative. We human beings love our own ideas. You know what? That is great!

We are creative from our birth until we step into the world of money and hierarchy. In this world it is not always the best idea that wins. You may even be paid for being shut up. Common sense and thinking are often replaced by rules, policies, ways of working, standard operating procedures, approval chains, endless hierarchies and work place politics. A thinking human being becomes a dull machine – a cog if you will. It is so sad but so often the reality.

Why is that? There are tons of reasons that we are aware or we are not aware of. Many times the responsible manager is terrified to make any decisions or afraid of the outcome or does not want to take the risk or just wants to protect his or her authority or territory. These managers start to be extremely creative themselves in shooting down ideas. Here are some favorites of mine in the area of “how to kill any good idea and make you team a brainless machine”.

That will never work.

That won’t work in real life.

We tried that already.

We have never done it.

We have no budget.

It is not our policy.

It is not our core business.

Do you have the approval?

We don’t have the approval.

Did you fill in the application?

Did you follow the process?

We don’t have the authority.

Competition has it already.

Nobody will buy it.

Consumers won’t understand it.

Management won’t approve it.

This is not our way of working.

In our company thing have always been done this way.

We don’t have time.

We have other priorities.

You think you are smarter than you really are.

That is not your job.

How stupid you are?

The alternative behaviour

Without innovation your business is going to die. You need innovation. Several studies claim that majority of truly great ideas and innovations come from diverse thinking. This means exploring the areas other than your own expertise.

So what are you waiting for? Start right here and right now. Let your ideas flourish. Nurture the new idea generation and innovation in your daily life. Ask open questions. Learn, do not teach. Explore. Make mistakes. Collaborate. Improvise. Turn off your filters. The business success will follow and your life will also be more pleasurable.

Request:

You have surely even better phrases to the “Idea killer hall of fame”. Please mail me or write to a comment to the blog or facebook fan page. (The blog comments are anonymous if that is important to you!)