Six guaranteed ways to kill a great idea.

‘It won’t work.’

‘It won’t work.’

A quick dismissal that hides a lot of internal agendas.

It’s a power thing – it’s really saying, ‘I know better than you.’

But, if you really have doubts about an idea, the creative answer should not be; ‘It won’t work,’

but, ‘How can we make it work?’

‘We’ve tried it before.’

‘We’ve tried it before.’

Who is the ‘we’? We’ve all seen one person struggle with a task

while another succeeds in minutes. All ideas have their time.

The world is dynamic and changing. What was not right yesterday, last week or last year may

find its time has come.

‘Our competitors tried that.’

‘Our competitors tried that.’

But your competitors are not you. Take a look at what they did. It’s far easier to see what somebody else did badly and where

they missed opportunities. You want to be leaders not followers, don’t you?

‘It’s not your job.’

‘It’s not your job.’

This assumes that ideas are only the preserve of a special group of people.

It is a huge waste of resource and actively discourages people from putting forward ideas.

‘It’s not for us.’

‘It’s not for us.’

This says, ’We have a way of doing things here.’ It means we think change is a dangerous thing. Too much ‘group think’ discourages ideas as it

turns people who think differently into outsiders. Diverse styles and ways of thinking

stimulate new ideas and a truly creative environment.

‘Ha, ha, ha.’

‘Ha, ha, ha.’

Humour is a wonderful thing, but laughing at a new idea or suggestion not only kills that one

idea but discourages anybody from sticking their head above the parapet.

This is a deadly creativity killer. Nobody wants to be laughed at.

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