Never underestimate the creative abilities of the people around you. One of the reasons brainstorming works so well is because one person’s daft idea can be the next person’s genius solution. If you don’t voice the daft idea, they’ll never get the chance to convert it into something viable.
My wife and I work as a particularly effective team in this respect. I tend to make somewhat off-the-wall suggestions. Instead of rejecting them out of hand, she reins them back to create something more achievable. My suggestion might be wildly expensive, or time-consuming, or otherwise impractical. She practicalises them.
I’ll give you an example. We were lucky enough to have a stream at the bottom of our garden. The only downside was that it had banks that were too high to get decent access into it unless you were aiming for total immersion. This was a bit of a shame as the kids were still small and would enjoy paddling in the water. Instead of just putting up with this and being grateful for what we had, I wanted to improve on it. So I suggested we re-route the stream into a flat area to create a big loop where access would be easier. My wife rightly observed that this would be hugely costly, take considerable effort, and might not work because natural waterways can be unpredictable. However she thought about it, and it led her to a much better solution: why not just dig out a small section of the bank to create a little ‘beach’? Perfect. And she’d never have thought of it without me.
I’ve known a few actors in my time. And directors will tell you that it’s much easier to get a well-judged performance by reining in an actor who is going a bit over the top, than by trying to coax more from an actor who isn’t giving you enough. Touching your foot on the brake is far simpler than revving up and accelerating. So ideas that seem to be extreme or off-the-wall are often the easiest to turn into good ideas.
You must have – or find – the confidence to make suggestions even when you think other people might judge them negatively. I have a line I like to use in this situation: ‘I’ve got a stupid idea but I’m going to say it because someone might turn it into a good idea.’ This works for two reasons. First, you don’t have to worry people will judge you for having a stupid idea because you’ve already made it clear you recognise it as such. And second, instead of rejecting it out of hand (hopefully they wouldn’t but who knows), the rest of the group is likely to give reasonable consideration to whether there’s the kernel of a good idea they can build on.
Similarly make sure the people around you know that they are always allowed to air ‘stupid’ ideas without fear of censure, and make sure you listen to see if you can think them into more practical ones.
TOUCHING YOUR FOOT ON THE BRAKE IS FAR SIMPLER THAN REVVING UP AND ACCELERATING