You Need a Good Bad Idea

I love a good bad idea…don’t you?

The truth is, in a healthy organization, there really are no bad ideas. At least not in the organizational sense.

Here’s what I mean…

If you have someone on your team who is coming up with ideas, who is trying to do their best for the organization, who understands and buys into your vision…then every idea he or she has, holds the potential to be a good idea.

Even the so-called “bad idea” usually triggers another better idea, which often leads to the best idea.

• It spurs dialogue
• It launches a discussion
• It generates thoughtful momentum

Sometimes the best ideas start because someone offered what others at first thought was a bad idea.

A Culture of Ideas

Effective brainstorming often involves a lot of bad ideas that help shape the best ideas.

A valuable part of healthy team-building is creating a culture where all ideas can come to the table, no idea is dismissed, and there is a freedom to critique, scrap, and improve ideas.

If you start labeling bad ideas, you shut down team member’s willingness to share more ideas.

Great leaders learn to welcome all ideas…bad ones and good ones. They know this encourages idea-generation, and that ideas are a lifeline of a growing, healthy organization.

Perhaps the bad idea you’ve been tempted to dismiss is an open door to your next masterpiece idea.

Does your organization welcome bad ideas?  When have you seen one bad idea stir a discussion that led to a good idea?

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Ron Edmondson is Co-Pastor at Grace Community Church
He specializes in Communication, Strategy, Org Behavior, Mgmt and Marketing
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Edited by Mike Weppler

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