Embracing Bad Ideas

Picture this: you’re leading a meeting with your team, and you’ve asked a very important question…
What ideas do they have to tackle the latest challenge?
Crickets.
No suggestions are being made; no ideas are being thrown out, and no one is even daring to open their
mouths. Your team is afraid to speak up. Their minds aren’t blank, but they are concerned about the
fallout if they give a “bad” idea. You, my friend, need to create a culture where employees are free to
share whatever they imagine.
Fear of bad ideas is the enemy of innovation. If you want to create a team of rock-star employees who
tackle challenges with gusto and lead the industry, you must learn to embrace bad ideas.
Take a cue from Steven Tyler, lead singer of Aerosmith. Once a week, the band would get together for a
meeting called Dare to Suck. At this meeting, they would each bring an idea that was really terrible. So
terrible that they were embarrassed to even have the idea. Sure, the ideas usually were pretty awful.
But every once in a while… they’d end up with Dude Looks Like a Lady or Love in an Elevator.
Bad ideas are a jumping-off point, so grab your team and get ready to brainstorm.
The Benefits of Bad Ideas
When faced with a challenge or looking to innovate for the future, be careful not to censor yourself or
your team. There are benefits to “daring to suck,” such as:
1. Finding a diamond in the rough
Sure, most bad ideas are bad. However, what if they aren’t? You wouldn’t want to miss out on a
million-dollar idea just because it sounds terrible. What if Gary Dahl had been too afraid to share
his ideas with people? Well, he would’ve lost out on $15 million dollars, and the world would
never have known the beautiful companionship of the pet rock.
2. Creating a starting point
There’s an old adage in the writing world: “You can’t edit a blank page.” Thankfully, this adage
works no matter what industry your company is in. You need version 1 before you can bend,
tweak, and polish your way to a final product. If you never created version 1, you’re just staring
at a blank page.
The Orville Brothers didn’t wake up one day and create the commercial airplanes we fly around
in today. They failed… a lot. Their ideas didn’t pan out – until one day, they did. From there,
many others have improved upon their ideas and created a safe way (most of the time) to travel
by air.
3. Inspiring Creativity
Sure, the first idea you throw out may not be great. However, through brainstorming, working
as a team, and bouncing that bad idea around, you could solve your current challenge or create
the next best thing.

Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp were frustrated when they couldn’t find a taxi. No doubt, they
came up with different ways to locate and hail a cab before getting really creative. They thought
outside the box (or the cab, as it may be) and revolutionized transportation with Uber. Was
getting into a stranger’s car a good idea in the first place? No. Thankfully, they put procedures in
place to make it a good one.
4. Encouraging Risk-Taking
Employees must know that taking risks and thinking creatively won’t get them ridiculed, ignored
for promotions, or fired. This freedom gives them the opportunity to create breakthrough
innovations. You’ll also get a chance to see what your employees are truly capable of and who
can move up the ladder.
5. No longer take yourself so seriously
Sure, a certain amount of decorum is necessary in a professional environment. However, if your
goal is to create a rockstar team that achieves great things, everyone must stop taking
themselves so seriously! So what if you had a bad idea? So what if you put something on the
table that sounds absolutely ridiculous? Embrace bad ideas, play, creativity, and silliness. This is
the only way to achieve greatness.
Encouraging Bad Ideas
Now that you understand the benefits of bad ideas, how do you encourage your employees to share
them?
First, model it. At your next meeting, share a terrible idea of your own. Frame it that way and then
challenge your employees with improving it.
Second, schedule regular brainstorming sessions and email them earlier in the day or the week to give
them plenty of time to think and develop their own “bad” ideas.
Third, reward them. Make it fun! Create an award and give a prize to the person with the worst idea. As
employees are competing for the “Gold,” they’ll no doubt come up with some ideas or solutions that
you can use.
Conclusion
If you’re ready to turn up the volume on creativity, innovation, and fun, it’s time to embrace bad ideas.
Build a culture where employees are free to voice their ideas no matter how ridiculous they may be. If it
worked for Steven Tyler and Aerosmith, it can work for you!
To learn more about rockstar leadership, visit https://marvellessmark.com/.