I had the privilege of participating in a leadership roundtable with a group of scholars who shared their views on a wide variety of leadership-related topics, including innovation with Dr. Gary Oster. He made a great statement in his presentation: “The ideas to write down are those which others label as ‘stupid.’”
His point was that when engaged in creative ideation and innovation, we must force ourselves to look past the obvious and be on the lookout for ideas that, on the surface, appear unreasonable, irrelevant, and sometimes, outright stupid! Dr. Oster explained that when he leads a team through the innovation process, seldom do the best and eventual successful ideas come in the form of a neatly wrapped package with a pretty bow (my words), but rather as a concept that is outlandish and seemingly impossible to implement. He says that he doesn’t write anything down unless it appears to be a really dumb idea. It’s then that he feels he has something creative enough to work with.
So, as you lead others in looking for solutions to complex issues, be on the lookout for the stupid idea that no one thinks can work. It may be exactly what you are looking for.
Lead well.