It is NOT Your Idea

The biggest obstacle in brainstorming isn’t bad ideas. It’s people trying too hard to own good ones.

In my early years, I hesitated to share my thoughts. I would process them multiple times before speaking, worried about sounding stupid or being wrong. Somewhere deep down, I felt the obligation to deliver a “winning idea” to prove myself. Needless to say, it rarely worked. More often than not, someone else voiced something similar or something the room decided to move forward with.

It is an idea, not YOUR idea

Ideas don’t belong to us. They are shaped by our experiences, awareness, and circumstances. So when we’re in a group with shared experiences, it’s no surprise many ideas overlap. Owning an idea, let alone the winning idea, is a futile effort.

The larger goal is always collective progress. And often, the best solutions emerge as combinations of multiple ideas, stitched together from different minds. So don’t get married to your proposals. They don’t define your intellect; they’re just passing thoughts in motion.

There are no bad ideas forever

Even ideas that sound ridiculous have contexts where they shine. Something dismissed as “stupid” today could be brilliant tomorrow. In fact, moments of breakthrough often begin with what looks like a bad idea.

That’s why in a brainstorm, it helps to share the worst ideas first. Remove the shame, embrace volume, and you’ll be surprised by the creativity that unfolds once the pressure of perfection is gone.

Be an observer, not an owner

When you stop clinging to your ideas and instead observe them as just thoughts, you think more rationally. Feedback stops feeling like criticism and starts becoming a path to learning. This mindset liberates you from the burden of always being right.

Next time you’re facing a complex problem, try this:

• Get the right people in the room.
• Walk through the problem in detail.
• Encourage everyone to start with their worst ideas first – the initial 20–30 should sound absurd.
• Remove names from ideas. Invite the team to only argue “for that idea,” exploring where it could work.
• If one solution makes the cut, give credit to the team, not an individual.

It’s about creating the conditions where the right idea emerges, together.

What’s the worst idea you’ve ever shared that turned into something useful?