One of the most fantastic definitions I’ve ever heard comes from an anonymous seventh grader in Ohio. A friend of her teacher snapped a picture of her post-it, which reads, “Creativity is doing more than the first thing that comes to your mind.”

I was reminded of this while talking with one of the most creative people I know, Whitney Burks. She says, “Don’t go with the first thing that comes to mind. Push it to the side. The early idea is a cop out, the easiest thing to do. The truly great ideas are the ones that come after that.”

There’s empirical evidence for that. It’s a sad irony that not expecting better ideas to come along is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s as if we dry up the well by assuming it’s dry! Instead of assuming that the best ideas to come quickly, innovators push themselves to think of more ideas (quantity drives quality!) and to contemplate problems for longer than their peers find tolerable.

Further complicating things is the fact that we often overlook our most promising ideas. One of the best ways to determine which idea is best is to do an “A/B Test.” But an A/B test requires a B! The simple act of considering, “What are other ways of accomplishing our goal,” is often a transformative act that leads to better outcomes.

One of the most helpful things a leader can ask a team trying to innovate is, “What else are we trying?” Not from hostility, or in a condescending manner, but as a humble acknowledgment that the odds of success with early-stage innovation are exceptionally low. Why not stack the deck a bit?

Related: Expect Good Ideas to Come Late
Related: Delay Decisions
Related: Have Lots of Ideas
Related: Consider the Odds

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