Ideas Need Space

There’s no shortage of ideas.

Ain’t that the truth.

I wonder, though, is there a shortage of space for our ideas?

I listened to a colleague offer up an idea.

“X might be something worth trying …” with an excited, full of possibility tone.

“But …” they continued in a constraining manner.

Constraints do play an important role in guiding our ideas. And, it is important to allow our ideas to enter the world free of constraint.

We often lay the groundwork for ideas with:

There’s no bad idea

Let’s get all of the ideas on the table

We want blue sky, big possibility thinking

Etc etc etc

And the constraints - time, money, people, expectation, beliefs, values - can create helpful, and unhelpful, walls for our ideas. We self-censor, or take into account the ‘buts’ echoed in the minds and words of others.

There are some ideas that require so much space that they don’t even feel they can exist on this planet.

And, although we may not see a pathway to get there, finding a way to let them roam free from constraint might just be the first step we take.

From there, anything might be possible, don’t you agree.

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