Phrases to Ban When Developing Ideas

The best ideas in an organizational setting often come by getting a group together and throw out random new ideas or ways of doing things. You can usually come up with better solutions if you put the right people in a room and let them throw lots of ideas on the table – or on a whiteboard – even seemingly bad ideas (at least at first).

But… there are some phrases you must ban when developing ideas.

The reality is change spurs momentum, so if you want to create some excitement around you, get a variety of people in a room, and let the ideas flow freely. If you are in a stuck or stale position – and want to see new growth – one recommendation I’d give is to organize a session of ideation.

Be intentional to be successful at ideation.

You need enough people. (If you don’t have a large church staff, invite some laypeople. In fact, inviting outside people is often a good idea even with large staffs.) You need the right people – people who will voice their own opinions but will also be positive-minded, cooperative, and supportive of other people’s thoughts.

It’s usually good to begin with some open-ended questions or problems to solve in order to spur discussion. You need plenty of time because ideas often come slowly. It needs to be a relaxed environment where people feel the freedom to get up and walk around the room, for example.

Establish some rules upfront.

This is the part we sometimes fail to do and where the process gets off track. Specifically, there are certain phrases, which you must ban in an effective meeting intended solely to generate ideas. They should be off-limits. In fact, you might even give everyone the freedom to challenge when they hear one of these.

There are probably others, but let me share some which come to my mind.