More ideas, step two

Stop killing other people's ideas

Because some of the best ideas come from other people, the next thing I had to do was make them feel safe to have ideas. I hate when other people kill my ideas, so I make a concerted effort not to do it to them.

It sounds simple enough, but it can be hard to break the "yes, but" habit. This is what many of us say when we hear a new idea. We acknowledge the person with a "yes," but then we throw in that "but" followed by all the reasons it won't work.

When you start, getting more ideas is like unclogging a pipe. The more gunk you can get out of there, the easier ideas will flow. Idea killing is the gunk clogging your pipe. Get rid of it, and watch more and more ideas come through.