Technique 6.10 Idea Killers - Judgmental Comments
If you hear statements like these listed below, the effectiveness of brainstorming is reduced. Tick which ones you hear most frequently or recently.
Statements |
Statements |
Don't be ridiculous! |
Management wouldn't go for it! |
It costs too much! |
Customers wouldn't go for it! |
That's outside our area! |
The union wouldn't go for it! |
We don't have time! |
Upstairs or head office wouldn't go for it! |
It's not our problem! |
That's their problem, not ours! |
Senior management won't agree to that! |
Let's get back to reality! |
You're ahead of your time! |
That's not practical! |
It's not in the budget! |
That's not included in our responsibility. |
Has someone else tried it? |
Pull the other one ‐ it laughs! |
It's too hard to sell! |
You should have passed on that one! |
Let's form a committee! |
Are you serious? |
That will make other things out of date! |
I've never done it before! |
You can't teach old dogs new tricks! |
Why change it?...It's working! |
Let's shelve it for the time being! |
It can't be done that way. |
That needs more market research! |
Everyone will laugh at us! |
It's a good idea in principle, but... |
We did all right without it! |
We've tried it before! |
We have never done things that way. |
It can't be done! |
Yes, but.. |
It's too big a change! |
It's impossible! |
We're too small! |
Don't be silly! |
Nobody is going to pull the wool over my eyes! |
It won't work here! |
Has it been done somewhere else? |
|
If it's that good, why hasn't someone thought of it before? |
|
It's a great idea but we are not ready for it. |
(sources: Neville Smith et al, 1990; Pervaiz Ahmed, 1998)