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How to Kill Ideas

We've all run into them. Maybe we've even worked for them. Sometimes they're overt, and other times, they're more covert and afraid. But the result is the same. Idea killers are scared to death of new ideas. The idea killers, they’re everywhere. Brainstorming sessions are sabotaged as soon as the idea killer opens his mouth; enthusiastic idea-generators are continually squelched before they can even get going; and managers who don’t ever want to hear of doing something differently stop ideas dead in their tracks.

By Tony Wanless /

Idea killers | BCBusiness
One person loaded with excuses can bring an entire team’s innovative-idea flow to a halt.

We’ve all run into them. Maybe we’ve even worked for them. Sometimes they’re overt, and other times, they’re more covert and afraid. But the result is the same. Idea killers are scared to death of new ideas.

The idea killers, they’re everywhere. Brainstorming sessions are sabotaged as soon as the idea killer opens his mouth; enthusiastic idea-generators are continually squelched before they can even get going; and managers who don’t ever want to hear of doing something differently stop ideas dead in their tracks.

Some of the world’s greatest inventions, reinventions or ideas made real were criticized initially by these idea killers. But the creative spark caught on and the idea somehow survived.

Somewhere, there must be a school for them. But since we can’t find one, this list, which is probably a compendium of several that have been floating around for a decade, will have to do.

Here it is, trimmed down from a list that came courtesy of Mary Colak, of MNC Consulting in Victoria:


24 Ways to Kill Ideas

  1.     We tried that before.
  2.     It costs too much.
  3.     It can’t be done.
  4.     It’s too radical a change.
  5.     We don’t have the time.
  6.     That will make other equipment obsolete.
  7.     We’re too small/big for it.
  8.     We’ve never done it before.
  9.     Let’s get back to reality.
  10.     Why change it; it’s still working. (Or the version, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.)
  11.     We’re not ready for that.
  12.     Too hard to sell.
  13.     Top management would never go for it.
  14.     We’ll be the laughing stock.
  15.     Let’s shelve it for the time being.
  16.     Has anyone else ever tried it?
  17.     It won’t work in our industry.
  18.     That’s the way we’ve always done it.
  19.     We would also have to change the…
  20.     It’s in our future plans.
  21.     We’ll have somebody study that problem.
  22.     The customer wouldn’t accept that.
  23.     What we have is good enough.
  24.     Don’t be ridiculous.

Got any other idea killers that you’ve experience from muley managers, boring bosses or silly supervisors? Send them in.