Bad Ideas

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I serve on the board of a regional theater in Greensboro, NC called Triad Stage. The other day, we had a meeting and someone used a phrase that really got me thinking.

Ideas are like children in the attic.

The bad ones come down first.

The phrase applies to sales leaders because when we face a challenge, we often have to weed through a lot of bad ideas to get to something that works.

Isn’t that the essence of sales leadership? Finding solutions to whatever may challenge the team? And sometimes the biggest stumbling block when it comes to seeking those solutions is separating the wheat from the chaffe. The good ideas from the bad ones.

I’m not sure whether the first ideas to be introduced are always the bad ones, but I do like the proverb as a helpful rule of thumb.

So, regardless of what the proverb means, how do you know when an idea is “bad?”

  • It doesn’t solve your problem.
  • It will create more problems for you.
  • Nobody will get behind it.
  • It stands in the way of another worthwhile goal.
  • It requires steps you’re not able to take for some reason.

How about you? How do you know when an idea is a bad one?

@JebBrooks

Republished with author's permission from original post.

Jeb Brooks
Jeb Brooks is Executive Vice President of the The Brooks Group, one of the world's Top Ten Sales Training Firms as ranked by Selling Power Magazine. He is a sought-after commentator on sales and sales management issues, having appeared in numerous publications including the Wall Street Journal. Jeb authored the second edition of the book "Perfect Phrases for the Sales Call" and writes for The Brooks Group's popular Sales Blog.

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