Audit Yourself for Idea-Killing, Daily

“What am I going to do today to kill new ideas?”

I’ve come back to this idea repeatedly in my work because the mindset behind innovation usually changes before the results do. What people notice, question, challenge, and act on determines how ready they are for what comes next.

It is an intentionally uncomfortable question because idea-killing is usually accidental.

Leaders do it when they interrupt too quickly, demand a business case too early, make a joke at the wrong moment, or ask for certainty before exploration has even begun. Over time, teams learn the pattern. They stop bringing half-formed ideas because they know what will happen to them.

That is how a leader can sincerely ask for innovation while training everyone around them not to innovate.

The most important innovation audit may be the one you run on your own behaviour.

So what does that mean in practice? It means challenging the assumption, habit, or hesitation that is keeping you anchored to the present. Here are three places to start.