If you are in business, chances are at some point you will be faced with a challenge. Sometimes this challenge is so obvious that it can’t be denied, like when video rental stores were forced to adapt to online streaming. Other challenges might be presented by your company as future obstacles or opportunities. For example, how taxi or ride share services might need to account for self-driving vehicles some day. When this happens it can lead to a brainstorming process or strategy session. Depending on the leaders and co-workers on your team, this can play out in different and fascinating ways.

While there are many ways to brainstorm, the desired outcome is always the same. To come away with some great ideas or maybe even to discover a breakthrough idea. So why are some great ideas met with energetic excitement and others met with blank stares and lackluster enthusiasm? Let’s dig into why it is sometimes less important what the idea is and more important about how connected your team feels to the idea. These are just a few of my many thoughts on the matter. I’ve learned some of these lessons the hard way.

1. people support what they help create. Nobody likes to get “happened to”, which means that people don’t respond well to a brand new idea that they did not come up with, especially when they are asked to implement it. At the very least, people need to be able to walk along on the idea journey and understand very clearly where the idea came from. Team members should be allowed the opportunity to speak into the idea and adjust the idea before it moves forward.
2. You don’t always need to share a complete idea. This is related to the idea that people support what they help create. Sharing a complete idea makes it almost impossible for others to build on the idea or help shape it. It also puts the idea sharer in a position where they feel the need to defend an idea they may be passionate about. This is because sharing one complete idea can over focus on a conversation on the elements of this idea instead of remaining more open to potentially better possibilities.
3. Look to become the first fan of someone else’s idea. This will put you in a headspace that allows you to build on the ideas of others. One of my favorite things that can happen in a brainstorming process is when someone shares an idea that I had thought about but not yet verbalized. I jump on these opportunities to be a fan of this idea, even if I wasn’t the person who  shared it first. This puts you in a position where you can take the focus off yourself and help another person’s idea come to life.

This idea of sharing the creation of ideas is not just a kind and pleasant way of building ideas, it is also more effective. Here are several reasons why:

1. It helps create buy-in at the early stages of idea development. All effective decisions require confidence from the team. Confidence is a feeling that requires the belief that the decision will make the right kind of impact. Getting buy-in early will help build a team towards confidence.
2. It reveals and corrects blind spots. One person can only see the world from limited angles based on their own background, understanding and experience. Encouraging others to speak into an idea will allow it to be analyzed by multiple angles. People’s diverse perspectives can help correct these blind spots and form a more complete and effective idea.
3. It creates more energy during execution. This leads to a higher likelihood that team members will speak positively about the innovation and convince others that they will enjoy it. Even the best ideas can fail if they are not adopted by the target audience. Having a motivated team that is executing on an idea can increase the chances of successful adoption.

There is plenty more that can be said about how you can leave a brainstorming process with better ideas that are likely to succeed.. I wish you the best as you tackle today’s real challenges and anticipate tomorrow’s. These challenges are what keep things interesting. They are, as I say, “what makes the world go round.”