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Sharing is Caring – So Share Your Idea!

One of the biggest mistakes we make in life is convincing ourselves that our ideas are unique and ours alone. We rationalize keeping our ideas to ourselves because we are afraid that others will steal them, or worst—we believe our ideas aren’t good enough. Our ideas are precious, but they aren’t tha

Phil McKinney
Phil McKinney
1 min read
graphic of sharing ideas and why teams are important
Share Ideas

One of the biggest mistakes we make in life is convincing ourselves that our ideas are unique and ours alone. We rationalize keeping our ideas to ourselves because we are afraid that others will steal them, or worst—we believe our ideas aren't good enough.

Our ideas are precious, but they aren't that unique nor that precious. I am amazed at how many people have the same or similar ideas and believe that everyone else is copying their work. Over my career, I’ve seen very few times where someone stole an idea. Don’t let that fear hold you back.

While ideas are the catalyst for innovation, remember that ideas are not innovations. Innovation requires a team to take action on an idea for it to become an innovation.

If your brainchild has merit, you need others to help shape it into something bigger than what you could do by yourself. So go ahead and share your idea.

Sharing your ideas is like giving birth. It's scary and vulnerable in the beginning, but once it's out there, people can and will help nurture and grow it. And just like with a child, the more people who are involved in raising an idea, the better it becomes. So go ahead and share your idea – there's no reason to keep it to yourself.

And most important of all: If you don't birth your ideas by sharing, they'll never come to life. What's the point of having them at all if they're just going to stay in your head?

Be different. Share.

Once you start sharing your ideas, the more ideas you will have. The supply is never-ending!

Ideas are like rabbits. You get one, and you want two. Then you get three, and you're running around trying to protect them.

John Steinbeck

A normal post is ~1,000 words. Anything less than 300 words is what I call a “micro post” (or some would call a “Flash Post”) — a quick encouragement/thought. 

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Phil McKinney Twitter

Phil McKinney is an innovator, podcaster, author, and speaker. He is the retired CTO of HP. Phil's book, Beyond The Obvious, shares his expertise and lessons learned on innovation and creativity.

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