Innovation is a concept that is extremely important, but also very hard to teach. It is a word that kids hear but do not really understand what it means. When you talk to a child about innovation, an easier way for them to digest that concept is to talk about big, creative, important ideas. At its core, innovation is an out-of-the-box idea that has the potential to bring about a big change. Innovation is the type of word that can easily go over the head of a child, but ideas are something with which children are very familiar. 

A big part of innovating is brainstorming. Kids are way better at brainstorming than adults because adults have different things holding them back. While an adult might have a game- changing, crazy idea that could really shake things up at his work, he might be fearful of voicing it because of how others might react. The fear of rejection or not being good enough can keep adults from pitching the kind of zany idea that might be just what that company needs. Kids on the other hand will say the crazy idea. They might even shout it. I’m not necessarily talking about teenagers; they have already felt rejection and embarrassment, unfortunately. But most little kids have not yet experienced this and are unafraid to say whatever wild thing pops into their heads. This is a superpower. 

If you ask kids about the major problems we face in society, they will give you some dumb answers. But if you keep listening, sometimes they can surprise you with how insightful they actually are. There is something to be said about not knowing the things that limit us.  If you approach a problem with the full history of what has been attempted to solve it, you will immediately write off those things as failures. In reality, some of those things could have worked with the right people or with some minor changes. When kids approach a problem, they don’t know all of the attempted solutions or other constraints like budget or bureaucracy. They can just speak on what they think would actually work. This is a good place to start brainstorming.  If you start by acknowledging all of the past failures, you are putting yourself in a headspace to assume that the problem cannot be fixed. 

I’m not saying that we should put elementary-aged children in charge of solving our world’s biggest problems, but I am saying that we can learn from them. We brainstorm to solve problems or come up with new ideas. If we went into a brainstorming session with a positive outlook and no fear of saying what we really think, it would be way more efficient. There would be a potential to actually get things done. Right now we are too afraid of being shot down, stepping on other people’s toes, or being told our ideas aren’t realistic. We need to learn from kids that sometimes the crazy idea is the one that might just work. Elon Musk famously said, “Good ideas are crazy, until they’re not.” Think what you will about him personally, but that is a man who has pitched some crazy ideas that have paid off in a major way for him. Today is your day to tell someone your crazy idea.

-        Bria