The Magic of Saying Stupid Things Out Loud

"This might sound crazy, but hear me out..."

These words have become my secret weapon for innovation. Just like Phil M. Jones discusses powerful phrases that can disarm and persuade in his book "Exactly What to Say," I've found that having a set of phrases that give me permission to voice unconventional ideas has transformed my thinking process.

The most powerful thinking environments are those where people feel safe to express incomplete thoughts. These spaces are increasingly rare in our polished, presentation-focused world. We've built cultures where the appearance of intelligence is valued over the messy reality of genuine thought development.

Think about the last time you had a breakthrough idea. Did it arrive fully formed? Or did it emerge through a series of tentative, sometimes awkward attempts to articulate something that hadn't yet taken shape? For most of us, real insight develops through iteration and exploration—a process that necessarily includes expressing thoughts that, in retrospect, might seem naive or misguided.

I've learned to pay for wild and crazy thoughts with specific phrases that create space for them:

"This might sound crazy, but hear me out..." "Could that work?" "If that could work, how would we do it?"

These phrases function like magic words that temporarily suspend judgment—both from others and from myself. They create a psychological safe zone where half-formed ideas can breathe and develop.

This fear of voicing "stupid" ideas creates a massive invisible tax on innovation. When we self-censor to avoid sounding foolish, we short-circuit the very cognitive mechanisms that lead to original thinking. We trade the potential for breakthrough insights for the security of sounding competent.

I've noticed something interesting in practice: teams that produce the most innovative solutions aren't necessarily the ones with the smartest individuals, but rather those where people feel comfortable sharing incomplete thoughts. In these teams, someone can start a sentence with "I'm not sure if this makes sense, but..." and others lean in rather than tune out.

What makes these environments different is that they separate people from their ideas. A bad idea is just that—a bad idea, not evidence of a bad thinker. This distinction matters enormously. When we conflate the quality of an initial thought with the quality of the thinker, we create environments where risk-taking becomes too personally costly.

It's similar to how Phil M. Jones approaches conversation engineering—certain phrases create psychological openings that wouldn't otherwise exist. But unlike purely persuasive techniques, the goal here isn't manipulation but liberation. The right phrases don't just influence others; they free yourself from the constraints of perfectionism and self-censorship.

The most interesting thing I've observed is that effective innovation often comes from people who are comfortable appearing uncertain. Some of the best thinkers I've worked with aren't concerned with sounding brilliant in their first attempt. They're the ones willing to voice half-formed ideas, ask seemingly basic questions, and think aloud through problems. They understand that valuable thinking isn't measured by how polished your first draft is, but by how effectively you can think your way through uncertainty to get to where you're going cognitively.

This isn't about inherent intelligence—it's about approach. I've seen brilliant people struggle with innovation because they feel compelled to present only fully-formed thoughts, while others create breakthrough solutions by embracing the messy middle of the thinking process.

If you want to create environments that generate exceptional thinking—whether in teams, organizations, or even in your own mind—start by normalizing the expression of "stupid" ideas. Celebrate the courage it takes to share incomplete thoughts. Build your own arsenal of phrases that create space for unconventional thinking:

"This is just a rough idea, but..." "I'm thinking out loud here..." "What if we tried something completely different like..."

These aren't just filler phrases—they're psychological tools that reshape how both you and your listeners engage with ideas that aren't yet fully formed.

Because saying the stupid things out loud is a pivotal part of the thinking and ideating process. If you can't say something stupid without the fear of feeling stupid, then you're not there yet. You have to get rid of the fear of feeling stupid and allow yourself to truly think. And sometimes, that means having exactly the right words to create space for exactly the wrong idea—which might just turn out to be exactly right.