After 15 years of launching and leading companies in and around the creative space, I’ve learned a few things that are pretty unintuitive. For example, start-ups need less money, not more—they only go and spend it. And don’t rely on “experts”—they often only know how (or want) to do their one expert thing.

The most significant lesson I’ve learned, particularly when it comes to eliciting ideas from the brilliant minds around me, is that it often pays to be the dumbest one it the room.The good news is that leading by being stupid comes pretty naturally to me!

Have you ever been stumped by a gift idea for a partner or a friend? It’s hard to come up with something for the person who has everything. What about gardening gloves? Ridiculous, you say, they don’t even have a garden. Then a plant might be nice. How about a tomato-growing kitfor their kitchen? Perfect!

Now that we’ve figured that out, where shall we go for lunch? Burger King? No way. TheItalian sandwich bar is much better. Then how about noodles? Yum! Let’s do it.

And so it goes.

Oftentimes all that’s needed to arrive at the ideal solution is that first thought, regardless of how crazy. Few people want a Big King (or Mac) for lunch—though once the idea has been planted in our minds, it can act as an effective starting point for further exploration.

I have to be honest, pretty much everything I’ve thought of that has grown into a success started out with a crazy initial thought. In fact, you could say I’ve made a career out of being stupid. So ask me for a dumb idea the next time you see me at an IHAF event—and let’s see where it takes us!

Join Robert Berkeley and his associates from Express KCS for our upcoming webinar, “Measure to Manage: Merging Metrics with Creativity” on Thursday, December 5th. Robert promises to share only his smartest ideas during the session—in particular his three-point model for quantifying productivity and right-sizing resources. Reserve your spot today, bit.ly/IHAF_Events.