Few phrases shut down progress faster than:
“Oh, we’ve tried that before.”
It’s a convenient shield.
- We don’t have to look at how we tried.
- We don’t have to ask why it didn’t work.
- We don’t have to consider what’s changed since then.
We just get to dismiss the idea and move on.
Innovation requires curiosity.
Curiosity requires a willingness to revisit old ideas with new information.
The next time you’re tempted to say “we’ve tried that,” try adding a one word follow-up:
“We’ve tried that…
how?”
Now you have something to explore and somewhere to go.
