Bad ideas and replacing “no” with “how”
There’s a chance someone’s idea is actually crap just as you assumed.
But if you let your ego get the best of you you’ll miss out on the beauty of one of two amazing things happening:
Realizing you might be entirely (or partially) wrong and someone might have a great point
Helping someone see and embrace your suggestions by allowing them to share their POV
Rather than immediately shut an idea idea down give people a chance to explain by asking more how questions like this:
How do you suggest we do X in order to achieve Y?
How would doing X support A, B, and C?
By asking these questions you make people feel heard and you make yourself more of a “safe space” of sorts who people can be candid with.
Even better is how getting into the habit of this helps you understand other people’s reasoning style so next time around you address potential objections before they even happen by becoming a better educator.
