Ridiculous or Outside the Box?

Ever heard someone call your idea about something ridiculous?

Well, that may be a good sign about the idea.

Usually, when people call something ridiculous it is not because they objectively thought about it and found it ridiculous. It is because it triggered a feeling in their body that it's ridiculous. If they had thought about it objectively, they would have pointed out why they don't believe the idea is good and/or listened to you actively to figure out why you believe the idea is useful.

But, when someone utters a statement like that, it means the idea completely shattered their first level of habituated thinking and triggered a feeling of discomfort in their body. It means the idea pierced through their current paradigms of thinking. It means the idea is fresh and has potential.

So, the next time you hear the word ridiculous about an idea you mentioned, don't immediately flinch and take that personally. Instead, re-evaluate the idea objectively to verify that it is sound, and calmly present the pros and cons of implementing it versus the status quo or other ideas presented.

After all, is the idea presented really ridiculous or is it simply outside the box?