---
title: The Third Day of Life-Changing Gifts - Giving the Okay to Challenge Thinking
description: The Third Day of Life-Changing Gifts - Giving the Okay to Challenge Thinking
image: https://www.brainzooming.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Idea-Magnets2-May-25-2022-02-03-18-53-PM.jpg
---

# The Third Day of Life-Changing Gifts - Giving the Okay to Challenge Thinking

[Strategy](https://www.brainzooming.com/blog/tag/strategy), [Creativity](https://www.brainzooming.com/blog/tag/creativity), [Performance](https://www.brainzooming.com/blog/tag/performance), [Communication](https://www.brainzooming.com/blog/tag/communication), [Innovation](https://www.brainzooming.com/blog/tag/innovation)

Early in his tenure, **our CEO shared his ten business principles**. I don’t remember nine of them, but **one stood out** for of its simplicity, matter-of-factness, and wide applicability:** “Don’t do anything stupid.”**

I've used this admonition numerous times when attempting to slow (and ideally thwart) ill-founded ideas others felt really strongly about pursuing. When you can invoke the CEO's own words, it provides a lot more credibility in challenging dumb stuff and trying to do the right things for the business.

The approach's success oriented me toward the** tremendous leadership benefits of sharing what really matters in easy-to-understand words**. If you can get **your message distilled in a simple, clear way**, it **frees up team members to use their own perspectives and innovative spirits in beneficial ways** a leader could never anticipate. I've written several times about my own struggle for simplicity and have tried to take this learning to heart.

As an example, I was leading a motor sports program in what was then called the Busch Series. It's considered to be a second-tier series in NASCAR behind the "Cup" series, where everything costs 3 to 5 times more to sponsor. Our challenge was creating a program with a top tier Cup sponsorship's impact with a relatively small investment. This potential dilemma was at the heart of our internal program strategy: "We're doing a Cup level program with a Busch Series budget." With that direction, the team understood our constraints and was freed to be more creative and challenging in how we attacked our goals.

Think about **what simple strategic guidelines you can share with your team **to help them be more effective in carrying out the most important activities.* *

**Note:** This is [one of a series ](https://www.brainzooming.com/?s=%22Life-Changing+Gifts%22)of posts on life-changing gifts. - [*Mike Brown*](http://www.twitter.com/brainzooming)*  
*<http://hub.tm/?ZOUDO>

## You Might Also Like:

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#### [The First Day of Life-Changing Gifts - Helping Another Recognize Their Talents](https://www.brainzooming.com/blog/the-first-day-of-life-changing-gifts-helping-another-recognize-their-talents)

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#### [The Fifth Day of Life-Changing Gifts - Creating Ridiculous Growth Opportunities](https://www.brainzooming.com/blog/the-fifth-day-of-life-changing-gifts-creating-ridiculous-growth-opportunities)

[![The Eleventh Day of Life-Changing Gifts - Maintaining the Higher Moral Ground](https://www.brainzooming.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/091212-HigherMoralGround1-3.jpg?width=415&height=456&name=091212-HigherMoralGround1-3.jpg) ](https://www.brainzooming.com/blog/the-eleventh-day-of-life-changing-gifts-maintaining-the-higher-moral-ground)

#### [The Eleventh Day of Life-Changing Gifts - Maintaining the Higher Moral Ground](https://www.brainzooming.com/blog/the-eleventh-day-of-life-changing-gifts-maintaining-the-higher-moral-ground)

Date published: 12/04/09

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