If a guaranteed success is required, don’t expect it to be highly innovative. Best practices and case studies will provide prescriptive solutions. Honestly, they don’t even provide guarantees. They provide examples of what worked in the past for someone else in a somewhat different situation.

What they really provide is a scapegoat. If your attempt fails, you can blame the article, the other company, the formula they provided you. If you follow someone else’s plan, you don’t synthesize it into your own idea. You never tap into your creativity. Because doing so means you’re taking ownership of potential failure. You no longer have a scapegoat.

I want to give you permission to engage your creativity. I want you to have the freedom to generate your own ideas. So let me give you a scapegoat.

Blame this post.

If your idea succeeds, then take all the credit you want. You deserve it.

But if your idea falls short, you have my permission to use me as your scapegoat. It’s not your fault. You did what I asked of you. You tried. My fault.

And by the way, the next round? It’s on me as well.