What do the Eiffel Tower, a flashlight scavenger hunt gone rogue, and your weirdest meeting suggestion have in common? They all started out as “bad” ideas.

In this episode of Why Not: Lead Like People Matter, your hosts unpack why innovation depends on protecting early, unpolished ideas—and how leaders can stop killing them too soon.

Meet your hosts:

• Ryan Sailstad — Creator of the Caird Method, leadership expert, and NASA Solar System Ambassador with a background in wilderness leadership and public service.

• Rory Sylvia — Founder of The Ways We Work and creator of the RIDE Framework, helping teams move from leader-led to team-driven through small, smart experiments.

• Nicole Eisdorfer, PhD — Organizational strategist, behavioral researcher, and “HR philosopher” with a PhD in Organizational Development & Leadership, MBA in HR, and SPHR certification.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why “Yes, and…” is more powerful than “Yeah, but…” in leadership.

• The Clown Nightmare story: how a joke became one of the most loved programs ever run.

• Practical ways to make your team braver—and weirder—with their ideas.

📌 Mantra of the Episode.: Good ideas often start from “bad” ones.

If you’re done with leadership that prizes perfection over potential, this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen now and follow us on LinkedIn: Ryan: linkedin.com/in/ryan-sailstad Rory: linkedin.com/in/rorysylvia Nicole: linkedin.com/in/neisdorfer