3 Innovation Decision Traps That Kill Breakthrough Ideas (And How to Avoid Them)

Every breakthrough innovation starts the same way: everyone thinks it's a terrible idea. Twitter was dismissed as "breakfast updates." Google looked "too simple." Facebook seemed limited to "just college kids."

Yet these "stupid ideas" became some of the biggest winners in tech history. After 30 years making innovation decisions at Fortune 100 companies, I've identified why smart people consistently miss breakthrough opportunities—and how to spot them before everyone else does.

Why Smart People Miss Breakthrough Ideas

The problem isn't intelligence or experience. It's that we ask the wrong questions when evaluating new innovations. We filter breakthrough ideas through frameworks designed for incremental improvements, not revolutionary changes.

Most innovation decisions fail because of three specific thinking traps that cause us to dismiss ideas with the highest potential for transformation.

The 3 Innovation Decision Traps

Trap #1: The Useless Filter

The Question That Kills Innovation: "What existing problem does this solve?"

Why It's Wrong: Breakthrough innovations don't solve existing problems—they create entirely new behaviors and meet needs people don't even know they have.

Real-World Example: Airbnb seemed insane when it launched. Staying with strangers? Seeing them in the kitchen? The "problem" it solved—expensive hotels—wasn't what made it revolutionary. It created an entirely new behavior: experiential travel that hotels couldn't provide.

The Better Question: "What new human behavior could this enable?"

Trap #2: The Simplicity Dismissal

The Question That Kills Innovation: "Where are all the features? This looks too basic."

Why It's Wrong: Simplicity isn't a lack of sophistication—it's the hardest thing to achieve. When something is designed to be insanely simple to use, that signals massive effort and thought behind the design.

Real-World Example: Google was just a white page with a search box while Yahoo crammed everything onto their homepage. Google looked unprofessional and incomplete, but it eliminated complexity everyone thought was necessary.

The Better Question: "What complexity is this eliminating?"

Trap #3: The Market Size Mistake

The Question That Kills Innovation: "How big is the addressable market? Why limit yourself so severely?"

Why It's Wrong: Breakthrough innovations don't serve existing markets—they create entirely new markets. The biggest opportunities come from ideas that seem too niche or focused.

Real-World Example: Facebook was just for college students requiring .edu email addresses. Critics said the market was too narrow. But social media users didn't exist before Facebook—the company created the entire market.

The Better Question: "What market could this create?"

The Innovation Decision Framework

When evaluating ideas that seem "stupid" or "too simple," use this three-question