Do you want to express your creativity at work?
Listen in today and learn different ways you can foster creativity at work.
Brainstorming at work
Michelle asks Lindsay about her brainstorming process.
Is she methodical or does she just think of many ideas and see what sticks.
Lindsay thinks that brainstorming isn’t methodical at first.
You can put all ideas on a whiteboard and then can narrow ideas down to get a final strategy.
Today’s episode was inspired by a listener’s question.
Today’s question
Hi Lindsay,
This is the second time I am writing to you and this time I have a question on an idiom.
I remember in one of your episodes you and Michelle were giving out a few other podcasts that can help improve English and one of those is crime junkies and when I started listening to it I became a fan of that show too that really helped me to understand how native speakers normally talk so, thanks for suggestions.
So, when I was listening to one of the crime junkies episodes I heard the idiom “throwing spaghetti on the wall” and I tried to google it but came across multiple meanings of it and most of them are completely opposite to each other. so, can you please help me understand what is the actual meaning of this one or are there multiple meanings of this one ?
Huge fan of your voice Lindsay !! Keep up the good work !!! You guys are really doing a great job !!! Lot’s of love from India!!!
Thanks
Rishi
This is such a great question!
Lindsay and Michelle decided to use this question for The Business English Podcast because it is so useful for business and a very common idiom.
Business idioms
Rishi mentioned the idiom “throw spaghetti on the wall.”
You would often hear it as throwing spaghetti at or against the wall.
Both Michelle and Lindsay agree that it only has one meaning and they haven’t heard it used in a different way.
This expression means to brainstorm or think of different ideas.
The idea is if you throw spaghetti at the wall, some will fall down, but some may actually stick.
This is commonly used as a metaphor to talk about trying different things to see what works.
You can definitely use this at work too.
Multiple uses
Here are many ways you can use this expression:
- To encourage
- To show that you aren’t very serious
- To show you’re open to ideas
You can even add to the expression.
You can say: “Let’s throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.”
It’s also common to remove “spaghetti” from the expression.
You’ll hear someone say, “Let’s see what sticks”, which means to see what idea will be relevant or useful.
Examples:
- We have a meeting at lunch. I think the team just needs to throw some spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. We will figure something out.
- Ok team, let’s just shout out some ideas and see what sticks. Don’t think too much!
There are other things you can use to encourage people to share ideas or brainstorm with you.
Here are other similar expressions:
- Let’s throw a bunch of ideas out there.
- Give a few things a try
- See what works
Roleplay
Here is a quick roleplay using today’s expressions.
This will help you better understand how to use them in a conversation.
In this scenario, Lindsay is leading a meeting and Michelle is an employee.
Lindsay: Ok, so Michelle- do you have any ideas?
Michelle: Well, I have a few, but I’m not sure all of them completely are what you’re looking for.
Lindsay: I’m totally open. I’d love to give a few things a try. Let’s just throw a bunch of ideas out there.
Michelle: Ok sounds good. It’s like throwing spaghetti against the wall.
Lindsay: Yup let’s see what sticks. We’ll see what works. We just don’t want to get analysis paralysis.
Takeaway
Sharing ideas in the workplace is vital for business success.
It’s important to foster creativity and have open communication so that a good idea won’t be missed.
If you don’t create a good environment for everyone to be open to share their thoughts, you will miss out on good input from your team.
The expression ‘throwing spaghetti at the wall’ is very encouraging and allows everyone to share what they think and contribute to a brainstorming session.
Do you have a similar expression in your country to foster creativity in your workplace?
We’d love to hear what it is in the comments below.
