The home of the brave

The National Anthem seems to have become a lightning rod these days for controversy so I am asking anyone reading this post to please push aside any political views to the side for the moment.  The goal of this post is to simply focus on the word brave and how it relates to innovation and creativity.

It is perplexing to me that so many companies have created cultures where simply sharing an idea is something that is considered risky or that requires someone to be brave.  While this may seem odd it is, unfortunately, true.  We have millions of employees literally scared to share anything that may be considered unusual or different out of fear of being laughed at, being told their idea is dumb, or having to listen to all of the negativity that accompanies new suggestions.

The question I have for you is what would your company anthem be?  Would it be "company of the free (to share ideas) and home of the brave (to take bold action)" or, perhaps, something such as "organization of constrained and home of the scared?"  

Free and brave sounds so much better.