When should we ask for evidence behind new ideas?

Evidence should help teams explore and assess new ideas without making existing data or precedent the boundary of what they can imagine. The Frameworks argues that analysis remains vital for testing and rationalising creative possibilities, but should not be expected to generate those possibilities on its own. Its practice is to consider how data and technology can develop and strengthen imaginative ideas for clients, rather than treating analytical and creative work as alternatives.

For business leaders, the distinction is between using knowledge to inform a possibility and requiring that possibility to be fully supported before anyone explores it. Bring colleagues with different outlooks into the discussion, give imagination room to propose unfamiliar options, and use analysis to examine the options that emerge.

Treat experimentation as an opportunity to learn, rather than requiring certainty before colleagues can explore a new possibility. The Frameworks recommends accepting the risk of failure as part of finding ways to improve. It argues for collective imagination, rapid experimentation and working environments where people feel safe enough to share unfamiliar ideas.

A 2025 PwC survey of workers from senior management to the front line in 48 countries and regions found that 56% of workers feel it is safe to try new approaches in their workplace, while 54% of workers say their team treats failures as opportunities to learn and improve. Leaders can support exploration by inviting colleagues to discuss what might be possible and treating unsuccessful experiments as occasions for learning, rather than reasons to stop proposing ideas.