集思广益

Pronunciation: jí sī guǎng yì Literal meaning: Gather thoughts wide benefit

Origin & Usage

Zhuge Liang wrote to his staff that the purpose of a joint office was 集众思，广忠益, to gather the many thoughts and broaden the loyal benefit; the four-character form condenses it to gathering (集) ideas (思) in order to broaden (广) the advantage (益). Coming from a chancellor who could simply have issued orders, it is an argument for dissent as a practical resource rather than as a courtesy owed to subordinates. It belongs before a decision rather than after one, and carries the implication that the decision came out better for having been argued with.

Examples

English: "The team brainstormed together to find innovative solutions"

Chinese: 团队集思广益找到创新解决方案