Shooting down ideas is absolutely a skill, and it's essential to driving out the mountains of slop people throw out these days.

However, the essential thing to do is to make sure that you're not shooting down the person. Better still, if you can socratically get them to the point of understanding why their idea won't work, that will have them own the shoot-down, and it may lead to a better idea that addresses the actual problem set more effectively.

When you know why something won't work, get other people there, but do it without being a jerk or crushing in inventive spirit.

I've been leading advanced development and applied science teams for decades. There aren't enough hours in the week to give every idea someone brings to me a full watch-them-realize shake, but I can (and do) take the time to make sure that the next time they have an interesting idea, they still want to bring it up.

Shooting down ideas is absolutely a skill; one that every innovator needs to have for their own ideas and the ideas of their collaborators. The way I learned it was to have others shoot my ideas down, and that's the way I teach it.

I like that angle a lot, and this very thoughtful comment. Distinguishing between the idea and the person is a good way to think about it. I think sometimes people cross that line without realizing it. Your point about making sure people still want to bring ideas next time is really what it comes down to.