“There are no bad ideas.”
As a strategic planning facilitator, I say something similar to this at every brainstorming session. Every facilitator does—even though we all know that there are in fact bad ideas. But that label “bad idea” is a misnomer. For example, an idea may not be “bad” per se, just not right for the problem at hand. They can also be critical to the brainstorming process, because “bad ideas” do two very important things: 1) they create a gateway for more ideas, and 2) they spur others to think up better iterations of that idea, potentially transforming it into a good one. Let’s examine both of those concepts.
Bad ideas can make more ideas flow, especially if they come out early. A bad facilitator can really stifle creativity by editing or criticizing ideas—that’s why we say there are no bad ones. Suppose you have an idea, but you’re not sure about it. You think it might have merit, but there is an equal possibility of subjecting yourself to overt (or covert) ridicule should you offer it up. But, magically, someone else throws out an idea, and you immediately realize theirs is much worse than yours (who knows if it really is—all of this is in your head).
Then someone else shares an idea, then another, and another. The ideas are flowing, and now that there is a frenzy of ideas, you fearlessly offer up yours. The fact that everyone is free to offer up ideas, bad or otherwise, without recrimination or judgment, makes the brainstorming environment a free-for-all. As long as someone is capturing all of the ideas and not saying or doing anything to edit or criticize them, you can generate dozens, if not hundreds, of possibilities. And with all those ideas flying about, you are set up for the second benefit of bad ideas: the opportunity for iterations on them.
In the previous example, you had an idea but were self-critical about its value. Maybe the free flow of ideas gives you inspiration that improves the potential of your own idea, but, more than likely, for this second scenario, you’re brainstorming and have no ideas—nothing. You can’t even conjure up one bad idea. But once other ideas start flowing and you look at the ones written on the flip chart, you start deliberating on those ideas. One of them strikes you as a possibility, but you think of how you could modify the original and come up with something new—or at least different enough to earn a spot on the flip chart. It is important to never cross out anyone’s idea but just add new ones as they come. Your iteration of a previously-offered idea might then spark someone else to have a different iteration, and so on.
When we get our minds into an “open” state, we can brainstorm without self-editing. This is hard to do because we have been trained to “act like grown-ups,” and there are way too many people who delight in poo-pooing other’s ideas (I find these types of people generally have few ideas themselves). If you are in an environment like that, you may find it better to brainstorm alone, although this eliminates your ability to iterate on others’ ideas. Find the people who you are able to freely brainstorm with, and schedule time with them to think on important topics.
Studies show that it takes about 30 “bad” ideas to get one good one. If you want a dozen good ideas to choose from, then you need about 350 ideas. How many bad ideas are you generating? If you need help facilitating brainstorming, or have questions about how to generate lots of ideas, contact me at david@davidpeterson.com. And keep an open mind!