I had the opportunity to brainstorm with my pastor the other day. Easter’s coming up, and because of the new building our church just moved into, an Easter egg hunt isn’t an option for the kiddos. So he was trying to figure out another option to have something fun for the kids this Easter. We sat down to brainstorm.
The first thing out of my mouth was, “A peep show!” You know, those marshmallow peeps they sell at Easter? You could do a Peep fashion show or a Peep carnival. It would be a peep show for kids!
We both had a good laugh. That was a horrible idea. But from there on, good ideas flowed. Long ago I adopted this approach to brainstorming: Start with a really bad idea.
I’ve found, the scariest part of brainstorming and ideating is the fear of rejection. “What if I propose a serious idea and everyone takes it as a joke? What if I pour my heart and soul into an idea and people reject it—and ultimately reject me?”
It sort of defeats the purpose of brainstorming if you’re filtering yourself out of fear. That’s why I think of the worst possible idea I can and lay it on the table.
After that idea, every single idea is an improvement. There’s only up from here.
And great ideas come. When you relax your standard of perfection by completely destroying it, you’ll find great ideas flow naturally.
Get rid of fear and you’ll get great ideas.