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Dumb ideas need the most love
Idea people tend to preface brainstorms with a gleeful refrain of “there are no dumb ideas.”
But when the truly dumb idea creeps out from under the carpet – dressed in Comic Sans evening wear – eyebrows raise, and silence reigns. Dumb ideas are insidious.
In terms of net volume, I believe that I come up with some of the dumbest ideas in the agency. So perhaps I’m biased when I say that I think the dumb idea may be the most important idea of all.
But how does one address a poor, dumb little idea? Do we simply awkwardly ignore it? Or can it serve a higher purpose?
Firstly, addressing the dumb idea lets you work through it. By putting a dumb idea down, and owning it, it lets you actively evaluate it compared to the goals of the project.
By simply making and letting go, you can engage in a creative catharsis.
You never know if there is a sliver of a good idea hidden in a bad idea, either. By laying out the spread of half-baked, unloved, unfinished ideas, someone else may see something valuable in the work you’ve written off.
But finally, there’s a greater, cultural issue with the dumb idea. The dumb idea implies failure. It implies the absence of competence, of cool, and of alchemical magic that creatives cultivate. The act of evaluating dumb idea implies that we might not have the answers yet.
By squashing our dumb ideas too early, or keeping them stowed away like a horrible secret, we close ourselves off to exploration and to productive failure. But culturally, we also close ourselves off to opportunities for growth and play. If we are afraid to explore the entire spectrum of our ideas and interconnections, then we are setting up a culture of narrow perfectionism and safe ideas. And in turn, we set a dangerous expectation for ourselves and others: only perfect ideas, the first time around.
We know that great creative is an evolution, not a revolution. Part of that is starting with dumb ideas — but finishing with fantastic ones.
