Deliberately generate bad ideas first
Start with the worst ideas you can think of — bad ideas are faster to generate and reveal hidden assumptions.
Key takeaways
- What it is: Start with the worst ideas you can think of — bad ideas are faster to generate and reveal hidden assumptions.
- Why it works: The fear of producing a bad idea is a primary inhibitor of creative output. Deliberately generating bad ideas defuses that fear by making bad ideas the explicit goal — there is nothing to protect. Paradoxically, bad ideas also surface the assumptions underlying the problem: the reasons they’re bad often illuminate what a good idea would need to do.
- Evidence: Practitioner experience / self-report; no formal study.
- Avoid: Generating bad ideas that are merely "mediocre" — genuine bad-idea generation means ideas that are actively embarrassing, expensive, or offensive. Half-heartedness defeats the purpose.
Why it works
The fear of producing a bad idea is a primary inhibitor of creative output. Deliberately generating bad ideas defuses that fear by making bad ideas the explicit goal — there is nothing to protect. Paradoxically, bad ideas also surface the assumptions underlying the problem: the reasons they’re bad often illuminate what a good idea would need to do.
How to do it
- 1Open a session by asking: "What is the worst possible solution to this problem?" Generate freely.
- 2Review the bad ideas for implicit constraints — what did you avoid and why?
- 3Use the constraints list as a prompt for the serious generation phase that follows.
What the evidence says
AnecdotalThe "bad ideas first" tactic is a practitioner heuristic used in design sprints and improv; it operationalizes psychological safety by making failure the explicit objective. Formal study is sparse but the logic maps onto well-supported findings about evaluation apprehension suppressing creative output.
Honest caveat: Practitioner consensus rather than controlled study; effects likely depend on how safely group or solo context feels.
Common mistake
Generating bad ideas that are merely "mediocre" — genuine bad-idea generation means ideas that are actively embarrassing, expensive, or offensive. Half-heartedness defeats the purpose.
IX Coach can run a "worst idea" warm-up with you before any creative task, using the revealed constraints to shape the serious session that follows.
Practice this with IX Coach →