Maximize quantity of ideas before evaluating

Set an explicit quantity target — generate at least 20 ideas before reviewing any of them.

Why it works

The most creative ideas tend to appear later in a generation sequence, not earlier. Early ideas are the most accessible — the most familiar, the most expected. Quantity pressure forces the thinker beyond those accessible ideas into less familiar territory where the genuinely novel candidates live. Without a quantity target, most people stop when they have a good-enough answer, which is usually one of the early, obvious ones.

How to do it

1. State the target before starting: "I will generate 20 ideas before evaluating."
2. Keep a running list — even obviously bad ideas count; they may combine with later ideas.
3. When you feel stuck, generate deliberately implausible ideas to break the stall.
4. Only after hitting the target, evaluate the full list — and pay particular attention to the ideas generated after the first ten.

Evidence

Research on brainstorming and creative ideation consistently finds that quantity of ideas predicts the probability of generating a high-quality idea — the most original ideas tend not to be among the first generated. (observational)

The "quantity predicts quality" finding is robust in individual brainstorming; group brainstorming often produces fewer ideas than the same number of people working individually (production blocking, evaluation apprehension).

Sources

• Diehl & Stroebe (1987), productivity loss in brainstorming groups, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Common mistake

Stopping at three to five ideas because one seems good enough — which never reaches the ideas that would have emerged after the obvious ones were exhausted.