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. The dual-pathway model of Nijstad and colleagues explains why persistence pays off: original ideas emerge later in an ideation sequence as the accessible, obvious candidates are exhausted and the search moves into more remote territory. (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
• Diehl, M., & Stroebe, W. (1987). Productivity Loss in Brainstorming Groups: Toward the Solution of a Riddle. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53(3), 497–509.
• Nijstad, B. A., De Dreu, C. K. W., Rietzschel, E. F., & Baas, M. (2010). The dual pathway to creativity model: Creative ideation as a function of flexibility and persistence. European Review of Social Psychology, 21(1), 34–77.

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.