Murder your first born ideas

Discard your first ideas when making, problem solving, or decision making. Clichés, tropes, and stereotypes are your brain’s first drafts. When ideas come easy it means they’re too obvious. For most problems, first thought is not always best thought.

The core principle of ideation is fluency: More is better. The riches are in the ditches and for those you need to dig. No stopping, no judgment, no backspacing yourself.

Here’s an old copywriter’s method. Need a headline? Sit down and write one hundred of them. Clean ones. No gibberish. Imagine that any of them could make it to print.

The first dozen come easily. By thirty-seven it’s a slog. There will be a dozen whose extrusion is so painful you won’t remember writing them.

Fluency trumps instinct because forces you to think , which is generally preferred. Like a burrito, your brain takes a minute to warm up. Plus, you get some material to work with. Ideation is taking raw dough and yes-anding it until it puffs up into something new.

In warfare, sports, and sitcoms, your adversaries are always anticipating your next move. They will be ready for the obvious. Dare to go where unwilling minds won’t.