Creativity Rule #4: Massive Idea Generation

Creativity needs lots of ideas. If you want to come up with something new and innovative you need to set aside a certain amount of time and just generate idea after idea. Go back to rule number three and make sure you don't pre-judge anything you are doing. Once you've let go of your usual way of thinking, come up with as many ideas as you can.



Here is a good rule of thumb. You should be looking to come up with at least 25 different ideas which are not like the others. When you're doing this, the first couple ideas are easy, the next few are a little more difficult, and the last 5 or 10 are the hardest. But these last ones are the most important because they are the ones where the really fertile ideas develop.