Rereading Getting Things Done last week, I was struck by what David Allen says about ideas. He says: “If you’re waiting to have a good idea before you have any idea, you won’t have many ideas”. When Mark talks about brainstorming with conference groups he asks: “If you have a small pile of ideas, and a big pile of ideas, which pile of ideas is most likely to have most good ideas?” Both of them are saying the same thing: in order to have a good idea you need lots of ideas.

Mark also tells groups that a manager’s role is generally to reduce: to make a decision between x and y and z, and to go forward with one. That’s why brainstorming is hard. It’s the opposite of what we normally do – it’s increasing our scope instead of reducing it.

If you ask Google how many thoughts we have a day, it gives numbers from 12,000 to 60,000. However many we have, it’s many many many more than we’re conscious of. Most of them are fleeting, because our ‘reducing habit’ dismisses them. If you want to have more ideas, start writing down your random thoughts. Don’t be instantly dismissive. Follow the rabbit for a few more thoughts and see if a good idea turns up.