We all have bad ideas that we know are bad ideas. They’re often the byproduct of trying to come up with good ideas, so we normally keep silent about the bad and share the good.
But imagine you’re faced with a complicated problem with no obvious answer. This may be a time to voice a bad solution that has no chance of working.
By taking this step, you have:
- Given others a starting point to come up with better ideas
- Broken the ice by going first and made it easier for others to contribute
- Perhaps generated some momentum when there was possibly none before
Because you don’t want the responses to devolve into mockery and non-useful tangents, you’ll probably want to announce that you know it’s a bad solution before sharing the details. It’s also helpful if you explain your thought process so that others can make the right connections.
I’ve seen this process work at my day job, but the best example I’ve seen is Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) on his blog.