Idea quota is an attempt to generate many ideas – quantity is king! I have first read about this method in Edward DeBono’s classic book on lateral thinking, but it is also frequently mentioned in other collections on creative thinking, for example in Michael Michalko’s Thinkertoys.

For EuroPLoP 2015 I am currently working on some new patterns for idea generation and Idea Quota is one of them. This is an excerpt of my first draft:

It is easy to come up with some ideas using Brainstorming, Idea Combination, Provocations, or any of the other techniques to find new ideas. But the ideas that come into mind at first very often are the obvious solutions or copies of existing approaches. These are hardly the ones that lead to innovation.

We are tempted to stop searching for new ideas too early. There is a tendency to be satisfied by a couple of good ideas. But the less obvious solutions are more likely to be the creative ones – ideas that have not been discovered yet. To find these ideas you have to dig deeper.

Ideas come in waves. That is we will first find what is already in our mind. Then we need some time to think about further ideas. Then, a second wave of ideas will spread out of our minds. However, the time between these two (or more) waves is often misunderstood as a signal that no more good ideas will come into our minds. If we don’t come up with more ideas we think that the range of possible solutions is exhausted. But that is not true for there is always an infinite number of possible solution forms. It is just that we need to think harder for more ideas.

Very often business meetings are under time pressure. And waiting for new ideas while one has already collected some ideas might be considered as a waste of time. The true waste of time, however, is the implementation of a weak idea.

Sometimes we need a little push to try harder. Sport trainers are very good at pushing us beyond our own perceived limits. When we look for the best ideas we also need a push to exceed our limits.

An idea can only be judged when compared to other ideas. The more alternatives you have the better your choice can be.

Therefore, set yourself an idea quota. An idea quota is the minimum number of ideas you want to find. The idea quota can be set for a Brainstorming session or you can set yourself an idea quota for every day.

Instead of waiting for the next idea to occur by accident, an idea quota forces you to generate more and more ideas, think about alternatives, recombine existing ideas etc. If there is a requirement to come up with a minimum number of ideas, it is more likely that you express every thought – even the strange or unconventional ideas. As it happens there is a good chance that the best idea is among those curious solutions. Yes, it’s true: if you write down every ridiculous idea then most of the ideas will be just that – ridiculous thoughts. But to sort out the good ones should be saved for later. Once you generated hundreds of ideas there is a better chance that one of these ideas is brilliant. In order to generate this high number of ideas you should Suspend Judgment.

Thomas Edison aimed at small inventions every ten days and for large inventions every six months. If you are a writer, you should produce texts every day – and keep the good ones. If you are a project manager, think about two process optimizations every day. If you are a software developer think about five new features every day. If you want to improve your personal life, sit down seven days a week and make a list of seven potential improvements every day.

Now, here is my challenge for you: Think about ten things in your work life that could benefit from a daily idea quota. You have five minutes.