Embrace Your Stupid

"I know this is a really stupid idea but..."

I say those words to my art director partner a lot during our concepting sessions. They are an attempt to forgive the raw, unfiltered, half-baked, silly thought that just popped into my head. And usually what follows is indeed really stupid.

But stupid ideas, I have found, can often spark some really freakin smart ideas.

Too often we suppress our stupid because we want to be the one who has the solution, hit a home run, and brings the big winning idea to the client table. And so we're inclined to sit and wait until we have something clever to say.

But what I love about blurting out a really stupid idea is that it has the power to interrupt your train of thought, and take you down paths you shouldn't go. Or at least a direction most people wouldn't think (or dare) to go. And that's usually a pretty good place to be.

I don't know, maybe that just sounded really stupid.