Stupid Idea Time
Generate deliberately bad ideas until useful possibilities begin to emerge
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 98%
Stupid Idea Time creates explicit permission for most suggestions to be bad, removing the social and internal pressure to produce a polished answer immediately. Participants state ideas freely without debating feasibility, allowing one thought to trigger, combine with, or improve another. The mechanism is psychological safety through deliberately lowered expectations: when nobody must defend the intelligence of an early idea, more raw material becomes available. After the generative period, participants can identify recurring themes, surprisingly attractive concepts, and combinations worth testing. The method works especially well during walks or informal conversations where movement and low stakes support associative thinking.
Origin
Lori Harder and her husband Chris use Stupid Idea Time during walks to generate possibilities without judging them too early. Extracted from The Jasmine Star Show.
Core principles
- 01Quantity precedes quality during ideation
- 02Permission to be wrong reduces self-censorship
- 03Other people can evolve an unfinished thought
- 04A bad starting point can contain a valuable direction
How to run it
- 1
Name the mode
Tell everyone that Stupid Idea Time has begun and that most ideas are expected to be poor. This separates generation from evaluation.
Pro tip Use the same recurring phrase so participants recognize the rules immediately.
Watch out Do not use the label to mock a specific person's contribution.
- 2
Release raw ideas
Say ideas as they appear, including impractical, incomplete, or strange ones. Avoid explaining or defending them at length.
Pro tip Use a walk or other low-pressure setting.
Watch out Early criticism will quickly restore self-censorship.
- 3
Morph the ideas
Let each participant add to, combine, or redirect what others contribute. Focus on momentum rather than ownership.
Pro tip Respond with additions such as “what if” rather than immediate objections.
- 4
Capture signals
Record ideas that recur, generate energy, or contain a useful underlying need. Preserve them before returning to normal evaluation.
Pro tip Capture the underlying customer problem as well as the proposed solution.
- 5
Evaluate later
After the generative session, review the strongest possibilities against demand, capability, cost, and fit. Select only a small number for testing.
Pro tip Let the ideas rest briefly before ranking them.
Watch out Do not confuse uninhibited generation with evidence that an idea is viable.
In the wild
Lori and Chris generated many possibilities, including a brunch-only restaurant designed to connect women. Continuing to play without requiring every thought to work allowed a beverage concept to emerge: a light or non-alcoholic wine spritzer with intentional questions printed on the can.
→ The process produced a product concept that Lori developed into a fundable venture.
Common mistakes
Critiquing while generating
Evaluating each suggestion immediately destroys the safety and momentum that make the exercise productive.
Stopping at random ideas
The playful session still needs a separate review that identifies patterns and testable possibilities.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for partners, teams, and founders exploring products, campaigns, experiences, or new strategic directions.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for final selection meetings where ideas must already be evaluated against hard constraints.
From the transcript
“This is a great actionable thing, is we play something called Stupid idea time on our walks.”
“And stupid idea time is like it doesn't matter how dumb this idea is, throw it out because it could actually start to morph into…”
“So stupid idea. Time is like, hey, I am literally saying 99% of these are going to be really stupid, but let's get them out…”
From the episode
Facing Truths and Making Hard Decisions with Lori Harder
Lori Harder