turning bad ideas good!

A bad idea turning into a good idea isn't about salvaging it; it's about realizing that bad ideas are usually considered harmful because they may be incomplete or poorly framed. Bad ideas actually allow good ideas to form, whether it's from re-thinking or modifying the “bad idea”. The usual adverse reaction to an idea isn't because it's useless, but because it's just not very familiar to othesrs. Resisting the urge to leave the idea and toss it is actually the first important step. The key is not treating the idea as a bad one, but as a rough draft.

The transformation starts when you can see or diagnose the problem. Instead of dismissing the idea, you should reconstruct it and maybe rethink a couple of questions like “is it a bad idea because not a single person has thought of it?”, or “is it bad because it might take way too long to develop?” By asking why it might be bad, people can figure out the weakness of this idea.

Now that you've identified the exact weakness, the next step is to address it. 

Please don't throw away the central part of the idea; change how it works or what it could be used for. You might be able to combine the idea with another. The key is really to be flexible; you need to drop the parts that don't work, but keep the unique thing that made the idea enjoyable in the first place, leading to a surprisingly better plan.

Then the final stage can be to try out the idea and keep testing it repeatedly. When you think you've made it better, you can start asking people what they think.

By: Jeslyn 7B