Years ago as an art director with a San Francisco ad agency, I was paired with Barney Currer, a writer whose creative process was similar to mine. Our daily routine included tossing ideas back and forth searching for something that would creatively solve the problem, please the client and sell the product.

After a sequence of ideas, Barney would light up and say, “Here’s a flash!” and then proceed to explain his great idea. I would offer a “yes, and…” reply. The goal was to get as many ideas on the table as possible without judgement. The “Yes, and…” technique is a Second City improv exercise that doesn’t judge the idea. It simply adds something to it. We would alternate “yes, and” replies on our way to progressively more insane ideas. Only after many rounds of craziness did the elimination begin. Some ideas were clearly impractical. Some impossible. Some would never get past the client. But all were way beyond the initial flash.

We have all experienced that flash of inspiration – an idea so brilliant we even surprised ourselves. But most of the time, that’s only the springboard. To be content with the flash is to miss a potentially greater opportunity through playful exploration. Before the evaluation process begins, you have to entertain the unrealistic and impractical ideas that may trigger even more ridiculous ideas.

One of the first creative directors I worked with in Boston wisely noted you can always scale back an insane idea and still have something outstanding. You can never embellish a mediocre idea enough to make it great. So, why limit your potential by congratulating yourself too soon?

We want to believe our flash of inspiration is brilliant. It isn’t. If blinded by the flash, you’ll fail to see that beyond it is an open door to a whole new realm of possibilities.