Adam Kuebler

I was reading Mark Suster’s blog post, 

< href=”http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2011/01/17/how-i-use-visualization-to-drive-creativity/”>”How I Use Visualization to Drive Creativity”</a>

When I cam across a a term he used, Strawman Idea. Now I know the term strawman argument. You respond to an argument with a rebuttal that attacks a similar but not identical argument (a strawman) in order to avoid the real issue. 

Mark used the phrase to describe another issue, coming prepared with some basic ideas, rather than thinking on the fly in the meeting, so that there could be more debate and a better chance for innovation, he called this a strawman idea.

I was thinking about this idea. Often times I have been in rooms where we were trying to come up with an idea and no one really says anything. It often takes a few strawman ideas, ideas which are not really viable or maybe even creative. But they get the thoughts flowing, and one idea bounces off another and slowly something valuable takes shape. 

Next time you know you are going into a session where you will need to share ideas on how to do something. Come prepared with at least a couple ideas, even if they are dumb. That way you get to something valuable faster.