Pour out the bad ideas to get to the good ones

—David Epstien

My dog Hetty buries things. Socks, gloves, my wallet, my ex-wife’s bra.

Occasionally she will dig up one of the treasures and bring it in. What a joy that is, especially when she presented a bra to my new girlfriend.

Good ideas are metaphorically buried. You have to dig like Hetty, flinging out bad ideas like dirt to get the good stuff.

Bad ideas are better out than in. Sometimes I’ll start a brainstorm, with “Right, lets get the bad ideas out”, and offer some of my own.

We’re digging our way closer to the prize: a good idea. Or if you’re a mis-wired dog: a dirty old bra.