Why Bad Ideas Are Worth Chasing
Tucker Margulies writes about why he loves bad ideas (with some important rules about how to pursue them). Image courtesy of Margulies.
When I was asked if I would be interested in writing my first piece for Creative Factor, I responded confidently that it was a very bad idea. Sitting here writing it, I continue to hold that view. This is a bad idea.
Which is, of course, why I agreed to do it. I love bad ideas. My favorite stories start with a bad idea that is pursued with irrational enthusiasm to some form of illogical conclusion.
For example, years ago on a lark fueled by one too many drinks in a sawdust-floor bar in Manhattan, my partners and I bought a billboard in rural Tennessee. We had no idea what to do with it, and, when no better idea presented itself, we posted a 40-foot-tall pigeon in a space helmet advertising a fake website that sold equally fake space helmets. It also sold one real embroidered “mission” patch.
In the years since, we've shipped those patches to Hawaii and several continents. There is a credible rumor that one was actually sent to space. The stories from that one bad idea are longer than I have for this piece’s word count by orders of magnitude.
Bad ideas can be the seeds of great stories and great memories. That is not to say that we do not need all the good and great ideas we can get our hands on. But an interesting and creative life can't always wait for a good idea to present itself. Sometimes you have to follow the bad ones, too.
This week we'll celebrate July 4th, which I like to think of as America's best bad idea holiday. I'll be spending it with my kids and my parents at their cabin in New Hampshire where you can buy fireworks from a run-down trailer. The fireworks are always sold as two-for-one, so the lowest number of fireworks you can purchase is divisible by two.
Lighting off trailer fireworks with my father is probably the exact thing that prepared me to pursue bad ideas. There are a few important rules:
Bad ideas should be approached with the utmost regard for safety.
They should bring enjoyment to everyone involved.
They are best undertaken with a spirit of wonder and enthusiasm.
The best time for a bad idea is whenever the hell you feel like it.
May your bad ideas lead to great stories, works of art, and, most importantly, joy.
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