I’m currently reading the book Think Wrong: How to Conquer the Status Quo and Do Work That Matters, and came across a sobering paragraph that I thought summarizes the ideation process and how important it is to keep digging:

“Our colleague Lance Rakes, an industrial designer, likes to say that maybe 3% of ideas will survive; so if you generate 100 ideas, perhaps three will pan out. If you have only 10 ideas, well, you risk coming up empty. The more ideas you have, the more options.”

In summary: Always keep digging. Push past the barrier of clichés and what is known. That’s where the cream filling is.