Great ideas come from many

The amount of ideas to solve a problem differ based on problems that require less (or more) effort than others. 50 ideas is a good starting point for most problems, but can be adjusted accordingly to the task at hand. 

For the most part, I tend to generate ideas on my own and then let external influences guide me through generating more ideas. Some external sources that influence my ideas are: family and friends, co-workers and peers, and social media. 

More recently, I have been using social media, namely Facebook, to help me expand my ideas. For example, I may post a question to all my Facebook friends for their feedback. Dependent on the question, I can receive about 5-15 responses which are generally original.
 

My method of applying this principle brings value to me for the following reasons: 

By:

- expanding my knowledge

- helping me think more creatively

- considering different points of views

Moreover, receiving responses also connects me closer to my community by realizing the support I have from peers. 

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An opposing point of view towards my method may be that I limit my external influences to my existing community of friends and family who may share similar points of view. By "controlling" my external influences, I also limit the variety of responses I am able to receive. It is important for me to consider different methods of gathering ideas beyond my circle. The ways I can do this is by connecting with others via the internet (ie. blogs, forums, etc.) and in person (ie. random surveys, questionnaires, etc.).
 

Personally, this is the hardest principle for me to apply on a consistent basis. Since a lot of my decisions need to be made quickly, I usually stop the decision making process at the first few ideas that come to mind.  Concentrating on one great idea prevents me from seeing beyond it, to consider other ideas. My own assumptions that my first few ideas will be sufficient in solving a problem or task prevent me from applying this principle more effectively. 

A question that still remains regarding this principle is:

Given a specified number of ideas to generate, how can an individual generate a list of ideas to be both efficient and free from nonsense?