About the Bad Idea Workshop
What if the bad idea is actually a good idea that hasn't been fully developed?
Somewhere along the way, brainstorming got way too serious! We sit around conference tables trying to come up with the right answer. We play it safe. We shoot down the weird stuff. And before long, every idea starts looking suspiciously like the idea we had last year.
The Bad Idea Workshop is here to mess with that.
Built around ridiculous ideas, creative challenges, a splash of improv, and a healthy dose of organized chaos, the workshop gets people out of their usual way of thinking and gives them permission to explore ideas they would normally dismiss.
Because a terrible idea doesn't have to stay terrible!
Sometimes you use one little piece of it. Sometimes you flip it around. Sometimes somebody else adds something completely unexpected. And every once in a while, the idea everyone laughed at turns into the best idea in the room.
There will be bad ideas. There will be good ideas. There will probably be some ideas we should never speak of again. Most importantly, we'll have a little fun finding out which is which!
Bad Idea Workshop: Sessions
A Little Trouble
“Bad Idea, Great Concept”
60 - 90 minutes
Need a creative jolt without blowing up the entire agenda?
This fast-paced introduction to the Bad Idea Workshop gives participants a taste of what happens when we stop trying so hard to immediately have the right answer. Through stories, examples, interactive challenges, and some intentionally terrible brainstorming, we'll explore how ridiculous ideas can break creative ruts and lead somewhere surprisingly useful.
We'll generate some bad ideas. We'll make a few of them better. We'll probably create something that should never leave the room.
Perfect for conferences, team meetings and events looking to squeeze a little productive trouble into the schedule.
A Moderate Amount of Trouble
“A Turbulent Brainstorm”
2 - 3 hours
Now we have enough time to manage some mischief!
This expanded workshop moves beyond the big ideas and puts participants to work. Through interactive exercises, group challenges and intentionally terrible brainstorming, participants practice breaking through creative barriers, building on one another's ideas and turning unexpected concepts into something surprisingly useful.
We'll laugh. We'll challenge the status quo. We’ll create a few things that are ridiculous. Somewhere along the way, we might even stumble into something brilliant.
Serious Trouble
“The Bad Idea Workshop”
4–5 hours
Clear the schedule! We're causing problems and having a blast doing it!
The full workshop is an immersive, highly interactive dive into creativity, communication and what happens when we stop trying so hard to immediately have the right idea.
Participants work through the complete Bad Idea Workshop experience generating terrible ideas on purpose, building ideas through creative brainstorming, studying memorable creative work, adapting inspiration rather than simply copying it, and ultimately developing and pitching ideas designed to make people actually care.
Less lecture. More collaboration and team building. More experimentation. More permission to be weird!
Participants leave with practical ways to approach creative problems differently and, quite possibly, several ideas they never would have discovered if we hadn't started with the bad ones.
Meet the Troublemaker
Patrick Wood
Chief Troublemaker
Patrick Wood has spent his career trying to convince organizations that professional communication doesn't have to be boring!
Patrick is an award-winning communications professional, speaker, author, illustrator and creator of things that frequently start as a bad idea.
His work has included children's books starring a cat and duck, an electric-safety card game involving aggressive amounts of slapping, ridiculous videos, unconventional campaigns and other creative experiments that have earned national recognition while helping organizations connect with real people.
As Manager of Communications for Co-Mo Connect Powered by Co-Mo Electric Cooperative in Missouri, Patrick's work has received national honors from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals, and the Cooperative Communicators Association. His Cat & Duck youth education program has also spread well beyond Missouri, putting his particular brand of educational weirdness to work for electric cooperatives across the country.
He's presented to communicators and cooperative professionals around the United States on creativity, communication and the value of being whimsically weird on purpose.
Contact the Bad Idea Workshop
Ready to cause a little trouble?
Tell us about your event, organization or team and we'll figure out just how much trouble we can fit into the schedule.
You can also email Patrick at pwood@co-mo.coop!