Random Idea Generator

How to use it

1. Pick a mode. Connect crosses two things. Twist bends one object with a constraint. Spaghetti runs a five-minute timer and deals quick prompts.
2. Roll. Press Roll again. If one half of the result is interesting, lock it and roll the rest.
3. Answer the question under the result. Say it out loud or write it down, even if it feels silly. Then roll again.

Take what you get. If you re-roll only because you don’t like the first result, you’re editing before you’ve thought, and editing is the enemy at this stage.

Why random words work

The book’s argument in the Connected chapter is that creativity is making connections between two things that seem to have nothing to do with each other. A random prompt forces the connection before your inner critic can say it won’t work.

We tried it ourselves in the book. The problem was traffic congestion in Los Angeles. We flicked through a dictionary, put a finger on a page and got “donation”. It felt like a hard word, but picking again would have been cheating, so we stuck with it. A couple of minutes later we had ideas such as:

• making drivers donate to charity every time they drive
• asking people to donate their cars to charity and use other transport
• running a donation drive to build a better form of transport
• encouraging companies to sponsor free bus passes for commuters
• asking employers to donate one day a week of work that doesn’t require travel

Not all of them are brilliant. The point is that the word got us past the first barrier. There was no obvious link between the problem and the word, and forcing one produced ideas worth pursuing. This tool does the dictionary part for you.

Connect, Twist and Spaghetti

Connect is the dictionary trick with two words. Say it deals a ladder and a library. What is a library on a ladder? A reading room for people who never look up? A way to reach the books nobody can get to? Keep going until the ideas get stranger, then pick the one you’d actually want.

Twist takes an object and attaches one constraint, such as “that is free” or “that is made for commuters”. Constraints make ideas easier to start, because a blank page is harder to fill than a narrow one.

Spaghetti comes from the Idea Spaghetti chapter, which describes a plate full of ideas with no knife and fork. The chapter makes three points we built the mode around. Individuals are better at divergent thinking, so when you need many ideas, start alone. The rule for a good brainstorm is that no idea is a bad idea. And groups respond to a high benchmark, so the timer comes with a target. The 50 is ours, not the book’s. Change it to whatever stretches you.

Where the words come from

Every word in the generator comes from the text of the book. We picked concrete things the book mentions, such as paperclips, umbrellas and hotels, so the prompts feel like the book. The lists are short, so you will see repeats sooner than you would with a giant word bank.

Questions

Is it really random? The tool picks each word with a seeded random number generator. The same link always shows the same result, which is how sharing works. A new roll uses a new seed.

How do I share a result? Press Share link. The address holds the mode, the seeds and any locks, so whoever opens it sees exactly what you saw.

Does it keep my ideas? Nothing you type leaves your browser. If you press Save, the result is stored on this device only, and you can clear it at any time.

Do I need to sign up? No. The tool never asks for an email.

Who owns the ideas? You do. We don’t see them.