Intermediate Impossible

Although this name was coined by Edward de Bono to describe an aspect of lateral thinking, it forms the essence of many ideas generation techniques and involves using a crazy or impossible idea as a stepping stone to a practical solution. The most valuable intermediate impossibles are often those that break taboos, so do not let your inhibitions stop you from proposing ideas that are immoral, illegal, or otherwise socially unacceptable. A useful trigger phrase is: “Let’s forget about the rules and being logical for a moment”.

See also the category Break The Rules.