1. Quit, if I really believe in an idea, and work on it somehow without any income or by working with a company that doesn't require such an agreement (which I have yet to encounter around here). I'm not quite confident enough in the idea to do that... but I would like to be able to work on it to see what it turns out to be.
2. Get a waiver, somehow, by wading through all the bureaucracy. If they would sign such a thing, it would obviously be worth it, but I worry about all the fuss this could cause by trying to go up the chain to the appropriate level, for an idea still in its infancy.
"Ask a lawyer" aside, are there any other options? Has anyone ever been to the point where their company actually showed interest in what they were working on, on the side?