For most of us, the day-to-day functions of the business world exercise the analytical and routine portions of our brain while the imaginative side becomes atrophied. Brainstorming is one way to overcome stale thinking.
Brainstorming, in its proper definition, began as a group activity. Today, the term has been expanded to refer to a more personal technique for generating new ideas. There are pros and cons to brainstorming as a group or individually, as well as many “rules”.
Team time should be used wisely. You have a 30-minute meeting scheduled. Do you want to spend it coming up with ideas that range from brilliant to dull to completely off-topic? Or would you rather spend it developing the good ideas into great ones? Ask your members to brainstorm individually and come prepared to present the best of their ideas.
Find your storm synergy. Sometimes it is effective to brainstorm in pairs. The energy of two storms combines exponentially to create an energy that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Talk a walk alone in the rain. (When brainstorming alone or with your partner) remove all common sense from your mind; envision a perfect world scenario; in this world everything works. Remove roadblocks, worries, negativity, and reasonable or emotional thinking about why your ideas won’t work.
Splash in the puddles, hold hands, sing songs…in other words, allow your playful side to come out. A rousing game of “playing pretend” will invigorate your imagination.
Find a path you’re comfortable with. Your walk in the rain should be like collecting specimens. Collect shells, plants, flowers, or insects and take them back to your lab or office for further study. Find and use techniques you are comfortable with, and modify them to suit you. Some techniques to look into are free association, clouding, journal blasting, or concept mapping/webbing.
Morning storm green, afternoon storm orange, night storm blue. Brainstorm the same topics at three different times of day. As a matter of brain functioning and personal cycles, you will come up with different styles, concepts, ideas, and results.
April Showers bring May Flowers. Once you have taken your walk in the rain, take time to look out over the landscape and see the bright blooms of after shower glory. Organize your specimen ideas into ordered bullet points, maps, or linear diagrams. Spend some time mulling over them, let them grow. Follow the lead and run through the processes involved in developing your concepts. The electric air after the storm will charge the energy of your ideas and spring them to life.
Ideas are like wine and cheese. They can either get better with age, or turn into a moldy soup. By giving your ideas some time to breath they can mature and develop a wonderful bouquet. Or you may discover that the passion for your idea wanes over time or isn’t feasible when brought into the real world.
There is a period of sunshine after every storm. Let your ideas see the light. Let the flowers of your ideas bloom from the sunshine of feedback. You may have planted the seeds, but the blooms only come from letting nature take its course. Take concepts to three or four different groups of people. Friends are great sounding boards for vitalizing you ideas, but they probably won’t offer the best advice or criticism. Likewise customers and vendors may shy away from honesty, and you don’t want to appear “flighty” by presenting bad ideas. Colleagues typically have a similar perspective and may have their own ambitious agendas. Website polls may give you some idea of public response, but you don’t know who’s responding, why, or how often. A small business forum may provide insight from professionals that have been in your position. They are most likely to offer new solutions, ask questions, and hand out harsh criticism, but feedback may be slow and laced with self interest. Focus groups will get you detailed results, but can be expensive. By taking your idea to different groups you ensure a balance in the feedback.
