Making people and ideas findable
The terrible word of "Brainstorming"
Aircraft Carrier
Originally uploaded by Tolka Rover.One of the many words people think of when "innovation" is mentioned is the over used and mis-understood term "brainstorming". A letter to the editor of Business Week, Oct 23rd, 2006, got me thinking about this.
Don Smith of Rochester, NY, writes that brainstorming must take into account that participants must be mentally and physically loose enough to participate, where silly thoughts or ideas are just fine. One anecdote he recounts is the need to solve the issue of having a large aircraft carrier in port during a severe storm avoiding damage due to hitting its dock. One comical idea that came out from a idea generation session was to line up the crew members to blow against the ship to keep it from the dock. This "silly" idea turned into one that was implemented: aircraft are placed on the dock and the plane's backwash is used to hold the ship off the dock.
One of my biggest complaints about "brainstorming" sessions is that people never really practice. Most times it is in a forced setting during a crucial time of year, either near the end of the year or early in beginning of year, both looking to figure out what new products, services, enhancements, etc. will need to be created.
Most people experience a forced facilitation. A leader announces that this is a brainstorming session and that new ideas are needed. Many times the traditional rules are read (lots of sites with these: Six Sigma Brainstorming Rules, NASA, and Business Week). But just as many times the rules are rarely followed.
Brainstorming requires practice, regular practice, individually and in groups. The practice needs to be on a range of problems and challenges. Just like athletic teams practicing regularly, brainstorming needs to be practiced regularly. The practice will help get your mind in a prepared state so that when you need to generate ideas, you will kick into brainstorm mode automatically.
Here are some activities to help get started from the book How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci:
- A Hundred Questions: In your notebook (you have a notebook, right?) make a list of one hundred questions that are important to you.
- Sharpen your question asking skills by asking simple questions with why, when, who, how, and where. Ask awkward questions
So have you practiced today?
Tags: brainstorming, building, ideas, innovation, practice, team
4 Comments
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Comment by Scott Semester on July 7, 2008 at 3:52pm -
You know what would be a sweet feature on SI: the Brainstorm of the Day.
Like, John (or Pat Coyle or whoever) could pose a question and then when each Smoosier logs on that day, he or she could respond with a brainstorm -- one item per comment -- rather than having to come up with a thoughtful/insightful/relevant comment (which I typically aspire to and often censor myself out of).
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Comment by Jeffrey Cufaude on July 7, 2008 at 9:31pm - I think Dan Pink's A Whole New Mind is a good resource as is Twyla Tharp's >The Creative Habit.
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Comment by Matt Theobald on August 2, 2008 at 4:51am - A former think tank buddy of mine said they used the word Gedanken often. Which in German simply means "thoughts". But in their context it meant "thought experiment".
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© 2008 Created by Pat Coyle
May I also reccomend A Whack in the Side of the Head and A Kick in the Seat of the Pants by Roger Von Oech?