Brainstorming Reloaded
If you are involved in the creative or communications world you've probably been involved in brainstorming sessions to generate ideas/fresh angles on ideas.
Here is a fresh take on getting the best out of brainstorming. It's a great article from PSYBlog called 'Brainstorming Reloaded'. My main takeaways were:
- Don't expect great results from ideas generated in the room. (I've experienced this)
- The best results are when people come to the brainstorm with ideas.
- People who have participated in the creative stage are likely to be more motivated to carry out the group's decision.
- The brainstorming groups natural talent is the evaluation of ideas rather than the generation.
Killer soundbite summary: Brainstorming groups aren't where ideas are born, but where they come to sink or swim.
What has worked/hasn't worked for you when you have brainstormed? Do you agree or disagree with this fresh angle about brainstorming?
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I especially like #2. I’ve been in too many brainstorming sessions where none of us came with ideas and it doesn’t help to get things going. I definitely plan on implementing this idea next time ;).
In my experience the key to good brainstorming is preparation.
Definitely there are different types of brainstorming sessions, and the outcome of a brainstorming workshop is far from guaranteed.
The key things for a good brainstorming workshop, from my experience, are:
1. Firstly understanding of the two levels at which activity occurs in a brainstorming workshop, which are:
– Process level, and
– Content level
2. Good facilitation.
A person to lead the process and challenge/document/review the content. Usually not a direct stakeholder in the outcome.
3. Pre-planned exercises/sessions within the workshop that break the session in to chunks, using specific techniques for each session. Exercises are loosely aimed at encouraging the generation of pre-agreed outcomes from the session, such as:
– A list of ideas on a particular topic
– A set of deliverables definitions for a project plan
– Ideas for a company logo or tagline
– A group-crafted mission statement for a company or project
– Principals or values to be used by a project team
4. High quality inputs – what I call brain-food, which are designed to stimulate thinking and interaction.
Inputs can be designed for the session as a whole or for one or more of the activities.
5. Linked exercises within a workshop or a workshop linked to a following workshop.
Most powerfully brainstorming exercises can be linked from one to the next using outputs to fuel the next topic.
This structure might seem at face-value to be counter to the idea that brainstorming is free-format, but a total “blank page” as a starting point for brainstorming is almost guaranteed to fizzle.