When there are so many companies around, so many technologies, how can a new company appear on the market and offer something new? On the other hand, how can an established company continue to grow and develop to meet the needs of its customers?
The practice of brainstorming allows you to quickly enter a creative mode of brain functioning – a state of play when everything is possible within the framework of a small number of rules. Play and fun are key to good brainstorming. In such an environment, it is easy for the brain to loosen control, “let go” of the situation and start carrying all sorts of nonsense, and here sometimes cool ideas will slip through – what we need!
- Set aside value judgments
You never know where a good thought will come from. The key to coming up with cool ideas is to create an atmosphere in which everyone feels able to say what comes into their head and allows others to build new ideas on top of their own.
- Wild and absurd ideas are welcome
Often wild fantasies can give impetus to creative breakthroughs and serve as an associative bridge to rational decisions. When we come up with stupid and completely unrealistic ideas, we begin to think about what we really want to achieve, without being distracted by the limitations and possibilities of implementation.
- Mix and promote ideas
Taking a positive point of view and being able to build new ideas on the basis of others is not so easy, you need to get better at it. Try to use constructs in your conversation that start with “yes, and” instead of “but”. The word “no” is prohibited. Consider a coworker’s idea and add value to it.
- Stay on top of the topic
Try to focus the discussion on the purpose of the brainstorm, otherwise you risk straying far from the area in which you are developing a product or service. That being said, it is important to avoid restrictions. A solution is to write a brainstorming topic on a board or wall as a reminder to the participants.
- Speak up one at a time.
Your team is more likely to come up with something new to a colleague’s idea when no one is distracted and everyone is closely following the thoughts of the person sharing their thoughts. Listening and supportiveness is essential in a creative session so that each participant feels engaged and not passive.
- Visualize ideas
In live brainstorms, it is best to write ideas on sticky notes and glue them on the wall so that everyone can see all the ideas. Nothing helps an idea render as quickly as a drawing. Even if you are not Rembrandt.
- Go for quantity
Get as many new ideas as possible. The result of a good session is about 100 ideas per hour. Speed is very important, it keeps the brain from leaving the playing field and shutting itself out of new ideas.
