7

CHAPTER SEVEN

BRAINSTORMING RULES AND
PRACTICES

I have been in hundreds, if not thousands, of brainstorming meetings. Most were not constructive. I’m sure my experience is not unique, so I imagine you can understand why: The sessions did not start with an agreed-on problem by the group or an identified structure; instead, the people running the sessions simply allowed the attendees to hear themselves share a bunch of random ideas. Brainstorming, however, can be a powerful tool for creativity if pursued correctly. So let’s review how brainstorming began and why it’s essential, the key components of effective brainstorming, and the best practices for a session. Then in the subsequent chapters I will introduce you to some amazing brainstorming tools.

AN ADMAN INVENTS BRAINSTORMING

In the late 1940s, Alex Osborn, a partner in the advertising agency BBDO, decided to write a book in which he shared his creative secrets. At the time, BBDO was widely regarded as the most innovative firm on Madison Avenue. Born in 1888, Osborn had spent much of his career in Buffalo, where he started out working in newspapers. His life at BBDO began when he teamed up with another young adman he’d met while volunteering for the United War Work Campaign. By the 1940s, he was one of the industry’s grand old men, ready to pass on the lessons he’d learned. His book Your Creative Power was published in 1948. An amalgam of pop science and business anecdote, it became a surprise bestseller. Osborn promised that by following his advice, the typical reader could double his creative output. Such a mental boost would spur career success and also make the reader a much happier person. “To get your foot in the door, your imagination can be an open-sesame,” he wrote. “The more you rub your creative lamp, the more alive you feel.”

Your Creative Power was filled with tricks and strategies, such as always carrying a notebook to be ready when inspiration struck. But Osborn’s most celebrated idea was the one discussed in chapter 33, “How to Organize a Squad to Create Ideas.” When a group works together, he wrote, the members should engage in a “brainstorm,” which means “using the brain to storm a creative problem—and doing so in commando fashion, with each stormer attacking the same objective.” For Osborn, brainstorming was central to BBDO’s success. Osborn described, for instance, how the technique inspired a group of ten admen to come up with eighty-seven ideas for a new drugstore in ninety minutes, or nearly an idea per minute. The brainstorm had turned his employees into imagination machines.

The seven steps to effective brainstorming are:

1. Agree on the problem.

2. Gather the right team and the available data.

3. If possible, break down the problem.

4. Go for as many (quantity) ideas as possible.

5. Don’t criticize as ideas are evaluated.

6. Combine several ideas to create an amazing new idea.

7. Fairly judge the created ideas for the best one that solves the problem.

The trouble with most brainstorming sessions is that participants only employ one of his steps correctly: the fourth step, ideation. The first step, however, is far more important because until you can define the problem at hand, all the methods to solve the problem are doomed to failure.

CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT FOR PROBLEM SOLVING

In earlier chapters I talked about how managers and entrepreneurs need to focus on solving real problems and not find themselves “selling” solutions that have nothing to do with the problem. In our Lavin Entrepreneurship Center at San Diego State University, if a student walks in and wants to meet with me to “pitch me an idea,” the first question I have before we start is, “What problem are you solving?” In my Creativity and Innovation course, we spend the first four weeks of the semester learning how to identify and agree on problems before any brainstorming sessions start. It’s a critical recognition, because we cannot brainstorm or come up with creative ideas until we agree on the problem. Learning how to identify real problems, not symptoms, is a critical skill. Here are four things you can do as a leader to create a company environment that is poised to solve problems:

1.Encourage open communication. Problem solving requires open communication where everyone’s concerns and points of view are freely expressed. I’ve seen too many times how difficult it is to get to the root of the matter in a timely manner when people do not speak up. Open communication is critical. That is why when those involved in the problem would rather not express themselves—fearing they may threaten their job and/or expose their own or someone else’s wrongdoing—the problem-solving process becomes a “bad” treasure hunt. Effective communication toward problem solving happens because of a leader’s ability to facilitate an open dialogue between people who trust their intentions. Only then will they feel that they are in a safe environment to share why they believe the problem happened as well as specific solutions.

2.Break down walls. Open communication requires you to break down “walls” and enable a boundary-less organization whose culture is focused on the betterment of a healthier whole. Organizational “walls” are the root cause of most workplace problems and the reason many of them never get resolved. This is why today’s new workplace must embrace an entrepreneurial spirit where employees can freely navigate and cross-collaborate to connect the problem-solving dots. Breaking down walls allows a leader to more easily engage their employees to get their hands dirty and solve problems together.

3.Hire and retain people with growth mindsets. Breaking down walls and communication barriers requires people to have an open “growth” mindset. In the end, problem solving is about people working together to make the company serve the customer better. Therefore, if you are stuck working with people who are closed-minded, effective problem solving can’t even begin. People with growth mindsets see beyond the obvious details before them and view risk as their best friend. They tackle problems head-on and get on with the business of driving growth and innovation. Fixed-mindset employees turn things around to make it more about themselves and less about what is required to convert a problem into a new opportunity.

4.Use problem solving as a way to bond. Effective leaders who are comfortable with problem solving always know how to gather the right people, resources, budget, and knowledge from past experiences. They inspire people to lift their game by making the problem-solving process highly collaborative; for them, it’s an opportunity to bring people closer together. I’ve always believed that you don’t know the true potential and character of people until you see the way they solve problems.

SIMPLE DOS AND DON’TS OF BRAINSTORMING SESSIONS

Our agency had some of the most creative people in the world and we “solved” an amazing variety of problems for our clients. We used brainstorming almost every single day, from informal meetings to regular sessions. Here are some simple insights to the dos and don’ts of a brainstorming session:

Brainstorming Sessions Done right

Bring together a diverse team. This is a critical element to building a team that can think “differently” in looking at the same problem. Mix people with varied backgrounds and skill sets to get better possible approaches to a solution. A football team can’t win with eleven quarterbacks, so why would you put similar people on the same team?

Define and agree on the problem. When a team first comes together, share the “facts” on the problem and have the team thoroughly discuss and provide input as to the real cause of the problem. Employees who are taking sick days and missing work may be doing so because of health issues, not morale.

Discourage criticism but encourage wild ideas. The worst thing you can do in a brainstorming group is to critique or criticize initial ideas. Encourage open giving of ideas so that other people can react to a “creative” environment and share their “deep” ideas. Research into creativity and brainstorming sessions has shown that even in a good brainstorming environment, most participants still hold back 50 percent of their ideas for fear of being wrong.

Make quantity of ideas more important than quality. Brainstorming is one place where lots of ideas are good and quantity trumps quality. Why? Because a group of five people creating twenty-five ideas/solutions to evaluate is better than only evaluating five ideas or solutions. Also, you are more likely to combine or create ideas off each other when you have a high quantity. You suggest vitamins, I suggest water, and someone else suggests vitaminwater.

When energy fades, build on the best idea. This is another reason the quantity of ideas or solutions is so important. Once you get to a place where the energy of the group fades, now you build on the best idea, which itself may end up being a combination of other ideas. Get the group focused now on designing and building the best solution.

Draw and sketch so that everyone can see the ideas. This is where you engage the right side of your brain. Drawing out the ideas allows people to process them with the “creative” side of their brain. This exercise will lead to even more creativity as people “see” what’s in front of them and begin to add even more ideas, which hopefully they share with the group.

If possible, create 2-D and 3-D models. There is nothing like the real thing or a prototype to have people really understand the potential of a solution. If possible, use a 3-D printer to create a mock-up of a product solution or, if it’s something larger, use Legos, Play-Doh, or construction paper to actually build a rough prototype of a possible solution. In my class, using Play-Doh students created a retail fashion store layout to appeal to millennials.

How to Kill Brainstorming Sessions

Brainstorming sessions done well can accomplish quite a bit and get amazing results, especially through group “think” and discussion. However, avoid these mistakes that will hurt or even seriously hinder brainstorming:

Having Senior Management Speak First, in Order of Importance: There is no better way to intimidate your team or employees than to have senior leaders speak first. Who is going to disagree or potentially disappoint them with a perceived weak or crazy idea? No one. Let everyone or anyone go first, even the intern. This person may spark a winning idea.

Having Everyone Go in Turn Around the Table: When you do this you limit the input of unique ideas because people get caught up in building on what they already heard or thinking they have to be “smart” on the spot when it’s their turn next. Remove the pressure and gently involve all people by encouraging random and different ideas; encourage quantity and don’t judge any ideas until you are at the end of the ideation part of brainstorming.

Bringing in Only “Look-alike” Team Member Experts: In my class, we have students from all over the campus and that is what builds diverse teams. If you have only business school students or computer science students you can almost predict weak and narrow results. Diversify your brainstorming team as much as possible.

Only Holding Brainstorm Sessions Off-Site: I have never understood this one. Let’s take everyone from the company and move to a hotel conference room and come up with a new killer product. Really? This practice sends two messages that are both bad: First, we only brainstorm when we leave the building (not at work all the time?), and second, you need to be in a really noncreative room to come up with a breakthrough idea. Hold brainstorm meetings in different thought-provoking spaces, including outdoors.

Encouraging Professional Behavior, No Silly Stuff: Give your participants the freedom to be serious, silly, and in between. Encourage playfulness with purpose: Start off the meeting with a drawing contest to visualize the problem or something that sparks the idea that there are no set rules to coming up with a creative solution. You can’t force creativity. If you try, you will get only vanilla ideas—and not even French vanilla.

Having Everyone Take Copious Notes: When people take copious notes, two things happen and both are bad: First, people spend time taking detailed notes and not being creative, and second, no one is sharing notes in real time. Use a whiteboard and draw/write all ideas where everyone can see them, or use a cloud-sharing tool where all participants can “draw” on the same page and build on each other’s ideas, sparking even more ideas.

Every Creative House Needs Structure

On the very first day of class, once attendance and the course overview is completed, I indicate I am disappointed with a certain product that I place on the table. I tell the students they need to solve my problem. Before they get into groups, I walk them through a brainstorming structure that they are to use every single time they get into brainstorming groups:

Five to Ten Minutes: Take this time to agree on the real problem.

Ten Minutes: Generate as many ideas/solutions as possible, twenty-five minimum.

Five to Ten Minutes: Decide on the best idea or combination of ideas that best solves the problem.

Ten to Fifteen Minutes: Draw, don’t write out, the final solution.

You might think, what could ten random groups of students possibly come up with? I have to tell you, it’s incredible. Maybe not on the first day, but over the next fifteen weeks they never cease to amaze me. Slowly, as they work their way through several brainstorming exercises, they begin to shift their mindset. Crazy and wild ideas are celebrated. Criticism is not allowed. Their drawings get more refined and creative. They develop their own culture, similar to a company. By week six, the students can’t wait to come to class and see what challenges I will throw at them. I see the “growth mindset” begin to develop and accelerate. They are behaving like young children again just spewing ideas into the air. They are drawing and sketching like they have not since kindergarten. No coloring inside the lines here. By the tenth week, as we move into more complex challenges, they are on fire.

I bring several experts into the classroom and ask them to run structured brainstorming exercises around a big problem or brand challenge. They include founders of companies and creators of brands. The brainstorming exercises are run with the same structure, thirty to forty minutes maximum. We had a world-renowned product design expert challenge the class to create an affordable “luxury” product for the rising millennial target market. One expert challenged the class to create the world’s smallest functional and personal office space. As the student groups presented their drawn solutions, he commented that two of the proposed solutions were impressive, viable, and possible commercial products. An action sports founder and brand expert challenged the class to create an action sports brand and product, from scratch, that solved a specific problem for a defined target audience. In about forty minutes, student groups came up with suggested products and logos, and as they presented their ideas via drawings, the expert commented that he felt there were several potential brands and products in the room.

One of the key elements in brainstorming is to have the moderator or a volunteer list every idea on a surface that everyone on the team can see and then draw the final solution. Why do I always make them draw it?

WHEN WE DRAW, CREATIVITY RULES THE BRAIN

In Chapter 1, I discussed the research and the debate about left-brain (analytical) versus right-brain (creative, visual) thinking when it comes to how people behave. Even though the recent research has concluded that we actually use regions of both halves of the brain when solving problems, the halves of the brain still have their core functional areas. Turns out that when you draw, you actually “quiet” the left side of the brain and really let the right side of the brain be more creative. If I ask you to print the word “box,” your left brain will dominate the assignment. If I ask you to draw a box, your right brain will kick in. If I ask you to draw a colorful 3-D box with a horse on one side, you are really moving into right-brain mode. Another real benefit of drawing out solutions is that the entire team sees the drawing and comes up with even more creative ideas. Why? Their right brains are kicking in; the more they “see” the possible solutions, the less analytical they are and the more open and creative they become. It’s not just a “belief” or a wish; their brains are reacting to visual and drawn stimuli. If you don’t believe me, run your next brainstorming session in a structured time frame, thirty-five or forty minutes, and tell the participants that they cannot talk or take written notes. They have to draw everything, even the early ideas. Use sticky notes that can be placed on a large piece of cardboard or use a whiteboard. Watch what happens. A great by-product of this type of exercise, with no talking, is that there is no criticism of ideas. Plus people visually build on each other’s ideas, drawing new ideas based on combinations of ideas they have just seen. Oh, the brain is firing now!

BRAINSTORMING THE RIGHT WAY: USING TOOLS

I have mentioned that brainstorming without structure can be a waste of time. You need the discipline of understanding the problem first and then, using a limited time frame, the aid of a brainstorming tool. Here are six tools:

1. SCAMPER: This is a great tool that has you analyzing a number of options when looking at a current problem (works well when analyzing a current product or service).

2. IdeaGen: This is a tool similar to mind-mapping where you start with a central problem and branch out to possible solutions.

3. Phoenix List: This is a tool created within and used by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) when tackling cold cases.

4. Blue Ocean Strategy: A purposeful framework, it is used to analyze your current position in a competitive marketplace (the red ocean) and to determine the “blue ocean” you should be in.

5. Tempero: This is a tool you can use to take several “pieces and parts” from existing solutions to create a new solution.

6. Observation Lab: This a great tool that has you really observing what you normally don’t see, hear, smell, etc., in order to create customer-driven improvements.

After using these tools over the past four years at San Diego State University, I can attest that the creative results they produce have been amazing and I would not hold a brainstorming session without using one of them. In the upcoming chapters, I will thoroughly explain each brainstorming tool and give you several examples of real exercises we do as part of our course work.

In Chapter 8, I will provide you with a point of view and reference on why product or service “iteration” is actually the driver of innovation, more so than random innovation itself. Iteration is good. But so many managers and entrepreneurs I meet really don’t look at the opportunity of iterating something better in the marketplace to better meet customers’ needs. Rather, they “think” they need to come up with something “original” or something the world has never seen before. Not necessarily so. In fact, 95 percent or more of new products or services are iterations from existing products or services. It’s not about your “epiphany” idea for a new startup that came to you in the middle of the night or while on a Ferris wheel; it’s about gaps and unmet customer needs in big marketplaces.