In today’s business climate where people frequently do things because that is always how it has been done, it can be hard to find revolutionary ideas. But innovations do exist out there, and entrepreneurs who can mine them from employees can improve the bottom line while preparing for the future.
The lumber and pallet industries are mature markets facing consolidation, international pressure and other factors that make thinking outside of the box critical for future success. Getting the next big idea may be easier than you think. You just have to know were to look and how to extract it.
Recently, I heard about a successful entrepreneur in the pallet industry who regularly makes lunch for his senior management. These informal meetings have become a casual way for the CEO to connect with his managers, mine new ideas out of them and boost moral in a casual environment. The executive has an old house away from the plant that he uses for his office. He whips together something scrumptious in the kitchen for his senior staff and listens as his managers discuss the business and its growing pains.
A tad different than the typical brainstorming session, but it seems to work for this successful entrepreneur, who runs one of the largest, most progressive pallet companies in the Midwest. For starters, the CEO sets the tone by serving his staff, which is different from the heavy handed approach used by some managers. The setting is informal and away from the rest of the office. Managers can feel free to share without worrying who will hear it. There are no dry erase boards or paid consultants. It’s just food and honest conversation in a cozy atmosphere. You may find that this approach works for you. But then again, you may want to use one of the more conventional methods. Either way, if you aren’t listening to your managers and staff, how do you know what is really going on in your business?
What is a brainstorm?
brain ·storm
Pronunciation: -”storm
Function: noun
1 : a violent transient fit of insanity
2 a : a sudden bright idea b : a harebrained idea
brain ·storm ·ing
Pronunciation: -”stor-mi[ng]
Function: noun
: a group problem-solving technique that involves the spontaneous contribution of ideas from all members of the group
(Source: Merriam – Webster’s Online Dictionary)
Brainstorms are not the same as board meetings or staff meetings. Brainstorms are not sessions to study and evaluate every pro and con of a particular idea. Brainstorms are sessions designed to generate a lot of ideas knowing that many of them may not work. You are hoping to find the next big thing by not dismissing anything… no matter how outlandish it may appear. The keywords are “violent”, “insanity” and “spontaneous.” You want as many ideas popping out as possible. The best way to kill creativity is to try to run a brainstorm like a controlled board meeting. Eureka moments happen when the pressure is off and people feel free to share. The best ideas may even come from those without a lot of expertise in the area being discussed. Their level of experience is less likely to outright dismiss an idea that others decide not to suggest due to practical barriers.
Experts suggest involving people with a blend of backgrounds and experiences in a typical brainstorm activity. During the session participants are encouraged to share as many ideas as possible no matter how “wild” they may be. The session leader presents a specific problem, challenge or scenario for the group to discuss. It’s all about quantity not quality of ideas. Participants are encouraged to concentrate only on the positive aspects of each idea. This makes people feel free to share without worrying about losing face with co-workers or management. It is important that people leave the session feeling that their ideas were given a fair shake. The tone set in one brainstorming session will impact the attitude of participants in the future.
The job of the session leader is to keep the ideas flowing, not to tightly control the meeting or dominate it in any way. He helps enforce the basic rules of the meeting by steering the discussion away from too much evaluation or criticism by any member of the group, including the CEO. He asks the group to look at things from different perspectives. He may change the dynamic of a particular thing by presenting odd scenarios or asking ‘what if’ questions. Word association and brainstorming games are common tools used to generate ideas.
People can piggyback off one another’s ideas if they are recorded in such a way that the group can see what has already been mentioned. Someone is assigned the responsibility to record the ideas that emerge. It could be done on a board, computer, etc.
Analysis of ideas is held off until the end or may even be reserved for another meeting. Ideas are evaluated based on the quality of the concept not who said it. Concepts should be evaluated fairly, giving everyone the opportunity to comment.
Finding the elusive eureka idea is not something you can force. You can’t just sit down with a blank piece of paper and will yourself to be creative. Sometimes if you try too hard to find the solution, you won’t get it because the analytical part of the brain can shut down the creative part. Making the right atmosphere is important.
Why do the best ideas seem to come while in the shower or driving away from the office? Sometimes you have to get away from the place where the problem exists. Creativity tends to come when the mind is engaged without being overwhelmed by something – a paradoxical blend of attention and relaxation. Showering is a fairly mindless activity, a neutral state where the mind can be free to roam. There is not anything else there to shoot down our ideas. And we tend to be fairly relaxed in the shower. While I’m not encouraging you to install a shower in your conference room, there are lessons we can learn from this fairly simple observation. People need to get away sometimes to think clearly. They also need to feel safe to share their ideas. And they need to be relaxed. There is nothing wrong with identifying a problem to solve as long as we don’t stress out over it.
Sometimes you have to take a break and come back to the brainstorm after a short recess in order to jump start creativity. According to experts, most people reach a wall part way through the brainstorm. They may tend to think they are done at this point. But if the group takes a break, ideas tend to flow again. Frequently, the best ideas come in the second half of a session after a break.
Paul Paulus, a researcher at the University of Texas at Arlington, has studied the science of brainstorming. His research showed that groups that take a break can generate 66% more ideas than those that work straight through the session. Don’t be afraid to take a break it can actually help people focus better.
Is Going Solo the Best Approach?
Emerging research has challenged the traditional view that group-based brainstorming produces more ideas as people feed off each other. About 40 studies have demonstrated that individual brainstormers produce more ideas than groups do. “We call it ‘the illusion of group effectiveness,’” says Paulus. “You have a bunch of people sitting on their butts not thinking very much but enjoying the excitement, the vicarious thrill of someone coming up with a good idea.”
Simply being a group creates a whole set of distractions and concerns that can keep people from sharing ideas. There is unspoken peer pressure to come up with only good ideas or conform to what the majority seems to think is right. People may we concerned about pleasing the boss or supporting ideas that upper management comes up with. People may feel restricted from sharing off the wall ideas even though they may hold the answers to the problems. Dealing with all of these concerns, who can feel free to concentrate on having a good idea?
The trick is to capture the efficiencies of an individual while tapping into the synergy of a group brainstorm. You can do this by having people do private brainstorming before joining a group or you can have people write down their ideas and share them with a group via the Internet or some other interactive communication medium.
Brainstorming Techniques & Tips
One of the first things you need to determine is whether you need to use a brainstorming session at all. A brainstorming session should be used for generating lots of new ideas and solutions. It should not be used for analysis or for decision making. Of course you will need to analyze and judge the ideas but this is done afterwards and the analysis process does not involve brainstorming techniques.
Asking the right question is where a good brainstorming session starts. The question should not be too broad so that the task seems overwhelming. And it should not be too narrow as to discourage creativity.
Whatever you ask the group to ponder, it’s important that brainstorming focus on quantity of ideas not quality. While there may be truly bad ideas, the brainstorming session is not a place for much critical analysis.
Appoint a discussion facilitator and a secretary. The job of the facilitator is to make sure the team as a whole follows the brainstorming rules. The secretary’s job is to write down statements that a majority of the team thinks are important. These key positions should focus on their tasks not idea generation.
Brainstorms usually start with a warm-up period. Some facilitators use games or other creative methods to stimulate the brain.
A time limit should be established from the beginning. Taking a break in the middle is recommended too. Brainstorming sessions normally don’t last more than one hour. Thirty to forty five minutes is a good time limit to set.
The facilitator should not dominate the group or impose his will upon it. Instead, the facilitator makes sure that the rules of brainstorming are obeyed, and tries to keep the discussion focused on the topic. If the facilitator is a company leader or boss, he should avoid contributing his own ideas so as to avoid any bias that could result. Consider using round tables with no obvious ‘head of the table’ to keep from setting the tone of any one person dominating the session.
The secretary should write down each idea without recording his own bias. The secretary should act as just a detached reporter, recording the facts. Everyone in the session should be able to check the secretary’s notes for accuracy.
Don’t be afraid to base your ideas on the ideas of others. Instead of knocking down someone’s idea because you see a problem with it, come up with a new idea that builds on it by correcting the problem that you perceive.
There are a number of creative ways to spark brainstorms. Some people will have the group look through a bunch of magazines or surf the Web for new ways of doing things. Others will have the group study something in detail. They might even take the whole thing apart to discuss individual components of something. Some facilitators take the brainstormers out of the office environment to play a game, tour a facility from a different industry to see how they do things, or simply find a more relaxing atmosphere to stimulate thought than the corporate conference room. Facilitators may throw out unusual scenarios to get the group jump started if ideas stop flowing. Whoever is going to facilitate the session should do some research on how to run a brainstorm. You might even want to consider bringing an expert facilitator once or twice per year to see how they do it.
The next time you are looking for the elusive big idea that will revolutionize your company consider using a brainstorming session to mine for it. While you might stumble upon it by accident one day driving to work, you are more likely to come upon it faster if you make innovation a priority in your company.
