The idea of brainstorming has become an integral part of most organizations today, but in the process of becoming ubiquitous, it lost something. The invitation, “Let’s brainstorm that,” means typically that a group gathers in the conference room, and the convener invites ideas – then proceeds to shoot them down as fast as they come up. Brainstorming has become compressed and made more efficient – killing the real purpose of the activity in the process.
The whole point of brainstorming ideas is to let your creativity shine. You need to be very careful not to let criticism stifle the creativity. The creative process must be supported, nurtured, and embraced wholeheartedly to generate the best results. To that end, I’ve developed The Ten Commandments of Ideation, universal rules that will establish a framework for your imagination and creativity.
Print out a copy of these rules and tape them to the wall before any brainstorming session. I’d also suggest ringing a bell, kazoo, drum, or other noisemaker to the session. Every time someone breaks one of the commandments, loudly ring the bell or beat the drum. Make your whole team responsible for enforcing these rules and holding each other accountable. Think of these ten rules as non-negotiable, and make sure everyone on your team agrees to them before any idea generation begins.
1. Thou Shall Not Judge. As ideas begin to flow, you must do everything in your power to let them flow. No person should be allowed to offer any judgment on any idea. The idea-generation phase is about generating ideas, not ranking them. Just let the ideas flow like the mighty Amazon in this phase. There will be plenty of time to evaluate them later.
2. Thou Shall Not Comment. Even if the person next to you throws out the stupidest idea you’ve ever heard, let the process continue. The slightest comment or criticism will change the mood in the room and the group will start to clam up. You should avoid any and all commentary, since it will distract the ideation process. The objective is to bring ideas to the surface, not to discuss them. The only acceptable comment is a very short “wow”, “cool”, or “sweeeeeet.”
3. Thou Shall Not Edit. Don’t let your inner editor join the session. At this point, it doesn’t matter where the comma goes in the sentence, or how to best word something. The font choice, color palate, and idea name are irrelevant. Editing is a left-brain activity and is a completely separate process from idea-generation. Keep them that way. First, let the ideas come out; sloppy and uninhibited. Later on, you’ll have plenty of time to edit.
4. Thou Shall Not Execute. The second an idea hits the whiteboard, you can easily become distracted by thinking about execution. You’ll wonder how the idea will come to life. Who will run it? What will it cost? What does the project plan look like? What are the financial implications? Where will the work take place? When will we begin? These are great questions for later, but should be avoided at this stage in the process. This is your left-brain in all its glory sneaking in and vying for a seat at the table. As important as this type of thinking may be, it will quickly crush your creativity so make sure to keep it out of the room.
5. Thou Shall Not Worry. Fear is the single biggest blocker of creativity. It has been pounded into us since childhood. We were trained that there is only one right answer and that mistakes were horrible, evil events that should be avoided no matter what. You need to release the fear in order to unshackle your true creative potential. If you are leading the group, you may want to reinforce this before you begin. Tell your colleagues that every idea matters and the whole point of the exercise is to get a lot of ideas on the board. Encourage people to let it all hang out. You need to create an environment where people feel comfortable taking risks and have no fear of embarrassment or negative consequences. The best way to encourage this is to set an example. If the leader isn’t afraid to toss out silly, outrageous ideas, it will set the stage for others to release their fears as well and let their most creative thinking come out.
6. Thou Shall Not Look Backwards. While we can learn a lot from the past, it can also limit our ability to reinvent the future. Holding back an idea because “we tried that six years ago and it didn’t work out so well” is a highly limiting belief. Think about how much the world changes each day. An idea today is coming into the world with an entirely new set of circumstances, market conditions, technologies, and customer tastes. The idea that didn’t work in the past may have just been ahead of its time. Or perhaps that idea, when revisited, leads to a revised idea that carries the day. Don’t let the past inhibit your thinking. Every idea is new at this moment, and you should share every one of them that you believe has merit.
7. Thou Shall Not Lose Focus. Idea sessions can easily break down in wandering and woolgathering, so don’t let your brainstorm energy get lured down another path. Maybe an idea reminds someone of a story that she feels compelled to tell at that instant. Perhaps you begin to drift off into solving a different creative challenge, or discussing a completely different topic. The right-brain, creative state is so rare and so refreshing, the energy and excitement may cause your team to wander. To solve this, keep a “Parking Lot List”. If other, unrelated topics come up, just add them to your Parking Lot List to be discussed at another time. This keeps the group focused on the task at hand while still making sure that important concepts get discussed later.
8. Thou Shall Not Sap Energy. There are two types of people in the world – Zappers and Sappers. When you are with a Zapper, you feel energized. You become engaged, you lean forward, you feel stimulated. This enhanced state is ideal for creative expression. On the other hand, there are the Sappers. These are the folks that drain your energy. You could have just had six shots of espresso and four Red Bulls, yet you want to fall asleep after speaking with them for five minutes. In the same way you are used to managing the clock or managing a budget, you should think about managing energy. The collective energy of the room can build into a frenzy, unleashing brilliant ideas while having a great time. Or it can devolve into yet another boring, BlackBerry-checking, clock-watching, drone session. Do everything you can to keep the energy up. High-fives, cheers, and positive vibes for all. Don’t allow negativity and energy-draining commentary to suck the life out of the room while sucking the life of your creativity.
9. Thou Shall Not Compare. Comparing is an insidious form of criticism and it needs to be checked at the door with all the other left-brain habits. Comparing usually contains an implicit criticism (“That’s like the idea Jim had back in 05,” sounds harmless enough on the face of it, but think again. Remember Jim? Everyone hated him.)
10. Thou Shall Not Make Funny at Others’ Expense. Brainstorming can become quite jolly, and the temptation to start joking about the offerings will be hard to resist. But resist it you must, because laughter at the expense of an idea is a fast way to kill it.
Follow these commandments assiduously in order to prevent your brainstorming sessions from wasting everyone’s time and only coming up with the same three safe – and probably useless – ideas the group had the last time. Brainstorming is a profoundly useful creative technique, but only if you use it properly.