With all the news these days, people can start to feel a little down. A brainstorming session can do wonders to improve the mood in the office. And you never know, you might get some great new ideas to help the flow in the workplace as a bonus.
Brainstorming sessions generally work well with groups of 15 and under. It’s also okay to have a good brainstorming session with just three or four people, and it’s not impossible to do it with just two, like in the advertising business.
For the purpose of this article, let’s stick with the idea of a small group of maybe 6 to 12 people or so. Now every brainstorming session should have a leader and it may be a good idea to assign someone to be the scribe who can jot down ideas as they quickly come up while the leader maintains friendly control over the group. Some companies will hire a qualified consultant to lead the brainstorming session, or a manager who is well-suited for this type of activity may be preferred.
As I mentioned earlier, the real world can be a bit depressing with all the problems that occur, however, it is very important that brainstorming sessions keep an optimistic and positive attitude. Let them know up front that any negative or detractor Nelly will be asked to “try again later” and that the decision will be up to the leader and that is final. Perhaps one person is feeling a little under the weather and can’t ‘get in shape’, although they may be the ones who can benefit most from the session. You will have to be a careful judge in that matter.
Let’s take a moment to discuss “R” Directed Thought, and “L” Directed Thought, and the “symphony” that occurs between the two. First, let me mention a book I just read that has seriously inspired me to write this article for you. The book is called A Whole New Mind Why the Right Brains Will Rule the Future by Daniel H. Pink. Pink has a clear command of the way the world works, a former White House speechwriter, his wisdom on social, economic and cultural trends challenges the conventional wisdom of industrial-age technocratic thinking and sheds light on our real powers of creativity. If this subject is an unexplored area for you, Pink’s book, now available in paperback, is more than a “must read,” it may become one of his favorite tools in his toolbox.
As Pink explains in her compelling and thought-provoking book, the left and right brains are not completely separate, and certainly the two sides work together, in “symphony,” but not at the expense of either. Especially for our creative Brainstorming “jam-session”.
Understand the benefits of a brainstorming session.
Of course, our first impression of a brainstorming session would be that an idea will come up and we will all hit the jackpot. The productivity of the company will explode and we will all become millionaires overnight. Wrong. Of course, you don’t want to rule it out, but it’s a long shot. However, if the brainstorming session is handled correctly, you can almost guarantee that you will get some very positive results.
Please don’t end up in 15 or 20 frustrating minutes with a room full of disappointed faces. Daniel Pink mentions in his book The Five Essential Rules for Brainstorming, where he credits Tom Kelly’s excellent book, The Ten Faces of Innovation.
These are the five rules:
1. Go by Quantity. Set a goal for a certain number of ideas to write down on the board, flip chart, screen, or whatever. It could be 50. It could be 100. It may depend on how many minutes you have for your meeting. But with lots of ideas, you can get some great ones later.
2. Encourage wild ideas. If some balls fall into the stands, keep hitting. Encourage, support and encourage, even the most crazy and even crazy ideas. This is where you can bring the naysayers up a notch and have some fun. If you’re still stuck with a real bitter, don’t risk bringing down the whole room, the session is meant to get you into the creative mind, have a little fun and build some positive expectations. Of course no one gets beat up here, but if a real stick in the mud is still in the room, they should be asked to leave and “try again another day”, no hard feelings. Just keep coming up with those crazy ideas. (Let’s hope it’s not the CEO or General Manager who is sour—trust me, it happens! If it does, give them a copy of Pink’s A Whole New Mind—with a smile, of course. They’ll thank you later.)
3. Be visual. Creativity can be unlocked using graphic images. An excellent topic to start a discussion is using tape and scissors and five minutes to cut out some pictures from magazines to create a new and wacky invention, fad, design or product. (Put the tools away after 5 minutes) Or just try drawing on paper, there are many techniques in this area. But keep rule number two in mind.
4. Defer trial. There are no bad ideas, wacky, wacky, wacky – all calls are good. If you’re hearing laughter in your brainstorming session, you’re on the right track. Light-hearted, creative, playful fun is the essence of right-brain-directed thinking.
5. Please, one conversation at a time. A little friendly, firm control is good. The leader will listen, be courteous, and allow group participation to build on the ideas and suggestions of others. Sometimes the room can roar, so let’s get everyone’s ideas to the best of our ability, in turn.
Participants in the brainstorming session are not required to summarize everything. That can be done later by the leader. It is quite possible that some great moments occurred at that meeting. A very rewarding bond may have been produced. More than likely some people have been supported by others and encouraged like never before since they worked there. It is very likely that some friendships have grown and new levels of communication have emerged between people who have rarely spoken to each other before. It may be that in the coming days or weeks these new communication skills will benefit the function and purpose of the company and also create a rewarding sense of camaraderie and teamwork within the group.
The concept of being able to enjoy yourself in the workplace is growing by leaps and bounds. There will be plenty of holdovers from the bygone days of industrialism and technocratic thinking, where there is little room for light-hearted, creative thinking. In our current days, as we all know, a lot of technical functions are easily outsourced, while the ability to be personable and a creative problem solver is becoming much more valuable, the workplace atmosphere must be able to change enough to support this. The alternatives are bleak.
Our brainstorming sessions can bring more than a few good ideas into the flow and function of business operations. Meaningful relationships within the group generally equate to a happy crew. The very idea of ”meaning” stems from a sense of purpose, a sense of belonging and acceptance because every relationship, on many levels, is personal. A touch of recognition from management, in understanding and being able to focus on the well-being of people, can change the reason and meaning of what we are all doing at work.
If these are the results of the brainstorming sessions, it could be a significant and positive change to hold these sessions regularly. As mentioned in Daniel Pink’s book, work and play are not opposites. He goes on to explain how the opposite of gambling is depression. With a bit of right-brain-led thinking, it becomes clear how creativity, a bit of fun, and a positive atmosphere can bring a lot of meaning to one’s work.
Enjoy!
