Ideas and Innovation • Strategy and Planning • Client Conversations

Sparks and provocations to inspire and ignite...

A classic brainstorming question begins with the phrase “how could we…” But that can bring the same old answers and ideas. Turbo charge your team’s thinking. Take on the customer mindset and reframe the question from “how could we…” to “I wish they would…”

Strategists often use the 5 Why’s technique to determine the root cause of a problem. Each answer receives the repeated question: why? But simply change “why” to “how” and suddenly you have a powerful tool for quickly building, defining and enriching your ideas.

Want to know what your clients are really, really thinking? Ask them differently. The same tools used to generate ideas in a brainstorm can also stimulate dialog and extract clarity in your client meetings.

The problem isn’t that virtual brainstorms don’t work. It’s that those virtual brainstorms are coming too soon in the process. So before you get on Zoom, get your team thinking. Virtual brainstorms become busier and more productive when people arrive with thought starters already in hand.

If the energy in your brainstorm starts sagging, play Fired Then Hired and get everyone talking again. Each person jots down ideas that’ll surely get them fired. Toss the ideas into a basket. Now everyone takes turns picking a Fired idea and transforming it into a concept sure to get them Hired.

If you can’t say your idea in one simple sentence, you don’t really have an idea. So after brainstorming, create an Idea Billboard for each concept—one sentence plus one image. Your ideas will make more sense. And they’ll be a lot easier to move forward.

Brainstorms are supposed to be noisy. Increase the volume in the room and you’ll raise the volume of ideas coming out of it. Here’s how: 1. Let everyone be heard. 2. Instead of judging ideas, build upon them. 3. Write down everything.

What if people just won’t talk? Give everyone a magic marker. Have them each write a thought-starter in the center of a huge sheet of paper and post it on the wall. Then send everyone walking around the room to add their own thoughts, ideas and plus-ups to every sheet.

The best technique for propelling ideas occurs before your brainstorm even begins: Have each participant arrive with one thought starter already in hand. This little bit of homework gives every brainstorm a productive, high energy head start.

Interesting brainstorm questions lead to more exciting answers. So frame the challenge in a way that energizes your team’s thinking. Here's how: 1. Express the challenge simply and directly 2. Use positive language 3. Avoid assumptions and implied solutions 4. Start with “How can we…?”

“Creativity” is not the only criteria for an invitation to brainstorm. Because great thinking comes from passionate people. So include participants that can bring the passion of personal experience to your problem—and gain the inspiration that can only come from real life.

For those of us that talk about “thinking outside the box,” author Chris Griffiths offers a point of view well worth considering: “But what if there is no box? If you can realize what the box is and remove it, you can unlock unlimited streams of creativity.”

Develop big ideas with lasting impact by brainstorming what your brand will be known for five—or even fifty—years from now. First describe in the fullest detail what your brand’s wonderful future looks like. And then brainstorm ways to get there now.

Got a quiet group? Have a silent brainstorm. Everyone gets 3 minutes to write 3 ideas on separate sheets of paper and then passes them to the left. Each person builds on the ideas in front of them and then passes them again. Rinse and repeat until every idea has made it all the way around the room.

Your brainstorm’s most important tool is the big sheet of paper hanging on the wall. Because those notes scribbled in magic marker don’t just capture ideas. They build consensus.

Brainstorms are all about asking questions, such as “how might we?” and “what if?” Their answers can lead to big ideas. But even the big ideas that everyone loves deserve a gut check. And there’s a question built specifically for that: “Why will anyone care?”

Sparks and provocations to inspire and ignite...

A classic brainstorming question begins with the phrase “how could we…” But that can bring the same old answers and ideas. Turbo charge your team’s thinking. Take on the customer mindset and reframe the question from “how could we…” to “I wish they would…”

Strategists often use the 5 Why’s technique to determine the root cause of a problem. Each answer receives the repeated question: why? But simply change “why” to “how” and suddenly you have a powerful tool for quickly building, defining and enriching your ideas.

Want to know what your clients are really, really thinking? Ask them differently. The same tools used to generate ideas in a brainstorm can also stimulate dialog and extract clarity in your client meetings.

The problem isn’t that virtual brainstorms don’t work. It’s that those virtual brainstorms are coming too soon in the process. So before you get on Zoom, get your team thinking. Virtual brainstorms become busier and more productive when people arrive with thought starters already in hand.

If the energy in your brainstorm starts sagging, play Fired Then Hired and get everyone talking again. Each person jots down ideas that’ll surely get them fired. Toss the ideas into a basket. Now everyone takes turns picking a Fired idea and transforming it into a concept sure to get them Hired.

If you can’t say your idea in one simple sentence, you don’t really have an idea. So after brainstorming, create an Idea Billboard for each concept—one sentence plus one image. Your ideas will make more sense. And they’ll be a lot easier to move forward.

Brainstorms are supposed to be noisy. Increase the volume in the room and you’ll raise the volume of ideas coming out of it. Here’s how: 1. Let everyone be heard. 2. Instead of judging ideas, build upon them. 3. Write down everything.

What if people just won’t talk? Give everyone a magic marker. Have them each write a thought-starter in the center of a huge sheet of paper and post it on the wall. Then send everyone walking around the room to add their own thoughts, ideas and plus-ups to every sheet.

The best technique for propelling ideas occurs before your brainstorm even begins: Have each participant arrive with one thought starter already in hand. This little bit of homework gives every brainstorm a productive, high energy head start.

Interesting brainstorm questions lead to more exciting answers. So frame the challenge in a way that energizes your team’s thinking. Here's how: 1. Express the challenge simply and directly 2. Use positive language 3. Avoid assumptions and implied solutions 4. Start with “How can we…?”

“Creativity” is not the only criteria for an invitation to brainstorm. Because great thinking comes from passionate people. So include participants that can bring the passion of personal experience to your problem—and gain the inspiration that can only come from real life.

For those of us that talk about “thinking outside the box,” author Chris Griffiths offers a point of view well worth considering: “But what if there is no box? If you can realize what the box is and remove it, you can unlock unlimited streams of creativity.”

Develop big ideas with lasting impact by brainstorming what your brand will be known for five—or even fifty—years from now. First describe in the fullest detail what your brand’s wonderful future looks like. And then brainstorm ways to get there now.

Got a quiet group? Have a silent brainstorm. Everyone gets 3 minutes to write 3 ideas on separate sheets of paper and then passes them to the left. Each person builds on the ideas in front of them and then passes them again. Rinse and repeat until every idea has made it all the way around the room.

Your brainstorm’s most important tool is the big sheet of paper hanging on the wall. Because those notes scribbled in magic marker don’t just capture ideas. They build consensus.

Brainstorms are all about asking questions, such as “how might we?” and “what if?” Their answers can lead to big ideas. But even the big ideas that everyone loves deserve a gut check. And there’s a question built specifically for that: “Why will anyone care?”

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