Wacky Ideas Are the Key to Effective Innovation
January 11, 2012 by Kevin Michael Gray
Brainstorming by google definition is to 'Produce an idea or way of solving a problem by holding a spontaneous group discussion: 'a brainstorming session.' Usually when a company is in the infancy stage brainstorming is an inevitable and required task that often dominates the schedule; however, once that baby company learns to walk it's gets easier and easier to focus on the tasks and todos rather than the 'production of ideas or war of problem solving.' Today's featured article from Inc.com offers a look into the power of a company endorsed diligent 'brainstorm session.' Read more below:
Once a company starts operating, brainstorming often falls by the wayside. But there's a cost to that—big ideas get missed and, unexpectedly, your team's morale may lag.
So every week I huddle with the team at Kohort, the social media company I co-founded, for a brainstorming session. The group and I meet every Wednesday at 5PM. If we don't have a topic we need to address, we brainstorm one. Sometimes we brainstorm about the future, working through how we want the company to operate years down the road.
While at first glance, this might seem like a waste of time, I know it's not. While it does consume the attention of everyone on the team for an hour—and adds up to quite a few man-hours—it's invaluable.
Brainstorming forces everyone to get out of the weeds and focus on the big picture. It's a chance to come up for air and remember how the whole project fits together and why we're here. Brainstorming makes the North Star shine a little brighter.
Brainstorming forces us all to think deeply and critically. We unveil new ideas and illuminate previously unnoticed shortcomings. We find ways to be better. Sometimes, we change our path.
Most importantly, brainstorming unifies our team. The act of brainstorming weaves our various ideas, hopes, and dreams together. It defines a vision for each topic that unifies divergent perspectives and aligns us more closely around a common goal. In this way, it also—I believe—is helping us to reach our potential.
At Kohort, we use improv to brainstorm.
During my first week at Columbia Business School in the fall of 2007, class was interrupted to do an exercise with an improv troop. Not being much of a thespian, I scowled thinking that my time was about to be wasted. I was totally wrong.
While the leaders of this exercise were actors by trade, they came to Columbia to teach us how to brainstorm. Improv is a unique cross-section of theater and comedy. What's special about it is the absence of a script. With no plans, preparation, or choreography a group of people can create a story on the fly, and do so seamlessly.
The key to the technique I learned then, and have since adapted at Kohort, is a two word phrase: "Yes…and…"
