Leadership

    The 10 Commandments of Effective Brainstorming

    The Sins That Ruin Idea Generation

    Redefine Brainstorming If You Want Results

     

    It’s okay to hate Brainstorming.

    I’ve heard it called BrainWasting, BullStorming, BullShifting, or words I won’t use here. Perhaps the most damning comment is simply “why did we bother?” Well, you bother because you need ideas. I can get you there, see below. 

    But first… 

    There have been many studies of brainstorming and articles written. Most (but not all) say it’s a waste of time. Many of these studies start with an outdated notion of what brainstorming is, and usually don’t study real working teams. How you define it (and conduct it) makes a difference. As a person whose facilitated over 1,000 sessions I can tell you this: it can work fabulously, but it’s a tricky recipe for success. 

    We’ve all been in a poorly organized spitball session. It feels energetic for a brief time, then, it devolves into a discussion, boredom, arguments, and ultimately little action. The original guidelines of brainstorming (defer judgment, quantity of ideas, build on ideas, combine, etc.) are ignored.

    Some folks tune out immediately; it’s been measured, it’s called Social Loafing. And, introverts tend to really hate brainstorming because of all the noise, chaos, and people talking over each other. Remember, half of any group is likely to be somewhat introverted. They tune out if care isn’t taken to include them. 

    Rarely does a casual brainstorm generate a breakthrough idea. And, if a good idea doesn’t become a project, some actual real world action, what’s the point?

    But while you’re hating Brainstorming, how exactly are you coming up with the ideas you need? Everybody, and organizations, need ideas to solve problems. So hate all you want, but maybe it’s time to revisit, redefine, and do a better job of how you generate ideas.

    Maybe it’s time to avoid committing brainstorming sins. 

    Let me get to the point here. If you want results you have to do brainstorming differently. Yes, we have to redefine and broaden the concept. Here are the keys to doing that, and making it work in the real world. Here are the 10 Commandments of Effective Brainstorming

    1. Don’t start unless you give a damn and are empowered to take action 
    2. Make sure you’re answering the right question before jamming ideas
    3. Explore the topic area extensively before jamming ideas
    4. Work as individuals first, AND, then work as a team
    5. Work virtually AND in-person, when possible
    6. The more diverse the team, in every sense of the word, the better 
    7. Stretch the idea generation work out over a week or more
    8. A neutral and skilled facilitator improves process and results
    9. The session should include a variety of brainstorming tools (see #8)
    10. Design of the session should include introvert-friendly tools (see #9)

    There is a great deal to say about the 10 Commandments listed above. Collaboration to solve problems is all about culture, incentives, team building, leadership, and more. I could write a book on problem framing, #2, alone. Stay tuned to this blog for more, and, consider one of my virtual training sessions (Effective Brainstorming is coming up on 9/17/2021, via Eventbrite)

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    Tune-In To Taster Tools On Thursday

    Free Weekly Webinar of Facilitation Tools with Gregg Fraley Every Thursday at 2 pm EST, Master Facilitator Gregg Fraley demonstrates a facilitation tool online. The weekly sessions are FREE. Sessions begin on Thursday March 18th. The 30 minute weekly webinar features demonstrations of various facilitation tools for: strategy, challenge clarification, idea generation (aka brainstorming), problem framing, idea selection, innovation projects, and idea development, etc. Thinking Differently Takes Tools At some point everybody needs to think differently. It might be a really thorny, hairy, awful, complex problem. It might be a juicy opportunity you don’t know how to seize. When you ask your mind to think differently, what happens? Does it come easily? Do new thoughts and ideas spring forth? Or,

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    USA Now an Innovation Also-Ran — 11th in World

    USA, Now An Innovation Loser STEM Skills the Major Culprit Suggests a CCC-ish “American Science Corp” This is my annual blog reporting on the Bloomberg Innovation Index 2021 edition. The USA was 9th last year. Now, the USA has fallen to 11th in the annual ranking of innovation by country. Like last year, the continued slide (we were #1 in 2013) is due mostly to lack of investment in hard science, manufacturing, and technology education. See the Bloomberg Innovation Index report for 2020 here. It’s a truly rich report and it gives a great picture of which countries are primed, and are doing, great things. Is it a perfect measure? No. But it’s a hell of an indicator. The USA

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    Innovation By Committee

    Innovation Lessons from Improv Shakespeare The Creative Power of High Function Teams is Astonishing, Rare, and, Possible Getting Beyond “Group Think” Takes Training A committee is where good ideas go to die. This is not good news for innovation teams, because, innovation “teams” are often not teams at all. They are in fact, committees. A committee composed of people from different departments, with non-aligned goals, no team training or bonding, and built-in conflicts. They attempt to work together, but usually fail. It shouldn’t be a surprise, they were set up for failure. It doesn’t have to be this way. Teams can create together and be uber effective. It takes training! Proof: Can you imagine a group of eight people creating

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    USA Falling Behind in Innovation

    Main Culprit? Lack of Education in Science, Manufacturing, Construction, and Engineering Infrastructure and Education Project Idea: Learn, Build, Innovate USA The USA is 9th in the 2020 Bloomberg Innovation Index. The USA leads in a couple of categories, including “High Tech Density” and “Patent Activity” — so that’s good. But that’s not the whole story. Can we agree that innovation drives economies? The stock market is actually a questionable indicator of economic health, particularly looking to the future. The Bloomberg Innovation Index shows broad trends related to a countries ability to create. The ability to create is at the heart of any economy. So, this is our future USA citizens, a slow slide into mediocrity, unless we change. It’s true at the national level, and

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    The Labyrinth of Innovation Death

    The Classic Pitfalls of Innovation Mandates, Training, Process, Talent, Conflict, Risk Where Have Your Initiatives Failed? Innovation programs are like a labyrinth designed to have you lose your way — and die! Organizations fail with initiatives for many reasons, with lots of good intentions. I was thinking about an upcoming talk I’m giving on innovation pitfalls — and got bored looking for graphics. So, I drew this, somewhat funky, diagram. It might be the only slide I need. It’s somewhat self-explanatory but let me make a few remarks: The most important bubble is in yellow. Projects are what drive innovation and change cultures. Getting projects going can help you trump all the other pitfalls. Having a mandate might deserve it’s own

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    Public Innovation Training, NW Indiana

    Public Training Offering — Getting Innovation Started Attention Michiana, NW Indiana, Chicago Establish Fundamentals and Avoid Pitfalls Gregg Fraley Innovation (GFi) and The Society of Innovators at Purdue Northwest Collaborate on Public Training Seminar FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  August 30, 2019 PORTAGE, Ind. — The Society of Innovators at Purdue University Northwest (PNW) is hosting a public innovation educational seminar from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19, at its headquarters located at 6100 Southport Road, Portage, Ind. “Establishing Fundamentals and Avoiding Pitfalls” features innovation expert and author Gregg Fraley of Gregg Fraley Innovation (GFi); La Porte-based innovation practitioner, Earl Miller of Hiler Industries/Accurate Castings; and Sheila Matias, executive director of the Society of Innovators at PNW. The goal

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    Innovation Message Template

    Basic Innovation Messaging to Operational Employees Keep it Straight Forward and Clear Live Up to Your End & Keep Communicating After doing a recent short video (“Innovation Minute”) on basic innovation training for operational employees, I was asked a number of questions. Leaders asked: Where to start? The next was, how much detail should we provide? And then there was the question of what, exactly, to communicate about innovation. It depends. It depends on your goals as an organization, and on how your innovation program is structured. It also depends on your leadership style, and the current state of your innovation culture. What does not depend is if you should. If you’re a leader and you’re not communicating clearly about innovation, you’re not

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    Crossing the Innovation Delaware

    Hope is a Four Letter Word in Innovation Hope — the cornerstone of innovation culture Hope is inspired by successful projects; the lesson of Washington at Trenton In the innovation space there is a great deal of discussion about mindset. Rightfully so, attitude and thinking patterns have everything to do with setting the table for a productive innovation culture. Leaders and followers with the right mindset have a chance to create and succeed with innovation. There’s a lot to learn about inspiring hope from American history, but before we look at that George Washington “crossing the Delaware” example, let’s examine what mindset means, and let’s see what is systematically left out (hint: it’s hope). When people talk about mindset, they are

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    Empower Operational Employees to Innovate

    The Benefits of Innovation Training for Operational Employees 85% of CEOs put Innovation as a Top Three priority Consider a Brown Bag Innovation Training or Immersion in Innovation Concepts Why is it that organizations don’t invest in training operational employees? It’s an opportunity to improve innovation culture that few are taking up. Imagine the impact that basic training in Creative Problem Solving* and innovation concepts would have — more innovation across the entire value chain of the business. Don’t this large group of employees deserve a Brown Bag Innovation Training? Or better yet a full immersion in Innovation Concepts?  Forbes says innovation training is one of the 12 factors a company needs, to establish a more inventive culture. Companies are investing in innovation

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