Brainstorming - the good, bad and ugly

When you are in marketing you are always as good as your last idea. You can come to the table time and time again with innovative thoughts and opinions, but you always want to push yourself to be better every time. Coming up with these ideas in business are not just about you... they come from a team of people with this great art of group think.

Which leads us to, everyone's favourite, the brainstorm. 

Now if you're in the business world these days you know the brainstorm is the new sliced bread. Every company has a brainstorm. 

From as simple as... "Let's brainstorm ideas for the Christmas party!" to as important as... "Let's brainstorm cost cutting measures so we hit our bottom line"

I work in Experiential Marketing. Brainstorms truly are our bread and butter. We are huge proponents of what I like to call "crazy group think"where we take an ordinary idea and together make it an extraordinary idea. That said even in an industry like ours, there are different opinions on the brainstorm process.

Some of the things I tend to hear are..

• Who do we invite to make this successful?
• They always just go off topic!!! How do you CONTROL a brainstorm?
• How do you do this without wasting everyone's time? Nothing as annoying as a silent brainstorm..
• It's always the same 5 people talking. Maybe we should just email them next time!
• Who the heck has the time..

So I did some research to find some answers here. And here the steps I've accumulated to a great brainstorm.

• Research and Prep is Good! Give your attendees some time, tools and documents so they can prepare as much as possible prior to the brainstorm. As we know ideas take time to strike, no need to put anyone on the spot

• Open your Mind: Here's the thing. If you're running the brainstorm it likely means you are the subject matter expert. Now for brainstorms to go successfully you need to get out of your own head. Escape the negative self talk "oh that's never going to sell to the client, they're way too conservative for that" And be open to ideas you wouldn't have thought of. I mean, isn't that the point?

• Create a Positive Space: What I learnt really impacts the ability to brainstorm effectively is: intimidation, laziness, judgement. Creating a positive space is allowing others to comfortably speak their mind without feeling negativity which will continue your conversation more effectively.

“Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom while discouragement often nips it in the bud. Forget quality; aim now to get a quantity of answers. When you’re through, your sheet of paper may be so full of ridiculous nonsense that you’ll be disgusted. Never mind. You’re loosening up your unfettered imagination—making your mind deliver.” - Alex Osborn, BBDO, "Your Creative Power"

• Be Selective: You know, sometimes it's ok to be selective. People always feel there needs to be a sense of inclusion when it comes to brainstorms. But it's ok to only invite specific people. If the brand is for 25-35 year old men, people who fit this demographic within the office will give you the best value of information, right

• Narrow Down: A session at Google taught me something very important - your first brainstorm can be open to others to collect as many ideas as possible. Step 2 is to take the most important people on that project - the account lead, the creative lead, the project manager etc. and narrow down those ideas by actually researching them and quantifying them. This is where your "ahaa" moment usually comes about - this is where one person's ordinary idea of 'what about the colour blue?' Turns into 'blue lagoon in the depths of the ocean' .. something bigger, better, crazier, and more extraordinary.

Need more? Check out this video for more awesomeness

Go ahead! Host a brainstorm! If you do it properly, I know you'll get that gem that you need out of it.