Brainstorming
The company had grown just large enough to begin to silo. I wanted the best product ideas out of our team of subject matter experts. I adopted the Ideo.org method, and conducted whole-company brainstorming over two days.
At IDEO.org we have seven little rules that unlock the creative power of a brainstorming session.
IDEO.org Brainstorm Rules (paraphrased)
- Defer judgement
- Encourage wild ideas
- Use “Yes, and” to build on the ideas of others
- Stay on-topic
- One conversation at a time
- Be visual
- “Go for quantity. Aim for as many new ideas as possible. In a good session, up to 100 ideas are generated in 60 minutes. Crank the ideas out quickly and build on the best ones.”
Rules
In my introduction, I set the scope of ideas broadly. I stressed the fast pace and the fun aspects of the rules. To illustrate “wild ideas” and “Yes, and…” I used the ridiculous example of keeping monkeys. “Yes! And — We’ll rent them out!”
Working Individually
Team members got 15 minutes to work individually, and produce as many new ideas as possible. Each person selected a chunk of wall or window and a color of sticky note.
Pair Collaboration
In pair collaboration, we presented and then built upon each other’s ideas.
Put Similar Ideas Together
As a group, we walked around and placed similar ideas close together. The size of each cluster corellated roughly with the gravity of the idea.
Select Ideas for Group Development
After a walk-through of all the ideas, we selected a few to develop further as a group.
Bringing Ideas to Life
Over the course of the next three development years, scores of the brainstorming ideas were vetted in Roadmap meetings, and several became new and disruptive offerings. Management and staff agreed that our two days were well-spent. Sadly, we never acquired the monkey.