Brainstorming Sessions
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Alex Osborn was an advertising director of a major company. He was the first to develop a great technique to generate ideas for slogans and ad campaigns for their new products. He would get ideas from his employees by meeting with them as a group around a table. They would make an outline of the problem and have them come up with any crazy idea they could think of. A few of the ideas turned out to be masters of innovation. He later coined the phrase “brainstorming” for idea-facilitation. It is still being used all over the world in top companies and by creative people.
Brainstorming sessions are the best way to provoke creative thought and ideas for business innovation, writing, marketing, school projects, or anything else that requires creative ideas or problem solving skills.
There are a couple of brainstorming sessions you can have, you can go with the traditional session, or you can have your own “wildcatting” session. Brainstorming sessions are a technique that generates a lot of ideas in a very short amount of time. It is meant to bypass the logical “censor” in the brain and allow the creative side to be released.
If you choose to go the traditional group brainstorming sessions, then you will have a group of 6 to 12 who are familiar with the topic covered. It is good to have everyone actually come in with their own ideas written down to start with. There will be one person who will be the facilitator, keeping the session flowing. There will be someone else to write the ideas on a board for everyone to see.
Arrange the group in a way that will not be threatening, with all the participants facing each other and the scribe at on side. Encourage everyone to participate and throw out their ideas. Make sure they know that anything goes, and there will not be any judging whatsoever. The key here is the most ideas, not the best ideas.
Some tips for success in your brainstorming sessions:
1. Zero tolerance for any criticism or judgment. There will not be words or facial expressions of ridicule.
2. Faster the better. The faster the ideas are coming, the less time for the brain to start thinking logically. It’s the illogical ideas that are the most creative and productive.
