- Creative savant Sam Harrison once said,
"Brainstorms are called brainstorms
because they should be stormy."
You naturally want your ideation session
to be vibrant and active.
But as we know from physics class,
bodies at rest tend to stay at rest.
The creative mind is very similar.
If you want participants to think freely and creatively,
it helps to start that fire with a creative match.
Remember, your Stormers were just engaged
in another activity, doing their work,
in a meeting or helping to solve another problem.
You can provide a buffer between what they were doing
and what they're about to do
by offering a creative exercise.
Before you get into the particulars
of the problem you're there to solve,
take 10 minutes to start with a fun, creative exercise.
This can be anything from a simple squiggle exercise
to something more elaborate, like a construction exercise.
I've started brainstorming sessions
having participants build action figures out of Play-Doh
and office supplies, draw futuristic desks,
turn squiggles into other objects,
write jingles using predefined words and phrases,
create stories from the middle out
or engage in comedy improv,
yes, and conversations with another Stormer.
Try to form your creative exercises around the subject
of the problem you're solving that session
or engage in a similar type of problem solving.
For instance, at the beginning of a brainstorm session
to develop ideas for a pet industry ad campaign,
I started with a creative exercise called And, So, But.
I paired up the Stormers
and gave them the beginning to a story.
You're out walking your dog when he suddenly
finds something interesting.
- Their sentence test to begin with and.
Their sentence so,
but, and, so, but, so you're going to have a conversation,
but the sentence has to begin with alternating words,
and, so, but, and, so, but, and, so, but, okay.
- This structure helps the story take shape as the two,
volleyball it back and forth.
After five minutes,
I call time and ask them to share their last sentence.
- What was your, what was your last sentence?
- So there's a guy with a cello walking down the street.
(laughing)
- What was your last sentence?
- Ah, and is the ball the issue?
(laughing)
- And what was your last sentence?
- But jello consistency is jello.
- Inevitably, each team was in a very different place.
A fact that I used as an analogy for the brainstorm session.
We're about to kick off.
I wanted them to see how we can all start in the same place,
but end up in vastly different places.
If we're willing to explore every path.
By starting your session with something fun,
it relieves the tension and pressure that naturally comes
with problem solving and sets the tone for the type of
freedom they can expect throughout the session.
If you're looking for examples of creative exercises,
there are a number of predefined exercises,
as well as resources for hundreds more
in the resources folder of this course.