Who do you typically brainstorm with? The same group of people, time after time? Do you ever detect a certain “sameness” in the ideas generated?

Are you surprised???

The quality and creative yield of ideas in any brainstorming session will only be as good as the people who make up the group. In today’s highly competitive, innovation-driven marketplace, truly breakthrough thinking almost always depends upon high quality collaboration.

In his book, Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration, author Keith Sawyer explains, “When we collaborate, creativity unfolds across people; the sparks fly faster, and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Collaboration drives creativity because innovation always emerges from a series of sparks—never a single flash of insight. This is the essence of group creativity.”

Group Creativity and Flow

The most productive brainstorming sessions occur when the group becomes so absorbed in their activity that they slip into a state of creative flow. Flow is that peak performance state athletes refer to as “The Zone.” It occurs when a group becomes single-mindedly focused in its creative problem solving activity, all sense of time, place, and self-consciousness (ego) disappear. Everyone feels highly alert and on top of their game. It is under these conditions that a unified sense of effortless collaboration emerges; the group begins to function as a single, collective mind that intuitively knows the best ways to build upon, amplify, or refine one another’s ideas.

Clearly, selecting the most appropriate and effective group for your specific challenge is the key to an enjoyable, super-productive idea generation session.

Creating a “Dream Team’ vs. Inviting the “Usual Suspects”

If you were a basketball coach with your eye set on the championship, you would want to assemble an all-star, powerhouse team of accomplished players. You wouldn’t settle for a mixed bag of amateurs that just happened to be nearby and were easy to recruit. To assemble this “Dream Team,” you would scout for the most talented athletes who possessed the specific skills, talent and experience your team would need to win.

Likewise, when faced with a tough business challenge, shouldn’t you carefully evaluate who in your organization or network possesses the best knowledge, skills and experience to successfully tackle the challenge? Shouldn’t your goal be to assemble the smartest, most capable, most creative problem-solving all-stars you can find?

Surprisingly, few brainstorm leaders invest adequate time or effort in this important step. They forego any due diligence scouting and more often than not simply extend invitations to the “usual suspects” (those who work in the same department or division, or work on the same product, service, account, etc.). Most don’t even consider the value of inviting “outsiders,” since they already know and feel comfortable with the usual suspects. After all, “the team” understands your product, service, goods, or process; and they understand the underlying issues, situation, and challenges, right? Aren’t these people the best qualified to help you develop innovative solutions to your problem?

Not necessarily.

Conformity/uniformity in thinking (groupthink), a lack of objectivity or perspective, internal politics or infighting, personal agendas, and a general aversion to risk-taking or radical new ideas are all common pitfalls experienced when the same group of people come together repeatedly to generate ideas. When participants work under the same conditions and circumstances, confront the same challenges day in and day out, repeatedly run into the same limitations or obstacles, and share the same assumptions about what is or is not possible, options can appear scarce—boxing in the group’s thinking abilities.

The power of diversity

Who you invite to your brainstorming session can have a dramatic impact on your productivity and the session’s ultimate success. When you deliberately recruit a diverse group of participants—an all-star team from different backgrounds, cultures, genders, age, talents, skills, knowledge, expertise and perspectives—you exponentially increase your group’s ability to deliver innovative solutions.

In Group Genius, Keith Sawyer also writes, “…when solving complex, non-routine problems, groups are more effective when they’re composed of people who have a variety of skills, knowledge, and perspective.” He goes on to say, “The reason groups are so effective at generating innovation is that they bring together far more concepts and bodies of knowledge than any one person can. Group genius can happen only if the brains in the team don’t contain all the same stuff.”

7 ways to enhance diversity in your groups

1. Invite a mix of generations. Boomers, Gen-X, Millennials… They each bring a different generational perspective, values and skill sets, cultural reference points, beliefs, attitudes and archetypes.
2. Invite a range of expertise, professional backgrounds, and specialties. Great ideas can come from anyone. People from any discipline, even one not directly related to the challenge at hand, may offer incredible insights and value. Chances are someone has already solved a problem similar to yours in a different company, industry or country.
3. Balance gender and social orientation. Just as different generations can provide a variety of perspectives, so can individuals with diverse personal backgrounds.
4. Invite people from different countries of origin. Thanks to today’s global economy, we are increasingly working side-by-side with individuals from across the country and across the globe. Capitalize on their diverse world viewpoints and cultural understandings. Cultural fusion is a powerful element of innovation.
5. Invite right- and left-brain thinkers. Yes, in the same group! Creative types and linear thinkers, artists and bean counters. You may not think they’ll mix well. But in fact, the Yin and Yang of linear/analytical and non-linear/creative thinkers can be an important element in the creative process.
6. Invite introverts and extroverts. Maybe add a dash of Myer’s-Briggs personality types. Look for individuals with different ways of perceiving and interpreting: feeling, intuiting, judging, etc. This will add a richer dimension to your group’s problem solving abilities.
7. Throw in one or two “wild cards.” An unexpected participant can stir things up and add a new dynamic into the mix. You can invite customers, clients, suppliers, kids, etc.—anyone who can provide fresh, new perspectives on your challenge.

It’s often said that “variety is the spice of life.” It just might also be the “secret sauce” in successful brainstorms. Take the time to assemble your brainstorming dream team. Rather than settle for “same old, same old,” try embracing the unexpected!

It works for the most innovative companies in the world. And it will work for you, too!

“Birds do it. Bees do it. Even educated fleas do it.” — Cole Porter

Just in case you had any doubts, it seems everybody is doing it – brainstorming, that is. And just how are they doing it? Well, pretty much the same way everywhere.

The SmartStorming partners recently returned from Krakow, Poland, where we conducted our two-day SmartStorming Brainstorm Leadership Workshop at the 2011 Worldwide Partners Creative Summit. And the experience was nothing short of remarkable!

Not only did we meet and work with a group of very smart, talented and engaged professionals, we also learned a thing or two about group dynamics, multiculturalism, problem solving techniques and, of course, brainstorming.

Our workshop participants were marketing agency pros from around the world: Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Ukraine. While there were many cultural differences, two things were the same: they all brainstormed on a regular basis and they all faced virtually identical challenges when doing so.

The Good

The group clearly viewed brainstorming to be critical business process, and recognized its  importance to their organizations. The direct link between brainstorming and the ability to innovate was clear to them.

brainstorming <-> creative problem solving <-> ideas <-> innovation

And so, all were eager to learn how to experience better results when brainstorming with their teams and clients, and were completely open to new and unfamiliar ideas and problem solving techniques.

The Bad

In her book, The Seeds of Innovation, Elaine Dundon identifies nine problems that are typically encountered with brainstorming as typically practiced.

1. Lack of process
2. Lack of a skilled facilitator
3. Lack of skilled participants
4. Listing of rules
5. No agreement on the problem
6. Lack of stimuli
7. Pressure to be creative on queue
8. Pressure to converge quickly
9. Lack of follow-up

And, perhaps not surprisingly, the majority of these challenges were voiced by the group during our opening discussion about just what causes brainstorms to fail.

The implications of this experience are actually quite compelling, and suggest that regardless of differences in culture, business practices and customs, geography,  personality, etc., what takes place in the room when a group of people get together to generate creative ideas, in the absence of a structured process and effective problem solving techniques, is pretty much the same no matter who you are or where you are. And that “pretty much the same” is all-too-often disappointing.

Perhaps most interesting to us at SmartStorming was that there seemed to be very little difference among the participants in terms of just how much direct training or self-directed learning the participants had on the topic of brainstorming. One might imagine that in some countries a greater emphasis would be placed on learning skills to help facilitate this important process. But this was not the case. As we usually find in the U.S., not one participant had experienced any meaningful training in brainstorming or creative problem solving.

The Promise

The good news is that while brainstorming as typically practiced is clearly broken, it’s not all that difficult to fix.

The level of interest, participation and enthusiasm throughout the two-day workshop was very high. Even the most seasoned creative professionals in the group reported exciting revelations, specifically about how to turn “bad” ideas into game-changers; how to minimize shyness and self-consciousness among participants and facilitate spontaneous sharing; how to use different problem solving techniques and brainstorming activities to accomplish different objectives; etc.

And already we are receiving reports from abroad about the participants’ first highly successful SmartStorming sessions back at their agencies.

Their brainstorming, it would seem, is fixed.

In the 1930s, when Alex Osborn “invented” brainstorming, he knew, even then, that certain skills and guidelines were necessary for the process to be successful. Many of those are directly related to Elaine Dundon’s list of brainstorming challenges. But Osborn’s new way of generating ideas was just so novel and exciting, it apparently took off on its own.

The legacy is a world that, today, depends heavily on brainstorming, but really doesn’t have a clue how to do it.

But with a little effort and investment of time and attention, Alex Osborn’s vision of highly productive ideation sessions quickly becomes a reality. And great ideas are no longer a rarity, they are the norm.

There are people out there whose job it is to make us say, “Wow,” on a daily basis. They are the “creative types” among us – the ad men and women, entertainers, writers, artists and just about everybody working at Apple.

It’s not easy making us say, “Wow.” Sure, sometimes it’s fun. But often it’s just plain, old hard work. Some days we are in the mood to say, “Wow.” But many days, we’re just like, “Yeah, so what?” That’s when it’s a grind.

The funny thing is, those people don’t really do what they do because of us. They do it because they don’t know how to do anything else. Making us say, “Wow” is just who they are.

There’s something to be learned from these people. Not necessarily about being creative (although there is that, too) – but about “being” your work, rather than just “doing” it.

“Work,” here, may not be the thing you do to earn money. The work we’re talking about here is what you do with passion, the thing you love. The work that, on good days, doesn’t seem like work.

You may not be a writer or actor or artist or Steve Jobs. You may not have a blog or a business or a platform. But you do have a masterpiece in your head. Everybody does.

Just bring yours to life and share it with the world. And then watch us say, “Wow!”

Back when I worked in advertising, it took me years to understand that some of my clients simply weren’t able to “see,” in their minds, the things I “saw”’ when I presented them with new ideas. What it would look like, the sounds, the mood, the tone.

Many of them were just too literal. They had to actually see it with their eyes to understand it. They weren’t trying to be difficult when they rejected an idea. They just didn’t really understand what the idea actually was. In some ways, it required a much greater leap of faith on the parts of those who actually did approve the work.

Can you see what’s not there? Can you hear the words no one has spoken? Can you complete the sentence, “What if…” with confidence and clarity?

If you can’t, learn to. It is a critical component of innovative thinking, and therefore, success in today’s world of continuous reinvention.

And then, get really good at painting the picture for others. Help them “see” your vision. Because whether your work lives or dies almost always depends on a thumbs-up from someone else.

Being a creative genius isn’t enough. You must be a brilliant painter, storyteller and tour guide, too!

Not so long ago, all you had to do was show up, do your job (a.k.a. “the minimum expected of you”), try not to make waves—and you could live a pretty good, hassle-free life. And if you did that long enough you could eventually get paid for doing nothing at all.

Being a small thinker offered big rewards. But oh, how times have changed.

Today, the people (and companies) that sail through life and recessions are those that show up early and stay late; that continually reinvent and ramp up their “jobs” (a.k.a. “the value they deliver to others”); that, rather than avoiding waves, joyfully stir things up on a daily basis.

Big thinkers. Like artists. And athletes. And Apple. And anyone who desperately wants to succeed.

Small thinking leads inevitably to greater challenges, increased frustration and, eventually, non-relevance. Big thinking is, well…it’s the easy way out.

Are you a small thinker? Why on earth would anyone want to work that hard?

Originally featured at Yanko Design, November 18, 2010

Designer Thanva Tivawong has come up with an innovative traffic light design that not only tells drivers whether to stop or go (or speed up before the yellow light changes!), but provides an indication of how much time they have to do any of those things.

Called “The Sand Glass,” the concept incorporates LED lights in the shape of a familiar countdown hourglass. Traditional colors remain, but in Tivawong’s version they would gradually fill the shape before transitioning to the next in the sequence.

While some obvious questions come up concerning those with color blindness (that’s why traditional lights are always in the same red-yellow-green order) and safety (even MORE people racing to beat that yellow or jumping the gun as the red lights near completion), the design would provide us with an alternate traffic light activity to checking email and thumbing texts.

Too much information? Maybe not. Why shouldn’t we be just as frustrated while waiting at a traffic light as we are while waiting for something to load on our computers?

Designer: Thanva Tivawong

If you already know who Seth Godin is, and listen to him, then read on only if you’re curious. If not, read on because you really will benefit – and then as soon as possible, read even more: Permission Marketing, Tribes, Purple Cow, The Dip, Linchpin, and/or any and all of Seth’s books.

The question here isn’t WHO Seth Godin is, but rather, why so many people stop and listen whenever he opens his mouth. The reason? They’re on a journey. And Seth Godin knows a thing or two about the land in which they travel

Seth Godin is a modern-day tour guide, and a particularly good one. He points out the worthwhile sites. He tells us what is worth paying attention to, and what is not. He reminds us why we are on this particular trip to begin with, how we got here, and where we are headed.

And most of all, he inspires us to take advantage of the revolution that is going on all around us.

People listen to Seth because he says what they already know – but are all-too-often too lazy to do anything about.

Embrace this journey, or just go along for the ride. Your choice.

Social networking is all about building and strengthening relationships by establishing online communities of individuals with shared interests.

According to Wikipedia, social networking sites “allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks.” Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, MySpace and a few other well-known social networking icons come to mind.

Now think back for a moment to a time, not so long ago, when your primary means of building and strengthening your relationships wasn’t text-based (or in the case of YouTube, video). When you preferred getting together with your “network” (a.k.a. friends) and actually chatting out loud (in cmplt wrds not txt abbrs – LMAOROTF) . Or you would pick up your phone and use that device for what it was originally intended: talking.

You remember talking, right? It was nice. Conversations are so much richer when a voice is actually involved. Which begs the question…where is the “voice” of social networking?

Enter Voicefield, a breakthrough social networking concept that capitalizes on the quaint notion that it’s nice to hear people speak. Think of Voicefield as “Voice-Twitter,” “YouTube for the Spoken Word,” or “Talking-PostSecret.”

Voicefield is the brainchild of New York City entrepreneur, Trevor MacDermid, who explains, “In essence, Voicefield captures voluntary voice messages and makes them available online—so you can say anything you like, and listen to others do the same. In an era of exploding self expression, Voicefield celebrates the most personal form of communication, which lately seems to have been cast aside: the human voice.”

While still in its infancy, the potential for Voicefield is obvious… and enormous. Who doesn’t enjoy taking the floor every once in awhile? (Think karaoke.)  And while, just like poorly-utilized Twitter, many early users treat their fellow Voicefielders to a description of the bar they’re trying to find their way out of, or the size and juiciness-factor of the burger they just downed, one can only imagine how more creative and ambitious users will leverage the technology.

Voicefield collects sentiments from any phone or from your computer’s built-in microphone, at any time.   Messages might be confessional, emotional, frank or drunk. Callers can choose to be anonymous, themselves, or a made-up persona. Here’s one of our favorites from user Andrew Andrew, titled “Waltz.”

The Voicefield interface is equipped with caller-ID, so messages can be attributed to a particular area code, time and date, and even a specific registered user, and tagged by subject matter, theme, response to question and popularity.

And of course, if you’re really entertaining, others can choose to follow you and your voice posts. (Just imagine what Twitter’s @sh*tmydadsays could’ve done with this!)

The best way to get a feel for Voicefield (and how much fun it can be) is to give it a try. Again, there aren’t a ton of great messages there yet; this is still a new concept. But that means the Voicefield is wide open for your expressions of brilliance.

There are two interfaces:

• by phone, (212) 937-8981 (there’s also a toll-free number: (877) WWW-VOICE);
• by web: www.voicefield.com.

So if you have something to say, stop typing and start talking…on Voicefield. Who knows? You might actually like what you hear.

In today’s warp-speed, innovation-driven economy, it is a little surprising how often one still hears that well-worn cliché, “We have to think outside the box!”

Or, perhaps not. With so much pressure on organizations to create ever better, faster, more efficient, more cost effective products and services, maybe that elusive area beyond the box is just that much more elusive.

Whatever the case, these words, or variations with similar meaning, still echo the hallways in organizations of every size, in every area of industry, education and government, and at every level of responsibility.

If you asked what makes it so difficult for these organizations to “think outside the box,” chances are you would get an earful about how impossibly challenging it is for people to simply sit down together and effective develop fresh, new ideas.

The typical list of roadblocks range from “We just keep recycling the same old ideas,” “We’ve tried everything before” and “We don’t have the __________ we need to succeed” to “It’s impossible to make bold changes here” and “The boss/our customer will never go for it!” As one listens to the litany of obstacles, one can’t help but imagine that significantly more creative effort is being exerted in reinforcing limitations than in actually seeking innovative solutions.

So what really is the big problem? What core issue underlies the multitude of “good reasons” organizations have so much difficulty thinking like Google or Apple?

Simply, what we believe—pre-existing assumptions.

It is our assumptions (our firmly held beliefs about what is or is not possible…what can or cannot be done or achieved) that makes up “the box” that restrains our consciousness and limits our thinking. When perceived limitations loom larger than perceived possibilities, we diminish our ability to solve challenges creatively. In short, we cease being innovators.

Henry Ford, a legendary out-the-box thinker, said it best, “If you think you can do a thing, or can’t do a thing, you are right!” He understood that every self-imposed limitation we imagine or verbalize (and we all have lots of assumptions about a lot of things) creates a mental barrier that separates us from unlimited possibility.

When we simply accept any constraint on what is possible, we trade curiosity for caution, and seek solutions in the familiar, rather than venturing boldly into the unknown. Caution and familiarity are hardly catalysts for innovation.

When we free ourselves from our assumptions, our curiosity flows; we are suddenly able to explore, make new connections and imagine new possibilities that lead to innovative solutions.

We are able to answer the question, “What if…?”

The first step toward liberating yourself and others from limited, boxed-in thinking is to summon the courage to identify and challenge your existing assumptions.

How to successfully challenge assumptions

1. Make a list of any assumption or limiting belief you or your group may have regarding the issue you are trying to solve.

Be honest—and as thorough as possible. Really dig deep to uncover what you assume to be true. Remember, assumptions often masquerade in the guise of common knowledge, accepted practices and protocols, facts, or even proud tradition. We even harbor assumptions about the way things are, or should to be.

2. Challenge the status quo.

Here’s another inside tip: the more “indisputable” a belief, accepted truth or fact appears, the more important it is to challenge it!  Challenging the status quo creates a rich environment for the seeds of innovation to flourish.

3. Take each item on your list and ask these 3 questions:

1. “Is this ______(limitation/assumption)_____ true?” (Yes/No)
2. “Is it absolutely true, all the time, without exception?” (Yes/No)
3. “If it’s not absolutely true, what are the possibilities?”
   

Make this “reality check” technique for questioning assumptions a regular part of your brainstorming or idea-generation process. You will be amazed to find that most, if not all, perceived limitations will quickly dissolve under the analysis of objective discernment.

As each limiting belief falls away, more and more new blue-sky possibilities will begin to emerge. Before you know it, that proverbial box that once restrained your imagination will have disappeared.