Hello, there!

I’ve been reading a book. “A Whole New Mind – Why right-brainers will rule the future”, by Daniel H. Pink and in one of its chapters it describes that lengthy and oftentime fruitless brainstorm sessions that we have all been part of at work.

Pink says that effective brainstorming sessions aren’t random and haphazard because they follow a particular structure that’s proven to elicit good ideas. These rules are taken from Tom Kelley’s excellent book, The Ten Faces of Innovation:

1. Go for Quantity. Good ideas emerge from lots of ideas. Set a numerical goal – say, a total of one hundred ideas.
2. Encourage Wild Ideas. Extremism is a virtue. The right idea often flows from what initiallyy seems outlandish.
3. Be Visual. Pictures unlock creativity.
4. Defer Judgement. There’s no such thing as a bad idea, so banish the naysayers. Think creatively first and critically later.
5. One Conversation at a Time. Listen, be polite, and build on other’s suggestions.

A good idea is to have someone serve as a scribe and another as facilitator. At the end of a half-hour, you’ll have a long list of ideas. Take a break. Then begin evaluating what’s on the list. Most of the ideas won’t be very good. Some will be downright ridiculous. But it’s almost certain that you’ll come up with a handful of ideas you’d never have arrived at otherwise.

Vocabulary

lengthy = long
random = happening or chosen without any definite plan, aim, or pattern
haphazard = done in a way that does not seem to be carefully planned or organized
to elicit = to make someone react in the way that you want; to manage to get information from someone
outlandish = extremely strange and unusual
to defer = to arrange for something to happen at a later time than you had planned
naysayer = someone who always opposes, denies or look at the negative side of an idea
scribe = someone who takes notes
downright = completely
to come up with = to think of something (ideas, plans, etc.)
a handful of = some, a couple of
otherwise = in any other ways