getFreshMinds.com | Creativity | Innovation | Ideas so fresh--they should be slapped!

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Idea generation done right.

I spent two days last week with one of the coolest creativity groups I've ever met, at one of the best creativity events I've been to in a long time.

That's quite a statement, but it's true!

So, here's the dish:

I was in Orlando to participate in an idea-generation workshop with Brainstore, a Swiss Idea Factory. 

This company has been on my radar for a while - I found out about them while researching highly creative European companies over a year ago - and when I discovered they were coming to the US to do an IdeaWorkshop, I (most likely) made a horrid fool of myself gushing about why I desperately wanted to be a participant.

But the embarrassment was completely worth it!  The IdeaWorkshop was amazingly fun and very productive - in less than 5 hours, we came up with hundreds of ideas.

Some of the things that worked really well:

• They kept us moving.  During the IdeaWorkshop, we did a ton of different activities ranging from hands-on building to word associations to building off of other peoples' ideas.  It was easy to keep thinking of new ideas because so many different parts of our brains were being stimulated.

• They made it snappy.  The clock was ticking on all the exercises we did, and there wasn't time to censor "bad" ideas.  We had to keep it moving, and in the interest of speed, everything was written down.

• They made it accessible to everyone. There were so many different activities that even if someone wasn't good at one, they had plenty of chances to demonstrate their abilities in another.  (One common problem with focusing too much on a single way of coming up with ideas is that some people might be left out or underutilized.  Brainstore successfully avoided that.)

• They mixed us up.   There were students, external experts and employees from the client's company there - and they didn't let us cling to our comfort zones.  We had to go out, mingle, and come up with ideas in a totally different group than we would normally be around.  Worked really well because it exposed people to fresh perspectives.

• They kept it fun. There was fun scenery, there were fun activities, there were fun questions we had to answer.  This was not a dead-serious "we need ideas now" type of event.  The energy and the fun level in the room was very high - and I think that was a huge factor in how many ideas were generated.

All in all, it was a fabulous, fabulous time.  The amount of creative energy in the room was almost tangible.  From what I saw, the participants came away filled with energy, and completely impressed by the many ideas they had come up with.

And the best part is, Brainstore ended up with a ton of ideas to present to their clients.

Hope I get to be a part of their sessions again!  It was an amazing creative experience!

If anyone is interested in learning more about them, go to www.brainstore.com (it's in English and German), or read The Idea Machine, a book written by co-founder Nadja Schnetzler about their creativity process.

 

We need to talk.

It's the curse of the workplace innovation session.  People from the same company/group always want to stick together, but when they do, they risk missing out on the outside stimuli of coming up with ideas with new people.

But, how to communicate to the people you work with everyday that it's better to split up and come up with ideas in different groups?  It's not easy.

So, for those of you facing this sort of situation in the future, I've written a script for you.  ;-)

A letter to a co-worker before a creativity session...

Dear co-worker,

It's very hard to say this, but I think we need to take a break from each other.

It's not you, it's me.  Actually, to be totally, brutally-honest, it's how we act when we're together.

No, no!  There's nothing wrong with you.  You're brilliant, funny, easy to get along with, and I love to work with you.

It's just that today, I can't see this working out between us.

You see, even though we're great together, our relationship just isn't healthy for coming up with fantastically-creative ideas.

No, no!  I'm not saying you have bad ideas!

I'm just feel too comfortable when I'm with you.  I know your limits, and you know exactly how far I will go.  And we have such a good sense of reality and what works (and what doesn't).

But I'm feeling constrained by our relationship.  I've been coming up with the same dull ideas for so long... and I'm not quite ready to settle down yet.

I've heard that innovating with new people can take me to places I've never been, and open up ideas I never would have thought of on my own.  I need to live on the wild side for a while, and see what I've been missing.  I need to take chances, and be impulsive, and not worry about what comes out of my mouth.

I can't do that around you.  I want you to still respect me in the morning.

(Could you imagine the uncomfortable meetings at the coffee pot when we have to face up to the uneasy realization that I'm not the person you thought I was?  Or how embarrassed I'd be because you know my wildest ideas?  What if you think I've totally lost it?!!!! How could you ever trust me again?)

It's just for today.  I promise you that once I've gotten a chance to sow my wild oats, I'll be happy to come back to you - black dress socks, 9-5 workdays, Excel spreadsheets and all.

Love,

Your normally restrained co-worker.

What do you think?  Do you have problems voicing "crazy ideas" around the people you work with in a serious setting everyday?

Get out of that funk!

It's really, really tough to be creative and come up with new ideas when you're working really hard and dog tired!  When every day is filled to the bursting point with meetings, projects, and (of course) those last minute things that "need to get done now", time for creativity always seems to get shoved lower and lower on an ever-expanding todo list.

And then, after a while, you not only lose the time to be creative, you completely lose your ability to do so.  There is so much else to get done that adding one more mental task becomes impossible.

That's when you've found yourself in a creative funk. 

What's a creative funk? 

It's that horrible "I've got so much to do, and so many important things on my plate that I just don't have any brainpower to spare for anything" feeling.  It's when your brain is in survival mode, and you're tired, overworked, and struggling through a mountain of paperwork and mundane tasks that never seem to end.

Know that feeling?  I definitely do!  It's probably not all that uncommon to feel that way in this age of doing more with less.

So how do you get out of it?  Easy: all you have to do is add another thing to your plate!  (Yes, you read that correctly.)

The trick is to find something that--even though it takes up your time--doesn't sap your energy, and actually increases it.

For me, this was a Minnesota Recruiters learning event.  I was the only person there who isn't a recruiter, but the topic was social media and Jason Alba, a blogger I've known for a while even though we've never actually met, was the speaker.

It was great to listen to him speak because I'd forgotten is something that I actually really love to do.  Buried in a new job, I'd started thinking blogging was just another thing that cluttered up my already-lengthy todo list.  But it's not!  It's fun to search for cool ideas, find something to say about them, and then to interact with like-minded people online!

It was so much fun talking to everyone at the event that I ended up going to dinner with a group of extremely cool people (Steven, Paul, Rick and Jason). And Just like that, the creative funk was gone. I finally drove home way too late--but just bubbling with ideas and enthusiasm.

So, that last minute sign-up for an event that I didn't have time for, on the exact opposite side of the Twin Cities, with a group of people I didn't know, during my rare and precious free time... was exactly the revitalizer my brain so desperately needed.

Logically, adding another thing to a busy schedule is an awful idea.  But doing something that gets you excited and enthusiastic again is totally worth the effort. 

Give it a try next time you get overwhelmed.  It's the only time when doing more actually makes you less tired! 

It's been a while since I've written anything here.  I've simply been overwhelmed by work, and all the new things I have to learn for my job, and all the day-to-day "need to get done" stuff that fills everyday to the bursting point.

You see, I'm now gainfully employed, at a small environmental start-up company in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  I'll write a little more about it later.  But first, I have normal posting to get back to.

So, stay tuned.  I'm typing out the next post as you read this.

Truly Absurd Ideas

Paul Sloane at the BQF Innovation blog brought my attention to a fabulous Norwegian commercial that really shows how peculiar the everyday things of today would be to someone in the past.

I love it.  It's a great reminder to appreciate all the amazing innovations that have happened in the last 100 years, and to celebrate the many thinkers who have taken technology to where it is now.

And it's also a reminder for us that ideas we think are impossible...illogical...absurd... right now have great potential to become reality in a short amount of time.

A Mark of Distinction

On this blog, I work really hard to see the value in each and every idea.  It's far better to look for possibilities in a "bad" idea, than to simply dismiss it outright and walk away.  After all, who knows where a really awful idea might lead.

But sometimes I run across an idea so awful that it makes me cringe.  Not often, but it happens.

Like when the phone rang last night during dinner.  We're on the Do Not Call list, so I assumed that it would be a friend.

Nope.

I picked up the phone to hear a click, and then a mechanical voice.  "Please hold while we connect you to the next available representative."

Sadly, I didn't stick around long enough to get a name that I could point fingers at.  It was dinnertime, after all, and my food was getting cold.

On some levels, I can see what thought process someone used to come up with this marketing system.  After all, it lets them operate with a smaller number of employees, and ensures that they don't have to waste their time calling people who aren't home.

Seriously though!  Why would anyone ever think it was a good idea to combine dinner-interrupting calls, telemarketing, and waiting on hold?

One the other hand, I might be just looking at this the wrong way.  Maybe their goal wasn't to sell, but to come up with an extremely effective way to truly alienate their potential customers.

In that case, well done!

Forget about an idea marathon.

If you're like most people, you do your creative thinking in bits and spurts. When you need ideas, you jump right into thinking about it, and go as hard as you can for as long as you can.

In the end, you end up with a bunch of ideas--and then get to sit back and relax.  At least until you need to be creative again.  Then the cycle repeats itself.

There's nothing wrong with that.  It's fast, it's fun and it's easy.

Idea sprints are fabulous.  Nothing can beat the rush of having tons of ideas exploding so quickly into being!

Idea marathons, however, aren't so great...

Not long ago, I wrote about how committing to coming up with 100 ideas for a single challenge in one sitting is probably one of the most painful mental exercises you can do.  Completing that list definitely isn't something that you can just do on a whim. 

Making a list of 100 is no flash of brilliance, it's a test of sheer will.  A challenge to see if you can keep putting one foot in front of the other for as long as it takes.  It is a marathon.

"But wait!" You're probably asking about now.  "Wasn't the marathon created to honor a Greek hero who died after running that distance?"

It sure was! 

Lucky for all of you though, I've recently reconsidered my support for an idea marathon.

I now recommend that everyone does a idea ultra-marathon!

You can thank Ben Casnocha for this, by the way.  He pointed me to an interview in Runners' World with a man who has been running ultra-marathons for 25 years.

Tim Twietmeyer, who has won the grueling 100 mile Western States Endurance Run five times, confesses that running a 50 mile race takes 3 times the effort of a 26 mile race.  And he says a 100 mile race takes 3 times the effort of a 50 mile race.

I'd say this holds true for coming up with ideas too.  That 25th idea will come a lot quicker than your 50th idea... and those last ideas will definitely be a struggle.

But Tim and many other ultra-marathoners agree that a 100 mile race can actually be easier on their bodies than a regular marathon.

Why's that?  Because in a marathon, runners go at a constant pace on pavement for around 4 hours.  That's really tough on their bodies.

In an ultra-marathon though, runners change it up.  They vary their pace--sometimes even walking a bit, they stop at aid stations to refill water bottles, they eat. 

The course frequently goes over varied terrain... even up and down hills!  All those things help by requiring different muscles to move into play--which is huge.

Idea ultra-marathons are easier in the same way.  If you're simply focusing completely on coming up with ideas for a challenge, you'll get exhausted pretty quickly.

What you need to do is to consciously change it up.

Do some fast bursts of brainstorming to see what ideas pop into your head.  Then squeeze some additional ideas out.  Then try a creativity exercise or two to jump-start your brain again.

If you need to, take a short break.  Don't start something else, but give your mind a little time to recover.

And just like the ultra-marathoners, you'll be in bad shape if you don't give yourself time to eat and stay hydrated.

Changing it up is the key.  You'll gain nothing by forcing your brain full speed ahead into exhaustion.   By varying the intensity and the focus, however, you'll come up with ideas a lot easier, and won't be brain-dead when you're done.

That doesn't mean it's easy.  It's still an ultra-marathon!  But it can definitely be done.

So, anyone want to get started?

I'm guest-posting today at Drew's Marketing Minute

Hi everyone,

Today Drew's featuring my post "The 3 things you need to stop doing if you want new ideas" on his Marketing Minute blog.  Be sure to check it out!

Welcome!

Hi readers of Drew's Marketing Minute.  Thanks for taking the time to stop by.

Just to help you navigate a bit.

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Looking forward to hearing from you.

~ Katie