I found this great presso on slideshare today on how to effectively prepare for a brainstorm. Having just been through a particularly vigorous ideation session myself, it was nice to have someone put together a bit of a checklist on the kind of things you should be considering and doing.
That made me start thinking about how we inspire our teams and our clients. Everyone always says they would love to do more. But the day to day grind of invoices, project admin and meetings just seems to get in the way. Here lies the problem, planning an inspirational experience is always seen as a BIG task – the more technology, images and case studies we can share the better. But is it really needed?
Can a more simple conversation about different viewpoints on the same concepts be just as effective as a massive brainstorm? Could the client get just as much out of the session by having an ideas swap as by the agency running a ‘trends’ session? What can a look on the top blogs or video sites related to the area tell you?
The thing that sung to me in the deck above was it’s simplicity. Sometimes I think this is what we need; the best brainstorm I have been to recently was the one in which we were all asked to prepare and then share our perspectives on what the single word “superority” meant to us. Hearing the different ideas of people in the room got me thinking far more than any competitor review ever could.
What are the most inspiring brainstorm starters you’ve experienced? Are there any you know that you want to try?
