Brainstorming - Part 2 of 2
July 17th, 2006In today’s fast and flat world, ideas are becoming critical competitive advantages. Managers - and many others - need to be good at getting the most and best ideas from themselves and their teams.
And, if you ask a hundred managers what are some of the tools they might use to generate ideas, the ONLY tool that would get 100 votes is brainstorming. The funny thing is, we’ve been in lots of meetings where folks said that what they were doing was brainstorming, but it wasn’t. It was solution development, which is a completely different thing.
Today’s cast is part 2 of the 2-part series on Brainstorming.
Note: As was the case last time, apologies to all on the audio quality of the show. Next week we’ll be back to the studio (basement) … no more beach sounds in the background!
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July 19th, 2006 at 10:30 pm
Just completed a recent brainstorm utilizing the information provided in Parts 1 & 2. The session was very productive and a hit with the team. Many thank yous. Half my team is virtual, and I was able to incorporate several interactive tools to bring them into the session.
I work w/in a large matrix organization and I’ve found that it is sometimes a challenge to gain equal commitment of the team members. Would enjoy a discussion around buy-in, if it has not already been covered.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:36 am
James-
Glad to hear of your success!
We do have plans for getting buy in. I think “equal commitment” is a pipe dream… but commitment necessary to accomplish the objective is something we will be talking about.
It’s a privilege to serve you,
Mark
July 22nd, 2006 at 4:42 pm
As usual, great material! Friday afternoon I arranged a meeting, specifically billed as a brainstorming session. I invited some higher level managers who had an interest in correcting a long-standing problem, (I promised the session would be no more that 20 mins). I had the guidelines pre-written on a whiteboard, and then reviewed them at the start. I had a few ideas generated in advance, so when there was a lull I raised those to keep things rolling. The 2nd time there was a lull, somebody jokingly said “Peanut Butter”, so I faithfully wrote down Peanut Butter, and that drew a laugh and got the room started again. We finished with a good number of ideas and everyone was glad to have invested the time. Thanks for the great podcast!
July 22nd, 2006 at 8:51 pm
Steve-
GREAT! That’s why we’re here - to share specific stuff that managers need to know to be really effective.
Next time you’re in a situation that we haven’t helped with, please let us know. It’s the day to day blocking and tackling we love.
Mark
September 6th, 2006 at 11:08 am
I just finished listening to the podcasts 1 & 2 which were great. I would like to know what the I, C, D, etc. stand for. I guess they reflect different types of attitudes but clarification would be appreciated.
September 6th, 2006 at 4:23 pm
dfernandez: Take a look under the Tools section (left hand side of the page) for the “DISC Model Summary.” http://www.manager-tools.com/disc-model-summary/ There is also a 4 part Podcast for “Registered Users.” It is a lot of material in a short time but Mark and Mike do a good job covering the topic. IndianaRoger
March 15th, 2007 at 12:39 am
I am still catching up on pods, so I hope someone will see and comment on my question. In introducing the guidelines for the brainstorming question, do you think there would be value in pointing out some of the natural DISC tendencies to people (without listing them as Ds, Is, Ss or Cs?
For example, language like “Normally, some of you might not be comfortable blurting out things without mulling them over or processing it. However, this is different than making a decision as we just want iunfiltered deas at this point. Although it might seem awkward, please try to stretch yourselves a bit here and contribute.” And if this doesn’t help, then go to the stickies or other suggestions you made. Any thoughts?
March 22nd, 2007 at 2:09 am
Risk-
Sure, that works well!
Mark
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:17 am
Guys - Love the pods - I’ve been working through them for the last six months and finding they are all a big help, from the magic of feedback and coaching to little things like voice mail…. Haven’t fedback to you guys before, but I’ve just run a brainstorm using the advice here, and came out of the meeting and my business partner (another MT convert) gave me some feedback - ‘the best facilitated brainstorm he’s seen for ever’ - Thanks guys!!! Happy New Year!
January 2nd, 2008 at 2:15 am
Mikebkk-
Sweet! Glad it worked so well. Too many brainstorms go awry.
Happy New Year, and thanks for the kind words.
Mark
July 28th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Tried it today… Definitely a good experience for me; lack-luster results overall.
I underestimated how hard it is to get older High D managers to partake in generating ideas. People kept asking questions about our IT system. I think they were uncomfortable not having a narrowly defined problem. Also, our corporate culture is pretty heavy on execution over ideas.
Good news is that I tried something new and that I need to bring more High I’s next time.