Springtime Brainstorms

I attended a Career Management Alliance conference in San Antonio, Texas a couple of weeks ago and came back with so many great ideas to implement. One especially stands out – that of Brainstorming – and its value in opening up new possibilities, creating bonds within a group, and providing focus. Read below for more on this powerful creativity tool.

Brainstorming is defined by Webster’s as “the unrestrained offering of ideas by all members of a group to seek solutions to problems”. In the session I attended on business development, the group of 15 attendees contributed ideas on topics such as time management, maximizing productivity, branding, prioritizing marketing efforts, sales, and so on. Scribes were assigned to document the ideas and then commit to the ones they would personally focus on for improvement. When all was said and done, we had a list of at least 12 ideas for each of the 8 topics, providing us with possible actions we would not have come up with on our own. Some really resonated and made sense to me; others could work in the future.

And to make Brainstorming really effective, there are rules to abide by*:
1. Go for Quantity – produce a large number of ideas
2. Postpone Judgment – save evaluation until after all ideas are out
3. Encourage off-the-wall ideas – use imagination to list all possibilities
4. Welcome and record all ideas – record the actual words people use
5. Write all ideas where people can see them – write legibly
6. Eight to Evaluate rule – generate a minimum of 8 ideas before moving on

(*Special thanks to Louise Kursmark and Wendy Enelow of Resume Writing Academy for this enlightening session)

See how you can use this tool to come up with creative solutions to nagging problems at work, define your next ideal job, or re-energize a business? How about even at home when deciding how to tackle the next home improvement project or vacation destination? Get a group of co-workers, friends, family or associates together. Pose the problem, review the Rules of Brainstorming, and let ‘em go! At the end of your session, prioritize the ideas and create an action plan to propel you forward.

This week: think of an issue where Brainstorming may be the perfect tool for finding the right solution. Follow the method outlined above and have some fun with your group!

Share the results here - we'd love to see your success stories!