5 Tips to a Better Brainstorm
How do you brainstorm?
Brainstorming in my opinion should be one of the most exciting times for a staff. Any time I can “collab” (collaborate) with co workers I go for it. As a producer/wannabe songwriter, I have found that brainstorming in the context of songwriting is a special type of collaboration that can really unlock and set into motion ideas that single handily would be impossible. It’s really not all that different in any other situation. This is one of the reasons brainstorming is so valuable. I was talking with friend and marketing wizard Alejandro about this exact topic. The question came up addressing why is it that for many, Brainstorming has become another “meeting?” The creative barometer barely moves. It’s like a rev limiter that stops the group from surpassing the thinking stage. The result? Boredom.
This is a large part of the problem. Kick A@# Brainstorming sessions start with a little anticipation. The anticipation going into it contributes to the tone of the session. The term “Brainstorming Session” alone is not enough to fuel the fire in people or keep the anticipation going. This must be fueled by actualities. In other words, the Brainstorming session has to actually be alive, real, honest, rockin, to be truly effective and to keep people excited about coming. The more excitement and anticipation the more likely your crew will be in the mental state to hash out ideas. But before any of this can actually happen, it has got to be safe for people to express their ideas. People have to completely forget that they are being vulnerable by sharing. Here are a few things I have seen that work well:
1. Block out some time. Make sure you give yourself enough time to actually have a productive session. 20-30 min will not do.
2. Go for Quantity not Quality. More times than not a really good idea is birthed from a number of small ideas. In his book “Getting things done” David Allen suggests that a number of ideas (25-50 ideas) be established first before you move on.
3. Don’t Analyze. In brainstorming, ideas are king so don’t step on them by analyzing what you can or can’t do right away. There is always a guy in the group who likes to say “we can;t do that because…” This is a no no. In the cases where the ideas are too big for your britches than a variation or an agreeable compromise can still be established. Usually I have found that when people are allowed to share their thoughts freely they also step up to help make them happen.
4. Stimulate. Use some media to stimulate thinking. Many companies use visual aids to think about target audiences or to get some inspiration. This also contributes to climate of your session. People start talking about what’s cool about a piece etc..
5. Track and Organize. If possible, track the hot ideas and then start organizing. Go through them and see which ones share connections. Create a picture of what this would look like and then begin discussing what would need to happen to get it done.
I’d love to hear what works for you…
Live Sound Projects
Below is a list of some of reoccurring shows I have worked on.
Recent shows include:
National Association for Broadcaster (NAB)
National Association for Music Manufactures (NAMM)
Audio Engineering Society (AES)
Winter Music Conference (WMC)
Digiworld
Christian Musician Summit (CMS)
WFX
Infocomm
Techxplosion
Inspiration for Worship Technologies
