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How to Generate Big Ideas Anytime, Anyplace in 60 Minutes DIY Brainstorming Chic Thompson author “What a Great Idea!” and “Yes, but...”

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Page 1: DIY Brainstorming

How to Generate Big Ideas Anytime, Anyplace in 60 Minutes

DIYBrainstorming

Chic Thompsonauthor “What a Great Idea!” and “Yes, but...”

Page 2: DIY Brainstorming

Think back to the last time you were “stuck” and needed to brainstorm solutions to a challenge.

Were you sitting in a conference room with your colleagues eager to engage?

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Probably not... you were staring at your computer alone with your arms crossed and teeth clenched.

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?? ?

So, here are my Top 10 creative strategies to conduct a “one-person brainstorm.”

I’ve added several divergent thinking techniques to overcome your lack of diverse participants.

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Step 1. Define Your Challenge

An effective definition addresses only one problem at a time and does not assign a cause for the problem.

Definitions should identify the “pain points” you are trying to solve.

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Definitions should not imply a solution because they are about the “what” and the “why” and not the “how.”

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Step 2. Five Solutions in 5 Minutes

Now it’s time to ask the “How.”

Take five minutes and brainstorm five possible solutions. This is a great warm up for your brain.

How am I going to achieve this result?

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Step 3. Be Curious First...

Be honest with yourself. Are you open to new ideas to solve your challenge or will your first response to a new idea be:

or

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Upon hearing a new idea, be “curious first... critical second.” Being curious first allows you to find out what is right with an idea before dissecting its faults or hurdles to overcome.

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Step 4. Reframe Your Challenge

Ask, what is unique about your challenge that you have not seen in another situation?

Identifying the unique features can help you see the root cause of the problem and the seeds of the solution that you need to grow.

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Then ask the opposite question. What is similar to your challenge?

• What analogy can give insight and strategies to benchmark?

• What would do?

• What would do?

• What would a pit crew do?

Now apply these insights to your problem definition and list of solution possibilities.

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Here are some pattern-breaking “neurobic” exercises to keep your brain alive during your brainstorm.

1. Move watch to opposite wrist.

2. Sit in a different seat while “storming.”

3. Take boring breaks, like folding clothes.

4. Take an unexpected shower.

5. Drive to work a different way.

6. Use mouse with other hand.

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Step 5. See Your Blind Spots“The sun rises, the sun sets. Everything goes to its opposite.

Look at your problem backwards, forwards and upside down.” —Tao Te Ching

Ask, what’s the exact opposite of the way others are solving your challenge today?

Then ask, what if you actually did this opposite solution?

Could there be a breakthrough idea here?

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Another fun way to see an opposite is to simply ask:

Then ask, what if I actually did this “never” solution and look for what’s right about this crazy idea?

What would I never do to solve this

challenge?

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Step 6. Evaluate Your Ideas

Einstein sensed he was on the right track when he felt a tingling in his fingers.

Sigmund Freud would flip a coin. First he would assign heads and tails to a yes/no

decision. Then he’d flip.

If the coin said yes and his gut said, “Let’s go two out of three.” then his intuition had just revealed itself.

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The Idea Bucket

The first thing I do with my ideas is put them in an Idea Bucket. The bucket relates the impact the ideas will have to the difficulty of implementation.

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Step 7. Renovate While You Innovate

What should I start doing to allow my ideas to be successful?

What should I stop doing to allow my ideas to be successful?

The energy released from abandoning unneccessary meetings, measurements and policies will give you the time to implement your solutions.

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Step 8. Sell Your Ideas with Passion

Here’s your pre-selling homework. What actions must you take to:

1. Sell yourself on your idea?

2. Sell your idea two levels above you?

3. Sell your ideas two levels below you?

4. Sell your ideas outside your organization?

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Creating Your Sales PitchCreate multiple presentations for your ideas and learn from each approach.

The 1-Minute Elevator Speech to a hurried potential customer.

—and—

The 15-Minute Stadium Speech to 10,000 cheering fans.

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The Napkin Pitch: it’s what you can fit on the napkin and the story you tell.

—and—

The Billboard Pitch*: sell your idea on a highway billboard.

* People are driving 70 mph past your billboard, so get your message across in the blink of an eye.

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Step 9. Smile and Change Your World

A smile lifts our spirits.

A smile strips anger of its power.

A smile increases our receptivity to ideas.

Are you smiling while thinking and talking about your idea?

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Step 10. Achieve Immortality

Plato said that, as humans, we all strive for immortality. He showed us three ways.

First, by having children.

Second, by planting trees.

And third, by creating an idea and making it happen.

Go forth, implement your ideas and achieve immortality.

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Chic Thompson worked in new product development for Gore-Tex™ and Walt Disney and is now a Fellow in Entrepreneurship at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.

In 2001, Harvard Business School wrote a case study on his entrepreneurial career.

For more information: www.whatagreatidea.com.