Comments on: Take Your Brainstorming from Good to Wicked-Good

By: Thoughtwrestling Introduction to Brainstorming | Thoughtwrestling

Thoughtwrestling Introduction to Brainstorming | Thoughtwrestling — Mon, 24 May 2010 09:55:39 +0000

[...] Failing to classify the ideas to find the best ones and to set the stage for action plans to implement the best ideas (Paul Williams has written an excellent article describing how to take your brainstorming sessions from good to wicked good). [...]

By: Veronica

Veronica — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 09:47:27 +0000

Great process! This is something that we can readily implement especially as we are still growing the organization and we have to maximize our resources. Thanks for sharing!

By: Adam Schorr

Adam Schorr — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:43:25 +0000

Great post! I have two builds to offer:
1) Try to capture the ideas on individual pieces on paper in the first place
2) Before assuming that all the ideas not in the upper right quadrant are not good enough, play around with them for a bit. See if you can tweak them in a way that would earn them a spot in the upper right corner.

By: Danuta M

Danuta M — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:15:14 +0000

Love it! You’re talking taking divergent “out of the box” thinking, then using a visual technique to categorize and prioritize them so as to converge on the best ideas. Have you thought of using software tools to accomplish this? We do it all the time using a collaborative web software tool to capture ideas on a shared “flipchart”, put them into categories and then evaluate them using a variety of filters. The advantage of software is that the whole process is documented from beginning to end and can be done over the web as well as in a room.

By: Eamon

Eamon — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 08:19:00 +0000

Really liked the post. Now (in downturn) more than ever is the time for brainstorming – tweaking the business model / brand etc .. Difficult thing is to get other people to take part in brainstorming (mainly because they are embarrassed that their ideas will look silly in front of others – it is often the ’silly ideas’ that, with some wor,k can turn out to be great ideas ..

By: Paul (from Idea Sandbox)

Paul (from Idea Sandbox) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 06:21:33 +0000

-> Paul C – The beauty of this process is that you can apply any filter you want to leave you with the only the best candidates.
-> Jacob – Thanks for the tweets. Nice to know this post made you Twitterpated.

By: Paul (from Idea Sandbox)

Paul (from Idea Sandbox) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 06:17:09 +0000

-> Wendy… This idea works really well… It’s satisfying – after spending a brain-crunching period of time coming up with ideas… to see the ones that float to the surface as the best of the best. Stickies do make this a dynamic process.

By: Paul (from Idea Sandbox)

Paul (from Idea Sandbox) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 06:13:55 +0000

-> Michael – You’re exactly right. A big idea behind this post was to encourage refining and some decision making at the end of a brainstorm session… the momentum will get you that much closer to implementation.
Also… why not use the brain power of the group in the room to help filter the ideas? More than likely *that* group who developed them are probably going to be the same who will implement them…
Thank you for commenting! – Paul

By: Paul (from Idea Sandbox)

Paul (from Idea Sandbox) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 06:10:58 +0000

-> Paul B – Thank you for commenting and your nice words!

By: jacob morgan

jacob morgan — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 04:13:42 +0000

i loved this post, i tweeted it to around 1,400 people reminds me of creating a perceptual map for a company vs competitors but utlized for brainstorming instead. thanks a lot for sharing paul.
Jacob

By: Paul Chaney

Paul Chaney — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:41:10 +0000

I’m one who, while pretty good at coming up with ideas, didn’t have a good plan for filtering them. Now I do. Thanks!

By: Wendy Warnecke

Wendy Warnecke — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 20:13:09 +0000

GREAT! I love working with color sticky notes for idea sessions … and this extra step is perfect. Thank you

By: Glenn Cressman

Glenn Cressman — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 20:13:02 +0000

Thank you, thank you for your emphasis on strengthening the brand.
I see too many examples of brand-weakening activities that can be easily avoided. One of my favorites is ecojot – a company that makes environmentally friendly scratch pads and stationery, and wraps everything in (environmentally unfriendly) plastic! Not strengthening the brand with that move!
Companies need to look at EVERYTHING they do to determine if it strengthens or weakens the brand.

By: Michael Goodman

Michael Goodman — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:12:17 +0000

Good technique. There are a number of them, of course, but variety keeps these sessions interesting. And your real point, if I read this right, is getting from a large array of ideas to the one or two that will really move the needle. Thanks for sharing this approach.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:49:33 +0000

In a tough economy, we’re going to need all the good ideas we can get. Thanks for a terrific process Paul!