Productive Brainstorming

By now FCP201 students will be in the thick of it; developing ideas and business planning for your new "companies". One of the expressions commonly associated with the processes of problem solving and developing new ideas is brainstorming. The word was first suggested by an advertising executive Alex Osborn around 75 years ago. It grew out of Osborn's frustration with the slow level of change and creative thinking in his organisation. In 1948, he organised his thoughts on the barriers and vehicles for creative thinking and the value of group "brainstorming" in his book entitled: "Your Creative Power". The principle seems simple now. You bring together your team, you define the problem and you seek a collective solution. However, in my view brainstorming sessions can be both invigorating and can also be a disappointment. In the former, you leave a meeting with a real sense of achievement, optimism and a clear idea of what you need to do next. In the latter case, you may feel an initial high, but you soon realise that a key concept upon which your plans were made, was fundamentally flawed, or that a strategy was largely based on someone's desire to be positive in an uncritical way.

Structuring a brainstorming session is important to ensure that the primary aim is achieved, or at least tracked. The aims and objectives must be crystal clear at the outset, providing participants with a concise set of documents in advance where possible. I think it is useful to designate someone as IT manager as well as a minute taker. This ensures that ideas and suggestions are verified during the meeting and that a good record is kept of who said what and what was said.

An example of one of the most successful brainstorming meetings was at the centre of the film by Ron Howard, in which the catastrophic failure of systems on board Apollo 13 required a life saving solution from the NASA scientists and engineers, based on materials available on board the spacecraft. There was a strict time limit: CO2 levels would become life threatening within a fixed number of hours. There were limited resources: only the materials on board could be used to create the device required to do the job. The reconfiguration of existing equipment was required: the computer had to be saved for key processes, making manual calculations and control essential. Multi-disciplinarity was a key element of success: under such constraints not only resources, but different intellectual approaches proved to be invaluable. The session had a clear aim and a successful outcome. Think carefully when you meet to discuss your business ideas, remember time is perhaps the most valuable commodity in a business, or as Einstein said "Time is an illusion" so be effective when you meet!