Unleash creativity one random word at a time
Many organizations use brainstorming as a method to gather new and more ideas. During these sessions, people shout out ideas to address an issue. Everyone participating is supposed to suspend judgment, and at the end of the session, a solution should miraculously emerge.
While brainstorming can be useful, there are some pitfalls that make brainstorming more difficult than it should be. Brainstorming sessions that end and have no follow up or no idea implementation will lead to less productive creativity and innovation sessions in the future. If brainstorming sessions are too short, ideas that are easy to come up with will be the only one’s found. Sometimes, people believe that they are being judged, and no one wants to suggest the dumb idea. If brainstorming sessions are too long, people will get bored. Sometimes, people run out of ideas.
Perhaps the hardest obstacle to overcome when brainstorming is the activity’s lack of structure. Very few people do well with no structure at all, and even addressing a specific issue may be too broad a topic. Since the object of brainstorming is to unleash creativity and find unique solutions to a problem, it is important to find a tool that can add some structure without smothering the people in the group who do well with poorly defined tasks. One tool that can help find unique solutions, provide a little structure, keep people interested and keep ideas flowing is the Random Word.
The Random Word takes a word at random and applies it to the question at hand. It applies some structure because ideas are supposed to be built on the word, but it also allows creative people to be ridiculously creative as they explore the word and all of its permutations and associations.
For example, if you are looking at the question of “How do we increase sales?” (although in this case, the “Don’t Sell Me game” may be more useful) and you have already run through the gamut of hire more sales people, get a web page, advertise, give out samples, lower prices, buy the competition and whatever else comes to mind, you might want to ask, “How do we increase sales using the word ‘French toast’?”
We can create products that appeal to the sophisticated. (French people are sophisticated.) We can create products that are hot like toast. We can equate our products to freedom (because French fries were called “Freedom Fries” by Congress back when the U.S. was having issues with French foreign policy). We can export to France and go international. We can spice up our product line (cinnamon) and make it an eggsample of eggsellence. Equate the product to bread which is essential for life. We can give away free French toast with each purchase…
Someone might mention chickens (eggs), flour or anything else that the person associates with French toast. The point is that the possibilities are endless, and the Random Word may help in unleashing creativity. Once you have exhausted the first random word, use another to generate more ideas. The only limits you face are time and imagination.
While brainstorming can be useful, there are some pitfalls that make brainstorming more difficult than it should be. Brainstorming sessions that end and have no follow up or no idea implementation will lead to less productive creativity and innovation sessions in the future. If brainstorming sessions are too short, ideas that are easy to come up with will be the only one’s found. Sometimes, people believe that they are being judged, and no one wants to suggest the dumb idea. If brainstorming sessions are too long, people will get bored. Sometimes, people run out of ideas.
Perhaps the hardest obstacle to overcome when brainstorming is the activity’s lack of structure. Very few people do well with no structure at all, and even addressing a specific issue may be too broad a topic. Since the object of brainstorming is to unleash creativity and find unique solutions to a problem, it is important to find a tool that can add some structure without smothering the people in the group who do well with poorly defined tasks. One tool that can help find unique solutions, provide a little structure, keep people interested and keep ideas flowing is the Random Word.
The Random Word takes a word at random and applies it to the question at hand. It applies some structure because ideas are supposed to be built on the word, but it also allows creative people to be ridiculously creative as they explore the word and all of its permutations and associations.
For example, if you are looking at the question of “How do we increase sales?” (although in this case, the “Don’t Sell Me game” may be more useful) and you have already run through the gamut of hire more sales people, get a web page, advertise, give out samples, lower prices, buy the competition and whatever else comes to mind, you might want to ask, “How do we increase sales using the word ‘French toast’?”
We can create products that appeal to the sophisticated. (French people are sophisticated.) We can create products that are hot like toast. We can equate our products to freedom (because French fries were called “Freedom Fries” by Congress back when the U.S. was having issues with French foreign policy). We can export to France and go international. We can spice up our product line (cinnamon) and make it an eggsample of eggsellence. Equate the product to bread which is essential for life. We can give away free French toast with each purchase…
Someone might mention chickens (eggs), flour or anything else that the person associates with French toast. The point is that the possibilities are endless, and the Random Word may help in unleashing creativity. Once you have exhausted the first random word, use another to generate more ideas. The only limits you face are time and imagination.