Taking the “no” out of Innovation

Individual credibility or position can have a real influence on the tenor of an idea generation session. When I’m facilitating, I am acutely aware of managing the energy in the group — particularly when it comes to managing group members reactions to ideas. I employ a few process rules that help:

1. No back story – no stories on how an idea evolved, just the idea
2. Every idea has merit — treat every idea with respect
3. Look for what’s good in every idea and build on that to come up with a new idea

These process rules help in separating an idea from the person delivering the idea. However, it’s not unusual for certain people in the group to carry more credibility than others. Their ideas often get more consideration than the ideas of participants who lack credibility due to seniority, negative attitude, or past performance.  These participants are often shut down by the group or have their ideas dismissed without consideration.

Here are 3 useful tips to avoid having our ideas discarded because of how they are delivered. As facilitators, we can share these tips with our groups as another way to create a positive setting for idea generation, discussion and debate.  (I’m going to ignore #2 in order to acknowledge my source!  These ideas come from Mike Brown of Brainzooming):

1. Don’t Telegraph Your Comments – People often begin a challenge by clearly signaling through their body language (confrontational), tone (frustrated or agitated), or words (but, don’t, can’t, instead, etc.) they’re about to challenge something. Here’s an alternative – stop doing those things! Think hopefully about the conversation, looking for points of agreement; this will help modify your body language and tone. Then simply start building on the other person’s idea, even modifying it, without allowing your words and attitude to suggest you disagree.
2. Conceal Your Sources – People are also often very sincere in saying where an idea comes from, even when it really doesn’t matter. This happens frequently with new hires who trot out ideas prefaced by, “Here’s what we did at my old company.” The typical reaction? “If your old company is so great, why aren’t you still there?” In contrast, introduce a potentially challenging idea without any attribution, foregoing even claiming your own ideas. By allowing an idea to be introduced on its own, you can start getting consideration for it without any negative baggage its original source may create.
3. Give Your Ideas Away – What might be viewed as a challenging point of view from you may be seen as completely innocuous when coming from someone else in the group. The key here is to be comfortable with sharing an idea with a receptive party, letting them build and modify the idea, and then confidently allowing them to introduce the idea if it means a higher likelihood of successful adoption.

Try these three, and you’ll be a lot less likely to get shut down, have your ideas shut out or be labeled as “negative.”

 

Cindy Diamond, President and Chief Strategist

IGNiTE . .. fueling creativity and innovation

Brainstorming: Finding the Next Big Idea

Finding the Next Big Idea (link to presentation)

Last week I went to Palm Beach, FL to present at the CASRO conference for market research professionals. I presented on . . . you guessed it! . . . “Brainstorming: Finding the Next Big Idea.” My goal was to provide some structure and process tools to assist these professionals in facilitating innvoation sessions with their internal teams or client teams. I’ve attached the presentation so you can view it if you’re interested. Feel free to post questions or comments and I will respond. I received some great questions from the audience at CASRO and I’m looking forward to your questions too! I hope you find the presentation useful (the link is at the top of this post).

Cindy Diamond

Diamond Marketing Solutions / IGNiTE

Principal, Strategist & Facilitator

Fueling Creativity and Innovation

10 Reasons to Hold Retreats to Build Your Business

I read this article on the Brandchannel.com website at http://www.brandchannel.com/brand_speak.asp?bs_id=197 and thought it was worth sharing with others interested in facilitation as well as with corporate teams seeking to conduct multi-day meetings to achieve a specific objective. While this article specifies “marketing teams,” most of the ideas are applicable to any team. The article text is included in full underneath my comments. Team retreats, much like those discussed in the Leoncini book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, can be a real boost to productivity and team building. While team building is typically a secondary objective, it often becomes the biggest catalyst for increased productivity and success. Retreats are unique in that they allow teams to take time to thoroughly discuss ideas, to come to mutual understanding by seeing issues from others points of view and because they allow the facilitator enough time to work with team members on trust building. Trust is the foundation upon which high performing teams are built. Without it, team members spend an abundance of time and energy on political games and competitive maneuvering instead of seeking cooperation and maximizing team synergy.   Another benefit of the retreat is really getting out of the mindset of the corporate day-to-day world and giving team members the time and space to think creatively and to envision the future. A skilled facilitator will structure this time so that it is somewhat less structured than the typical corporate meetings yet structured enough to provide multiple ways into the creative tasks allowing creativity to flow naturally for participants. I thought this article was a good reminder of why and when it’s important to get out of the corporate meeting room and spend some time in a more relaxed environment working, creating, ideating and playing with your team members.   — Cindy Diamond, Diamond Marketing Solutions & Ignite   Ten Reasons to Hold Marketing Retreats to Build Your Business and Your Brand by James S. Twerdahl July 14, 2008 issue Management retreats can be a very powerful tool for effecting change in organizations and brands. They do need careful planning and thoughtful and experienced facilitation, but properly done they can really help take your brand or organization to the next level. They are particularly important for those who are responsible for creating, building and maintaining brands. Here are the principle reasons to consider a marketing retreat for your organization.

 

1.   To reaffirm your company and product brands and overall strategic direction. Markets served by virtually all organizations are changing at an incredible pace. While mission and vision statements and the overall positioning of your brand should be designed for the long-term, it is critical that they periodically be reviewed and reaffirmed. Changes in technology, competitive activity, the world economy and any number of other factors can necessitate change in your brand positioning. At the very least, the near term strategic direction must be reviewed and adjusted to account for the changing reality. And, there are still a great many companies who have not formally set forth their brand positioning statements—a retreat is an ideal time to do so.  2.   To unify management. Even the best management teams can lose focus on overall goals as individual managers work in their respective areas. Retreats can be a good way of re-unifying the team and making sure that everyone is embracing the same overall objectives, goals, and brand engagement strategies. Retreats are also an ideal way of integrating new managers with older team members. Both in formal meetings and at breaks, meals and recreation times, participants can get to know one another much better and form bonds that are tough to forge when involved in day-to-day operations.  3.   To solve disputes and mediate tensions. Tensions and disputes arise in all organizations. Rather than letting them fester and become destructive and counterproductive, open discussions in non-threatening retreats, can be a good way of letting people share points of view and resolve conflicts.  4.   To identify issues. In the daily heat of battle, issues that have not been resolved often come up. Issues that cross departmental lines can remain unresolved because it takes unified actions to attack them. In a well managed retreat, issues can be identified, analysis can begin, and initiatives or action plans set to resolve them.  5.   To brainstorm and be creative. Away from the fray of day-to-day activities without phones ringing and e-mails to be answered, it may be possible to foster higher levels of creativity. Group creativity sessions can be highly synergistic as one person plays off of another’s idea.  6.   To develop new products and programs. In addition to brainstorming for new products and programs, healthy discussion about new directions can take place and plans laid. Because new products and programs typically involve actions from many departments, retreats can be a good way of outlining the plans and assigning responsibility, setting overall timetables, establishing budgets and other activities from the “big picture” perspective.  7.   To face and resolve crises. Even the best brands may periodically have to deal with crises of one kind or another. Typically when a crisis occurs, there are several hurried meetings to try and deal with the immediate situation. It is often helpful to get away from the immediate issues to assess the situation overall and make sure the organization is realigned not only to deal with the issue but not have it impact future growth and development of the brand.  8.   To provide management training. A key part of many retreats is on-going management training either from internal resources or from outside speakers brought in to address specific topics. Many retreats have themes and in keeping with the theme, speakers can discuss industry best practices, new trends or other areas to improve managers’ effectiveness individually and as members of the team. Retreats are also excellent ways of orienting new leaders in their new roles in the organization.  9.   To reward and recognize outstanding efforts. An important element in many retreats should be to recognize those team members who have really made great contributions. Discussing their successes and accomplishments, if done properly, can help motivate others and build a sense of team. Clearly the accomplishments praised have to be ones that contribute to the team overall, but acknowledging someone who has helped the team can really encourage others to do so as well.  10.   To build consensus. If done well, the first nine points should all be helping to build consensus and a unified sense of where the brand is going. This last point is highlighted as a summary because often organizational leaders may meet resistance in fostering change. Even though a leader can exert their organizational authority, it is often much more important to “sell people” than to “tell people.” Retreats can often be used to expose all sides of an issue and allow the team to reach the best possible conclusions. When reached as a group with everyone buying-in, the likelihood of success can be much greater than if the direction is dictated. Brands are organic and continue to evolve and change over time. Constant monitoring and reassessment are necessary to optimize the long-term returns from your brand.

James S. Twerdahl is the managing director of James S. Twerdahl & Associates.

Facilitation Techniques for Innovative Creative Thinking

Facilitating groups through brainstorming and idea generation can sometimes feel like trudging through mud — particularly towards the end of a day or with a difficult topic.  You can energize a group’s creative thinking by taking them away from the topic for a short period of time to a new arena that is parallel or loosely connected, and then returning to your topic using that new thinking. This is a lateral thinking technique called “associations” that can be used with any group. Let me give you an example.

• Let’s say you’re facilitating a team through an idea generation session for energy efficient flash lights.  You’ve been in ideation for hours and there simply are no more ideas flowing.  Ask the group to forget about flashlights for a minute and answer the following question: “Name some things that are energy efficient.” Record the responses so the group can see them. You may get responses like: solar powered watches, small cars, electric vehicles, screen savers, long-distance runners, etc.
• Next, using the list of energy efficient items just generated, ask the group: “What are the attributes of things that are ‘energy efficient?’” Record the responses so the group can see them.  Responses might include: electric, solar powered, turn themselves off, store energy, etc.
• Finally, ask group members to take a few quiet minutes to come up with ideas for energy efficient flashlights using the list of attributes just generated. You might get ideas such as: a flashlight that turns itself off after a certain period of time, flashlight that stores solar energy to operate when it’s dark, flashlight that stores electric energy, flashlight powered by human contact, etc.

The best ideas in this exercise often come when group members build on each others ideas. A wacky idea often becomes a very innovative idea as groups work together to build them.

Here are some other related lateral thinking exercises you might try:

• Get Fired Ideas: Ask the group “what idea could you go back to your CEO with that would definitely get you fired.” Make a list of these “get fired ideas” and then one by one turn them into ideas that would get you promoted.
• Worlds: Give each team member a “world” to go to, such as: Space, rock-n-roll, pre-school, high-tech, low-tech, nature, Hollywood, etc. Ask each team member to go to his or her world and find example of things that have a key attribute of your innovation focus (for example, portability) and write them down.  Next, using the association technique, make a list that answers the question “why is that item in your world portable” (fill-in the attribute you selected); build new ideas for your innovation focus from the list of attributes.
• Role Play: Give each group member the name of a famous person. Tell them to assume they are that person. Ask them to think about what’s important to that person, what their living environment is like, what are they thinking about? Next, ask them to invent a new product within your innovation project scope that works for that person.

The key to successful creativity with lateral thinking techniques is to move people away from concentrating on the specific opportunity area you are brainstorming on to another place. Let them incubate in the other place for a while and then force fit that new thinking back to the innovation opportunity.

Sometimes it takes a change in focus to open up creativity in the brain. Facilitating your group away from your primary focus to another area provides stimulus for their creativity and can be a productive, energetic and fun way to make significant progress during innovation sessions.

– Cindy Diamond, Diamond Marketing Solutions & Ignite

Facilitating Brainstorming Sessions: Setting the Stage

Prior to beginning the facilitation of a brainstorming session with any group, I find that it’s critical to set the stage by articulating the expectations of the group during the divergent thinking activities. While this may sound like old hat, it pays to remind groups of the productive behaviors that are most desirable for idea generation. I’m not talking about the obvious ones, such as turn off cell phones, talk one at a time and return from breaks on time. I’m talking about setting clear expectations for how the session will flow and creating a safe environment for participation. Here are some examples of the norms I like best:

Ideation Rules of Engagement

¨      Let ideas flow freely – quantity not quality

¨      No evaluating ideas until later

¨      Build on the ideas of others

¨      Be humorous and creative

¨      There are no bad ideas

¨      No debating

¨      Everyone participates

¨      Think in new ways; break out of old pattern

¨      Keep discussion moving; avoid back stories

¨      Hitch-hiking & building (combination and improvement) on ideas are encouraged

¨      Look at what everyone else looks at but see what no one else sees

 

Setting these expectations in advance can help a group in many ways, including:

1.      Creating a safe environment so everyone feels comfortable participating.

2.      Calling out behaviors that don’t fall in line with the rules as out-of-bounds — such as launching into a debate about some one’s idea.

3.      Giving people permission to laugh, to say what they think and to get out of their functional boxes.

4.      Creating a team atmosphere where an idea isn’t owned by a specific contributor, but rather is built and, therefore, owned by the team using hitchhiking and building add-ons.

 

In addition to these “Ideation Rules of Engagement,” I like to post the following Principles of Creativity:

 

Principles of Creativity

1. Creativity requires a commitment of living outside the box.

2. Creative ideas require a fresh perspective.

3. Creative ideas are new combinations of two or more existing ideas.

4. Creativity requires a belief in the ability of oneself to make the impossible possible.

5. Fun and energy are fundamental to creative thinking.

6. Successful creative teams have shared objectives and strategies.

7. Successful creative teams leverage the strengths and weaknesses of each and every member.

8. Good ideas hide where you least expect them to.

9. It takes lots of swings to hit a home run.

 

These principles assure team members that not every idea needs to be a “home run,” but that most ideas will be a trigger or spark for other team member’s to come up with new ideas and will contribute to the productivity of the idea generation overall.

Try setting these suggested Idea Generation Rules and posting the Principles of Creativity at your next meeting and let me know how it works for you! If you have other rules that you have found to be particularly good ones, please post a comment as well.

 

— Cindy Diamond, Principal Diamond Marketing Solutions & Ignite