Dear readers,
On a daily basis, I attend uncountable meetings to create new solutions that benefit our organization and customers. For the past 25 years, I’ve been able to focus on starting my day with a good work plan. However, implementing that plan sometimes requires more effort, discussions, modifications, and whatnot.
My approach while discussing plans with my colleagues has always been Brainstorming. I prefer to consider each team member’s ideas and suggestions before finalizing any plan or project. We use a mix of Design Thinking and Brainstorming approach.
Brainstorming is often touted as a great technique that business professionals can use to generate new and unique ideas. However, there are individuals who attend the brainstorming sessions with an umbrella and are eager to eliminate the good suggestions because of the fear of failure.
In this week’s Letter from my desk, sharing 4 critical aspects to maximize the benefits from brainstorming.
1. Create Psychologically Safe Environment – so that everyone participates without being judged. Ensure participants don’t walk into Brainstorming session with an Umbrella.
2. Encourage Critical Thinking – Critical thinking is an important skill for making quick and effective decisions and it also enables rational thinking and reflection. This is useful in almost every possible situation. Brainstorming allows people to observe others and present their ideas on the spot which slowly develops the ability of critical thinking.
3. Encourage and Facilitate Chain of Ideas – Brainstorming doesn’t mean that we put all the options on the table and select the best one from it. Rather encourage the creation of a chain of ideas and collaboration for building on each other ideas to drive better outcomes. When People builds on each other’s idea; as a Team, you can create something extraordinary and unleash everyone’s full potential.
4. Break the boundaries, challenge the assumptions: Brainstorming enables us to challenge all past assumptions. Sometimes, people find comfort in their plans and hesitate to explore new possibilities. Through brainstorming, we can break the boundary of that comfort zone which opens door to new business models in supply chain partnership. Sometimes brainstorming sessions are better than projects as they reveal improvements you didn’t even know you needed.
Best Regards,
