design week portland - the art of the brainstorm

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The Art of the BrainstormApril 19, 2016

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Trevor OrtonCONTENT LEAD

@trevororton

Phil HerbertSTRATEGY LEAD

@phil_herbert

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BRAINSTORMING:Method or Myth?

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Some BACKGROUND.

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Why have Brainstorms become so ineffective?

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Evaluation ANXIETY.

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People don’t share ideas due to fear of judgment from others.

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Social LOAFING.

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People have a tendency to hide from the spotlight.

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Production BLOCKING.

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Traditional brainstorming only allows one person at a time to be productive.

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Confusing Brainstorming with COLLABORATION.

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Collaboration isn’t always what it feels like.

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What does it take to have an effective brainstorm?

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Know when it’s appropriate, and WHEN IT’S NOT.

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There are lots of ways to generate creative ideas. Brainstorming is only one of them.

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Letting the team RIFF on topics and themes.

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Create a culture of “yes, and…”

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A diverse set of BACKGROUNDS AND SKILL SETS.

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Do you keep your ketchup in the fridge or the cupboard?

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There has to be TRUST within the team.

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A free flow of ideas without judgement is key to opening up creativity.

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There has to be PRIOR PREPARATION beforehand.

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Give people time to contemplate the question at hand before coming to the meeting.

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The Future of Brainstorms

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Brainswarming

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A collaborative style where multiple people use Post-Its or a whiteboard to map tools and solutions together.

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BRAINSWARMING

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The Art of the Brainstorm - eROI - 4.19.2016

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Education Resource

Millenials Personal Member

Community Outreach

Partner-ship

Seminars BlogsSocial Media

FinancialEd.

FAQ Branches

IQ: PNW Brand

Ads PPC BlogsSocial Media

PNW Photo Shoots

Video Content

Portland Residents

Big Bank Members Millenials Personal

Member

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Define PNW

Unique

Other CU Members

Branches

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“This seems suited to very specific or singular problems and projects”

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BRAINSWARMING

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The Art of the Brainstorm - eROI - 4.19.2016

Best UsesBrainswarming is best used for a singular problem or product, where the end goals and the tools are well-defined.

Don’t UseWide-ranging topics, or non-linear solutions to problems.

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Starbursting

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Asking questions to get deeper into the ideas.

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STARBURSTING

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The Art of the Brainstorm - eROI - 4.19.2016

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Who will manufacture them?Who are they for?Who will work on the project?

What should they be called?What price should they be?What color/s should they be?

How do they help you jump higher?How will we promote them?

Where will we get them made?Where will they be stocked?Where should we shoot the ads?

When do we finalize the design?When should we launch them?

Why will people choose them?Why have our competitors not tried this already?

SKATES

WHO? WHAT?

HOW?

WHERE?WHEN?

WHY?

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“We had trouble building on ideas, and not just thinking about our next question.”

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BRAINSWARMING

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The Art of the Brainstorm - eROI - 4.19.2016

Best UsesIt’s best for teams that are maybe new to brainstorming, or very organized thinkers.

Great for conceptualizing big ideas.

Don’t UseFor free thinkers, big groups or problems that are too narrow in scope.

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Homework Brainstorm

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Get most of the base-level thinking out of the way ahead of time.

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HOMEWORK

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The Art of the Brainstorm - eROI - 4.19.2016

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“Time well spent because we came in with a base of ideas and could jump right in.”

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BRAINSWARMING

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The Art of the Brainstorm - eROI - 4.19.2016

Best UsesUse for reliable teams that you can count on doing the prep work ahead of time. Most participants should have a working knowledge of the product/brand/problem.

Don’t UseFor teams without a good understanding of the topic ahead of time. For teams that aren’t going to do the upfront work.

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Written Brainstorm

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No talking, just ten straight minutes of writing.

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HOMEWORK

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The Art of the Brainstorm - eROI - 4.19.2016

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“Brainstorms tend to be controlled by the quickest speakers/thinkers, so it's good way to include everyone.”

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BRAINSWARMING

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The Art of the Brainstorm - eROI - 4.19.2016

Best UsesGreat for concepting, taglines or anything that has a singular output. Also great for teams with less outgoing members, and to generate A LOT of ideas.

Don’t UseFor broad topics, or to generate ideas from riffing.

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Use Brainstorm Modifiers to jumpstart a stalled or failing brainstorm

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BRAINSWARMING

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The Art of the Brainstorm - eROI - 4.19.2016

Environment ChangeGet outside, play musical chairs, sit on the floor. Do anything you can to mix up people's perspectives.

Costanza MethodIf everything you’re doing is totally wrong, why not to the opposite? Try to come up with ideas that are the opposite of your goal.

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Key Takeaways

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Do the upfront work.

Find the right team.

Cultivate trust.

Tailor your technique to the group and the project.

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Workshop

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Each Table assigned a technique

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20 minutes

We’ll see how each technique comes up with ideas.

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You know that in one year, zombies will attack Portland and isolate the city from the outside world. Assume Portland has a 5-day food supply within city limits.

What would you do in the next year to prepare the city for a self-sustaining food supply to survive the zombie apocalypse?

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Thank You.

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