Creative Brainstorming: How to Channel Your Best Ideas to Create a Winning Product

Creative Brainstorming is that phase in the production process that is all about idea-generation. Some of the best ideas known to man have been thought up during this phase. But just what happens during the brainstorming phase? It's hard to pinpoint exactly how brainstorming occurs because it can be different for different people. But we have focused in on some of the most important elements of brainstorming that aid in the creative process.

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

In science there is an idea about "the theory of everything," which implies that every single idea or thing came from one central original thing. It's an interesting idea and can be applied somewhat to the idea of creative brainstorming. Consider brainstorming as the generating of numerous ideas that come from one major concept. From this major concept you can brainstorm various subtopics that can fall under the main topic and then further expand from there. This technique is good when you need one major concept from which you can build specific details and ideas that surround the central theme. This sort of brainstorming often works well with "mind maps," which take the idea of growing ideas from one major concept and expanding out.

IDENTIFY GOALS

Once you have let all of the creative ideas out in the open, you will want to focus on your goals. Whether it be for more sales in your business, more engagement from readers (as an author), or just more interest in your ideas, you need to decide what it is that you wish to accomplish from your efforts. This will guide your brainstorming so that it won't include every single thing, but begin to be more focused toward reaching the goals you have set forth.

WEEDING YOUR GARDEN

In this phase of creative brainstorming, you will want to consider each and every idea that your team through out in the initial brainstorming session, while always considering what you should eliminate to fine-tune the concept. For example, if your central idea is to expand your Human Resources department, in the weeding phase, you will want to focus on all of the ideas that you think you could feasible carry out within your organization and weed out those that you don't have the budget for, or which are not practical within your work environment. Don't forget though to also brainstorm ways you could try new ideas, including outsourcing work when needed, in order to meet your goals.

FINE-TUNING THE IDEA INTO A MARKETABLE CONCEPT

Steve Jobs once said, "There is a quantum leap between an idea and a marketable product." There is a lot of truth in this. So when engaging in creative brainstorming, you will eventually want to fine-tune the idea into "what sells?" In other words, while money is not the entire goal, you should always keep the practical aspects of your idea in mind, and how it will sell once on the market. You must also brainstorm what market your finished product will likely fit into as well.

FROM CONCEPT TO PRODUCT

During the process of brainstorming, you will want to not only brainstorm about your product or idea, but also about the market that you plan to put your product in. By knowing your specific market, you should be able to fit the needs of your customers more to your product, thereby increasing your sales and loyalty to your product over the long haul.

Creativity in brainstorming is not hard. But it involves going through the stages from original concept to production, so that you not only focus on the idea but also on the end result. In business, this is as important as the creative process itself and it keeps the creative process focusing on end product, so that there is more of a fit between what you create and the customers' needs and wants. In creative arts like writing or music composition, for example, it will help you to fine-tune the art that you put out so that your work not only inspires the imagination but also finds its audience.

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Do Less To Do Better

So often we think of productivity as doing more and more each day, packing in everything like an overstuffed suitcase. Just one more email, one more call, or one more thing before we collapse into numbing exhaustion at the end of the day. Wikipedia defines productivity as "an average measure of the efficiency of production." Note that it does not say the amount of production but rather the efficiency of production. Just because we are busy doesn't mean we are productive or efficient.

One of the greatest detriments to productivity is that we live in a hyper-stimulated world, we continually have our boss, our co-workers, our clients, our emails, phones (multiple), social media, and a multiplicity of other things clamoring for our attention. God forbid our families, kids, or loved one want time carved out for themselves, we just don't have anything left. We are running on fumes most days.

A couple of simple, yet powerful, concepts and techniques can make a radical difference in our lives, freeing us to focus on what is essential in life.

Focus on What is Essential

In his book, Essentialism, Greg McKeown talks about doing less to do better. I can hear the alarms bells going off here, as you say - "But I have SO much to do." McKeown argues that when we are maxed out with multiple projects and endless to dos, we don't do anything really well but rather our efforts are diluted and dispersed because we get overloaded.

What if we eliminated those things that were not truly essential? Do we need to go to every meeting, or say "yes" to everything we are asked to take on? Develop 1-3 core objectives for your job, your business, and your life and evaluate everything as to whether it adds or subtracts from your objectives. This takes time and practice but the payout is huge.

Make Space for What is Important

Following on the concept of essentialism, Leo Babauta with Zen Habits gives a wonderful analogy of filling up you weekly buckets with Big Rocks first, then leaving space for pebbles and sand to fill in. The Big Rocks represent the most important things you need to do in the coming week to meet your objectives. Babauta recommends having no more than 4-6 Big Rocks. The Big Rocks should include non-work items as well (your family and friends will thank you!). By focusing on the Big Rocks first we get the most essential things completed. This also helps to avoid procrastination as we focus on our mission critical first. It also gives us greater permission to push back on those things that clutter our ability to focus on what is most important.

Bite Off Small Chunks

Two things that contribute to our overload are underestimating the time it actually takes to complete a project and putting things off until the last minute because we really don't want to do them. The Pomodoro Technique can really help to address both these issues. Its philosophy is simple - break things down into 25 minute increments. When working on a project or studying set a timer for 25 minutes. Eliminate all distractions during this time (turn off phone ringer, turn off computer notifications), and focus only on the task at hand. No multi-tasking here as it defeats the purpose. Take a couple of minutes break after the 25 minutes and then move onto the next project for 25 minutes, or add increments of 25 minutes to complete a project.

I struggle with underestimating some projects especially if it is a new area, or the project is more complex than I anticipated. I find myself becoming frustrated because I either have to finish the project and put off other things, or I need to leave the project temporarily to complete another scheduled task. Either way I end up feeling frazzled. I have found the Pomodoro Technique is really helpful for this. Start putting down expected time for a project, then log the actual time it takes to complete the project or task. For example, if you write a weekly newsletter and you normally block out 1 hour for it, but with research you find it normally takes you an 1 hour and 30 minutes. This information will really help you be more realistic in planning out your week. It will help you focus on the important things but also helps better schedule your calendar so you don't end up with an unrealistic schedule that leaves you unfocused and over-scheduled.

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Message From the Universe: Quality Over Quantity!

"You really don't have to try so hard.

That's why there's magic and miracles.

Remember?

Tallyho, 

The Universe"

When growing up, my parents told me that if you work long hours at work, your chances of success are greater. That was maybe true then, in the 80's or 90's but today, working smarter is what creates more efficiency and chance of success grows exponentially. With the tools we have, such as social media, tablets, laptops, and other technologies available at our fingertips, it helps us save a tremendous amount of time to complete the same task if we didn't have these tools. More technologically advanced we are, less time we take to complete the work that would have taken us double the amount of time. In retrospect, the end result is working less but accomplishing more. Because of this, more companies are adopting the telecommuting option for their staff so they no longer need to spend hours in traffic to arrive at the office in the morning and spend another hour to get back home. By telecommuting, employees feel like they are gaining more time outside of traffic and put it back into work and accomplish a lot more.

I can predict that many organizations will use this approach and allow their staff to work from wherever they want, as long as they meet their quotas of production. This option will also allow companies not to need so much working space, which will reduce cost of monthly rent and utilities. When more and more employees will telecommute, we can predict most commercial rentals split their expenses by combining more than one company utilizing the same space and save money. It is already happening but more and more businesses will be inclined to using this approach in the years to come. More leniency employers give to employees, more productive they (employees) will be.

So when it all comes to your goals and dreams, less you make your success a priority, more you will succeed reaching it. Focus on helping others make it first and the rest will come. Less you think of wealth, quicker it will come. Start working on yourself, on your well-being, on your health and I can promise you that everything else you've dreamed about getting in your life will unravel in front of you. Keep faith!

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