Think About This: Architecting better ideas
A short history of revelation
“Eureka!” This is the exclamation Archimedes shouted while running through the streets naked. He’d just invented a method for measuring the volume of an object through water displacement. A new gold crown had been made for King Hiero II, and Archimedes was tasked with determining if the crown was solid gold. Archimedes had to measure the crown’s density without damaging it in the process. While taking a bath, Archimedes noticed that the water level rose as he got in. He then realized submerging an object in water displaces an amount of water equal to its own volume. Dividing the weight of the crown by the volume of water displaced would yield its density—which would be lower if silver or other lighter alloys were present. Archimedes was so excited by this inspiration that he didn’t bother getting dressed for his celebration.
Another popular story claims that an apple falling from a tree inspired Sir Isaac Newton’s theory of universal gravitation. Seeing the apple fall, Newton contemplated that gravity extended so far from Earth that it was also responsible for holding the moon in its orbit. That’s a big idea. These famous anecdotes have become symbols of inspiration, and reminders that big thinking is hard to schedule. That is, the best ideas don’t always occur when we ask them to occur. Bathtub revelations and fruit-inspired contemplations show us that a relaxed and receptive mind is more likely to generate the best ideas. For the modern thinker, thoughts in the shower and bar-napkin sketches testify to this truth. But what if Archimedes or Newton had been on a deadline?
This is the problem facing creative firms. The best creative firms are essentially in the business of ideas. They’re primarily hired to develop concepts that move their clients’ businesses forward, and how those concepts are realized—advertising, marketing collateral, branded events, etc.—is secondary. So a creative firm is really only as good as its ideas. Put this reality into the context of modern industry, where the pace is faster and faster, and schedules for getting products to market or launching a new marketing campaign don’t include a lot of time for walks in the orchard or taking leisurely baths. This means a creative firm is only as good as its ideas—and thus only as good as its ability to generate those ideas on a deadline. Outside of installing showers in every office (which, actually, is not a terrible idea), what’s a firm to do?
Better ways to brainstorm
Archimedes and Newton showed us that the best ideas happen when you 1) put yourself in a position to receive new information that helps you think about something in a different way or 2) create a different way of brainstorming so you come up with something new. And yet here’s a dirty industry secret I’ve said before: most brainstorms don’t work. Why? There’s still a tendency to put “brainstorm” on the calendar, show up with pen and paper and hope for the best. This rarely works. Coming up with breakthrough ideas—especially on the clock—requires a more thoughtful approach to how we brainstorm. Put another way, you get out what you put in. Sitting in a conference room with blank whiteboards and blank pads of paper isn’t really putting much in, so it’s no surprise not much comes out. No matter what industry you’re in, here are three easy ways to get more out of brainstorms by being more thoughtful in how you approach them.
1) Structure the brainstorm. Kicking off the meeting with “Okay, tell me your good ideas” puts too much pressure on thinkers and not enough faith in process. Liberate participants from having to generate concepts on the fly by creating exercises that encourage unexpected ways of thinking about the challenge. For a project last year, we built a brainstorm around an unusual question: what are the bad ideas? This sounds counterproductive, but it worked. One of those “bad” ideas eventually inspired the big idea. And we never would have arrived there without approaching the brainstorm in a different way. Email me and I’d be happy to provide a playbook of these kinds of exercises that we continually evolve.
2) Invite different people. Ever notice how one guest can take a dinner party conversation in a whole new direction? The same holds true for brainstorms. When the premium is on new ideas and unique perspectives, adding new participants with unique perspectives is a sure-fire way to put everyone in contact with unexpected information. If you’re a creative firm, invite your clients. If you’re a client, invite your creative firm. Look up an academic luminary on the subject at a nearby university and invite them (even if it means paying them an honorarium). Or, recruit a member of the target audience and invite them. New people = new ideas.
3) Go somewhere. Archimedes went to the bath. Newton went to the orchard. Franklin flew a kite in a lightning storm. Albert Einstein said, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” And how many times have you heard someone say something akin to “Think outside the box” when they’re in one (read: building). This is all to say: go somewhere other than that beige, windowless room with those smelly whiteboard markers. Go outside. Go where you can see the target audience. Go to a museum. Rent an inspirational space, perhaps an artist’s studio. Take your brainstorm on the road. Take it on the ferry, with a quick stop for lunch on the other side. The simple act of moving the brainstorm beyond the same-old conference room sends an important signal to participants that the status quo has got to go. And a new setting stimulates thinking. Remember how energized you felt when your college professor took the discussion to the lawn on spring days? Remember how much you loved field trips in grade school. Those feelings still apply and they do wonders for your brain.
From setting the stage for unexpected thinking to simply changing the setting, you can create better ideas by developing better ways of getting to those ideas.
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