My dad swears this story happened to him at his work.
Upper management called a meeting and asked for ideas to improve worker moral and help lower turnover. First hand went up. “Higher wages” Management, “we feel our wages are competitive in the market.” Second hand goes up, “more vacation days” Management, “we feel we’re competitive on vacation days” Third hand goes up, “better benefits package” Management, “we feel our benefits are competitive.” Fourth hand goes up... “what the hell are we doin here.”
During the beginning of brainstorming, it’s SO important for the leader to write down every single idea, and have a “no bad ideas” rule at first. Literally even if it’s the stupidest idea you’ve ever heard in your life, it goes up on the board and everyone has to entertain it as a serious idea.
NOTHING gets edited or taken down from the board until the end of the initial brain storm. You never know when someone’s stupid idea triggers or morphs into a smart idea. Usually every stupid idea has a good core idea that just needs to be pulled out of it. Like, maybe bringing in Beyoncé to perform at the quarterly press event isn’t feasible. And maybe it’s laughable that somebody immediately thought “Beyoncé.” But actually maybe it’s a great idea to have a musical guest that connects to your core audience. And if everyone laughed the second Steve said “Beyoncé,” maybe nobody would have ever come around to the winning idea of “hire a local artist to perform live”
I’m super passionate about brainstorming sessions. I think they’re one of the most important parts of any project. But so many managers are just BAD at facilitating a brainstorm.
duffelbagpete on February 24th, 2021 at 04:32 UTC »
My boss listens/tunes out and then immediately mentally dismisses/forgets the idea.
Watzamata-U on February 24th, 2021 at 05:36 UTC »
My dad swears this story happened to him at his work.
Upper management called a meeting and asked for ideas to improve worker moral and help lower turnover. First hand went up. “Higher wages” Management, “we feel our wages are competitive in the market.” Second hand goes up, “more vacation days” Management, “we feel we’re competitive on vacation days” Third hand goes up, “better benefits package” Management, “we feel our benefits are competitive.” Fourth hand goes up... “what the hell are we doin here.”
__theoneandonly on February 24th, 2021 at 07:05 UTC »
During the beginning of brainstorming, it’s SO important for the leader to write down every single idea, and have a “no bad ideas” rule at first. Literally even if it’s the stupidest idea you’ve ever heard in your life, it goes up on the board and everyone has to entertain it as a serious idea.
NOTHING gets edited or taken down from the board until the end of the initial brain storm. You never know when someone’s stupid idea triggers or morphs into a smart idea. Usually every stupid idea has a good core idea that just needs to be pulled out of it. Like, maybe bringing in Beyoncé to perform at the quarterly press event isn’t feasible. And maybe it’s laughable that somebody immediately thought “Beyoncé.” But actually maybe it’s a great idea to have a musical guest that connects to your core audience. And if everyone laughed the second Steve said “Beyoncé,” maybe nobody would have ever come around to the winning idea of “hire a local artist to perform live”
I’m super passionate about brainstorming sessions. I think they’re one of the most important parts of any project. But so many managers are just BAD at facilitating a brainstorm.