by Ryan Shell on December 21, 2009
A recent post by Seth Godin titled, “Fear of bad ideas,” hit home for me and I want to share part of it with you.
From Seth’s post,
“A few people are afraid of good ideas, ideas that make a difference or contribute in some way. Good ideas bring change, that’s frightening.
But many people are petrified of bad ideas. Ideas that make us look stupid or waste time or money or create some sort of backlash.
The problem is that you can’t have good ideas unless you’re willing to generate a lot of bad ones,”
I really enjoy the process of brainstorming and throwing out new ideas, but this doesn’t always come natural for everyone, and it certainly didn’t for me.
It’s actually something that I learned early on in my radio days, and am grateful my Program Director at the time created such an inviting brainstorming environment. [He probably has no clue how many of his little lessons have transferred to my current career.]
Think about where you work for a moment. How many new ideas do you see tossed out? Is there a general fear of being wrong? What happens with new ideas?
Now, on a personal level, what’s the last new idea you tossed out? Have you ever been part of a brainstorming session? Are you scared of being wrong? Who are your “idea people?”
Become great at brainstorming and I think you’ll see things from a a completely different perspective… and have fun along the way.
by Ryan Shell on April 10, 2009
Brainstorming. When is the last time you did it? I tend to have multiple brainstorming sessions a week and it’s one of my favorite things to do. An impromptu session arose last night when my friend Christian (a fellow social mediaholic – sorry, domain is already taken) and I went to a place called Kiha in Greensboro, NC for dinner. If you’re ever in Greensboro you should visit them on High Point Road. It’s not the most attractive place – but they have the best ginger dressing you’ve ever tasted! I digress.
If brainstorming isn’t something you do on a regular basis, there are several things I should note.
1) Do not restrict yourself to budgets or anything of that nature during the initial idea stage. That comes in step two. By not restricting your ideas your creativity will be allowed to expand.
2) Who should you brainstorm with? Other “idea people” as I like to say. For instance, I have a coworker that I try to have involved in my brainstorming sessions at work. We work in completely different departments, but this individual is full of ideas and he really seems to get it.
3) Who should you not brainstorm with? Do you know anyone that sucks the energy right out of a room when they walk in? Yeah… you probably shouldn’t brainstorm with that person. And those folks that are always saying why you shouldn’t do something – leave them out as well.
Have fun and be creative. It’s good for you.