I’ve never liked rules.
Or authority for that matter. I prided myself for coloring outside the lines, running in hallways, and carving out my own path from the paved road. It was my way of being defiant against the norm.
But then I learned something eye-opening (and this is where it gets a bit deep). If I so love breaking rules, I need to learn them first. The more I understand and adhere to the rules, the more I can make an impact by breaking them. After all, how can you think outside the box if there’s no box?
And that’s the ultimate paradox. Rules may initially seem like they constrain. But in reality, the more you understand the rules, the more freeing they allow you to become. Creativity without constraints has no direction, and hence, no impact. But give a person tight guardrails and specific guidelines and they will show you ideas and solutions that inspire awe. Rules give you a profound freedom to imagine and discover unforeseen ideas and solutions.
But in reality, the more you understand the rules, the more freeing they allow you to become.
If you’re reading this post, you’ve probably participated in countless brainstorms. And some of those brainstorms (hopefully) set the stage with some ground rules. Those rules were probably based on two well-known thought-leaders in the world of brainstorming and ideation – first from Alex Osborn, the person who first coined the term “brainstorm” and the second from the world-renown design firm IDEO.
First up, here are Alex Osborn’s rules for brainstorming:
1) Go for quantity
2) Withhold criticism
3) Welcome wild ideas
4) Combine and improve ideas
When Osborn first introduced the concept of brainstorms, his objective was to “bring brains together to storm ideas.” He posited that a group of people could conjure up more ideas, which in turn, would eventually lead to the idea faster and better. It echoes the “fail fast” mentality that innovators harness today, especially in the tech world.
The second well-known set of rules come from IDEO. Full disclosure and quick tangent – I’ve been such a huge fan of their work, process, and ethos for a long time. If you don’t know about IDEO, learn about them right now. Ok, actually, finish reading this blog post first and THEN go educate yourself on IDEO.
Here are IDEO’s seven rules for brainstorming:
1) Defer judgment
2) Encourage wild ideas
3) Build on the ideas of others
4) Stay focused on the topic
5) One conversation at a time
6) Be visual
7) Go for quantity
IDEO expounds on Osborn’s rules by emphasizing the idea of empathy in the brainstorming process. They recognized one the key reasons why brainstorms often produce less-than-optimal ideas; most humans are self-conscious in brainstorms, so it is critical to set an environment where every person feels safe and confident.
Both Osborn’s and IDEO’s rules are great. In fact, I implemented these rules in my brainstorms for years. But as anything in life, they can be improved. With that in mind, I started to take note on some common insights during every brainstorm I experienced.
First, it’s easy to understand a rule, but it’s very difficult to put it into practice. For instance, I understand a rule that states “One conversation at a time.” So I try my best not to interrupt someone when they are sharing their idea to the group. And after I patiently wait for that person to finish their thought, I jump in and share my completely different idea. That’s just me being polite. It’s not me practicing the ethos of this rule, which is meant to enhance collaboration within a team. A brainstorm session needs constant reminding and enforcing of the rules. This allows your team to practice and build discipline in putting these rules into action opposed to simply understanding them.
The second commonality I noticed was that groupthink will always be a potential pitfall in every brainstorm. Groupthink is probably the main culprit that causes most brainstorms to fail (you can read more about the groupthink pitfall here). It is imperative to prevent a dominant voice from taking over your brainstorm. When rules aren’t set or agreed upon, the threat of groupthink exponentially increases.
And that’s what Flight Club’s rules for brainstorming does – it provides specific rules that encourage selfless collaboration. These rules help teams come up with divergent ideas born from convergent collaboration.
And the third insight I learned is related to simple human nature: people are more self-conscious than we think. Our inherent fear of being judged drives collaboration to the ground. So we need rules that are designed to enhance and encourage the art of working together. That means it’s not enough to say, “There are no bad ideas.” You have to sometimes say, “That’s a horrible idea. But let me try making it even worse.” And when you do that, a key unexpected insight may float to the surface and eventually inspire the coveted “a-ha” moment.
And that’s what Flight Club’s rules for brainstorming does – it provides specific rules that encourage selfless collaboration. These rules help teams come up with divergent ideas born from convergent collaboration. Without further ado, here are Flight Club’s rules for brainstorming:
The Airspace Rules
SAFE NEST
An overly emphasized commitment to accept everyone and everything shared in a brainstorm.
PROACTIVE LISTENING
When someone else is sharing an idea, don’t just wait your turn. Provide your full attention and actively take notes and search for insights within your teammate’s idea.
BUILD BEFORE YOU BREAK
When your teammate is finished sharing an idea, the first thing you need to do is build on their idea. Ask questions, think out loud, share your honest feedback.
IMAGINE AT THE EXTREMES
When you hear a crazy idea, make it even crazier. When you hear a bad idea, make it even worse. Insights are found at the extreme margins.
INSPIRE WITH VISUALS
Pictures/images are the best way to evoke an emotion from a teammate. So inspire each other with visuals instead of words whenever possible.
LEAP BEFORE YOU FLY
Do not filter your thoughts. Our self-conscious tendencies push us to present somewhat fully baked ideas or responses to the group. But so much is lost when you’re trying to perfect your thought before sharing it. Trust your instincts and, more importantly, trust your teammates to accept your thoughts with open arms.
This is just a brief description of our rules, but we will be posting more content that will deep-dive into each one. So don’t forget to sign-up to receive updates and follow us on our social feeds! But for now, here are some quick pointers on how to implement these rules and help your team #brainstormbetter.
1) Incorporate warm-up games that allow your team to put these rules into practice. Moreover, these games can also help break the ice while directly creating a safe environment for the brainstorm.
2) Designate or hire an outside facilitator. I am fully aware that this is going to sound biased but having an outside facilitator can greatly benefit your brainstorm in many ways. In relation to this post, they can help explain and enforce the rules as well as guide the team while avoiding the groupthink pitfall.
3) Emphasize one rule per brainstorm. In your next brainstorm, encourage your team to focus and amplify one rule for the entire brainstorm. This doesn’t mean to ignore the other rules. It just means to pay special attention on one. It’s like dedicating a tennis lesson to improving your backhand. You still have to utilize footwork and other shots while you put a special emphasis on your backhand.
Brainstorming is a discipline. So if you approach your brainstorms as a “free flowing, fun, creative exercise” it will probably result in less-than-optimal ideas. But if you dedicate time and practice, brainstorms just might initiate ideas that can change the world.
For more information and resources, sign up and become a Flight Club member by filling out the form below! We look forward to seeing your ideas take flight!