Q #117: How to lead better brainstorming sessions?

In this series, Bob Morris poses a key question and then responds to it with material from one or more of the business books he has reviewed for Amazon and Borders.

There is no shortage of advice and I have already shared some of the best in previous Q&As, #53 and #54. Here is a portion of what Julie Gilbert recently contributed to the Harvard Business Publishing blog. She suggests “three quick process checks that can help”:

Who is in the room?

• What is the gender diversity in the room? It should be 50/50 male/female if you want to represent your consumer base in any industry

• What are the experiential levels in the room? You should include individuals just entering the workforce as well as those that have been in their career for some time

• What is the ethnic diversity in the room? It should represent your global consumer base.

• Do you have consumers in the room with you? Invite your customers to the table of business invention, at least for portions of the discussion that focus on their interests and, especially, on their unmet needs.

During the brainstorming process, who gets to speak?

• Do you call more on those people you know best? Spread your attention around.

• Does each person get a chance to speak, or do you just automatically open up the room to whomever wants to talk? Make sure that you give each person a chance to write down their ideas — then go around the room to hear from each person.

• If you don’t understand a person’s response, don’t just move on to the next person. Stop and ask them to clarify their thinking for you.

What is your leadership body language? Ask yourself

• Do you look each and every person in the eye?

• Do you unconsciously ratify — say, by nodding at them — only the ideas that are most in line with yours?

• Where do you stand? Who are you facing?

Without diversity, without great leadership, and without a safe culture of innovation, you will either fall behind or continue to make ‘one-step ahead’ moves that will limit your growth.”

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Here is a link to the Harvard Business Publishing blog:

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/

Comments, questions, requests, or suggestions? Please share them. They will be most welcome and I thank you for them. Best regards, Bob