Creative Collaboration Is the Solution for the Toughest Business Problems

Do you have a business problem that is nagging and tough to solve? Have you tried a brainstorming session with your team to create new solution ideas? Brainstorming is a great way to jumpstart your team’s creative collaboration.

Collaboration drives creativity because innovation always emerges from a series of sparks — never a single flash of insight.

- Ken Sawyer

There are 4 general rules you should employ if you are planning a brainstorm session:

Focus on quantity

This rule is a means of enhancing divergent production, aiming to facilitate problem-solving through the maxim quantity breeds quality. The assumption is that the greater the number of ideas generated, the greater the chance of producing a radical and effective solution.

Withhold criticism

In brainstorming, criticism of ideas generated should be put ‘on hold’. Instead, participants should focus on extending or adding to ideas, reserving criticism for a later ‘critical stage’ of the process.

Welcome unusual ideas To get a good and long list of ideas, unusual ideas are welcomed. They can be generated by looking from new perspectives and suspending assumptions.

Combine and improve ideas

Good ideas may be combined to form a single better good idea, as suggested by the slogan “1+1=3”.