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	Face Your Enemy Through Brainstorming

	by Tracy Brinkmann

My father was a 20+ year military man, and I myself did a tour of duty. One lesson I learned from the military is to face your enemy. Whenever you stand toe-to-toe with your enemy they have a way of appearing less INTIMIDATING than before. Now if you think of your problems and challenges in the same light, be they personal or professional, then they too can be diminished and CONQUERED. And this is most easily accomplished through the power of brainstorming solutions.

STARTING OUT

Sit in a quiet place with pencil and notepad. On page one write your major PROBLEM, stated simply in a sentence or two. For example, “I need to get organized, how do I go about getting it?” Or maybe, “I'm too fat, what can I do to lose weight?” It could be, “My business is stagnant, how can I make it thrive?” Move on to list a different problem on each page, until you have all of your problems listed on SEPARATE sheets of paper.

CLARIFICATION

What will this process do for you? When carry your problems inside of you, they will never solve themselves. They can, however, cause you to worryand even make you sick. But once you have them written down, they are no longer INTERNAL worries, but visible enemies you can face head on. You will feel a great sense of RELIEF once you have reduced your problems to writing. The tension disappears, and you will feel as if a great weight has been lifted.

WHAT IS THE ISSUE?

The first step of solving any problem (no matter how big or how small) is to DEFINE it. You should always understand the problem before you begin to work on the solution. After you have all your problems listed on separate sheets, return to page one and begin to think about the problem. Review your statement of the problem, refine it, and add additional DETAIL to it until it states exactly what the problem is that you would like to solve.

FLESHING IT OUT

Then, write out everything you KNOW about the problem -- as well as a a list of names of people and organizations that can assist you with this problem. This information can come from your own personal experience, books you have read, expert authorities, or friends and business associates. One important consideration here is to never confuse facts with opinions. Make sure you know what you’re talking about and that the problem is as REAL and as big as you think it is.

GENERATING IDEAS

Review your problem statement -- then begin to list all of the possible SOLUTIONS that come to mind. This is no-holds-barred idea generation time. Just write them down as fast as they come to you. You may find yourself having to use brief words, or shorthand of sorts, to get all the ideas down. Perhaps have a tape recorder handy to record your words and transcribe them later. Remember, don’t CRITIQUE them -- the time to pick and choose or rate your ideas will come later. Right now you're goal is a lot of ideas, so write them all down.

SOME GUIDELINES

There are four basic RULES for brainstorming:

no NEGATIVE thinking allowed -- the wilder the idea the better
suspend JUDGMENT -- ideas will be judged afterward during the rating process
a large NUMBER of ideas is vital
combination and IMPROVEMENT ideas is what you are after

It's important to write down every idea that you come up with -- no matter how far-fetched or impractical the idea may be. You see, one idea often leads to another -- an idea can be built upon, or linked to another, making it a BETTER idea.

EVALUATING YOUR IDEAS

Once you have completed your personal idea generation session, go back and RATE your ideas. Rate them in two areas, effectiveness (how effective will this idea be in solving my problem?) and facility (how easy will this idea be to implement?). Rating your ideas will clearly indicate the likely SUCCESS of any of your possible solutions. During the rating session, remember, you’re now judging ideas. This is the time for cold, hard, critical thinking. Hone your list down to those ideas that received the highest ratings. Now rate these ideas in two additional areas time and cost. This list will result in a rough draft, or schedule, to putting the best ideas to work. Also rating these ideas in two additional areas could result in one idea being elected over another based on one or both of these new criteria.

GROUP BRAINSTORMING

Now is the time to put the minds of OTHERS to work for you. The group brainstorming session is handled much like your individual idea creation session. The group brainstorming technique is where a number of people meet with a single PURPOSE in mind, to think of as many ideas as possible, to solve one well-defined problem. In this case your problem. Between five and ten participants generally is the best size for such a gathering. Studies show that any given number of people working on the same problem will be more than 50 percent more EFFECTIVE, (they will come up with at least half again more ideas than the same number of people working individually). Along with a chain reaction, one idea leading to another, there develops a friendly rivalry and personal interaction that increases individual performance during the brainstorming session.

BRINGING THE GROUP TOGETHER

Let each member of the brainstorming session know in advance the problem to be worked on. Knowing the problem, each of them can work from a few minutes to a few days on personal research and individual idea creation BEFORE the meeting. When the brainstorming group gathers, ensure each member of the group has a pad and pencil. This will allow them to capture ideas that might otherwise be lost before they're able to present them to the group. Assign someone to be the scribe, the task of taking notes, to record every idea that is produced. Later, these notes should be transcribed and passed along to the brainstormers for further idea creation. Always have a leader, but keep the brainstorming session as INFORMAL as possible. The leader's job is to keep participants on task and keep the ideas flowing.

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR TIME TOGETHER

One good suggestion for developing discussion is for the leader to share his or her first idea, then move around the table to the next person, the next, and so on. You will find that there's a chain REACTION that takes place when the ideas start flowing. It will be like a string of firecrackers going off one right after the other. It is not unusual for ten people to come up with upwards of 100 ideas in a half hour. But do not criticize during the brainstorming session! Criticism is short death to brainstorming, and if someone in the group feels squelched he or she might be INHIBITED to share the innovative idea that could provide a breakthrough. Save the rating for the end or for another meeting entirely. Only after all the possible solutions have been written down do you screen them as you did before, for effectiveness and ease of implementation.

PUTTING THIS TECHNIQUE TO WORK

For any problem, no matter how big, or how complex it may be, there is a solution. All you have to do is find it! And you can find it by organizing your approach, by attacking the problem METHODICALLY and with determination. By applying your full brainpower, and by using wisely all the help you can get, You can SOLVE it.

Brinkmann and Associates provides entertaining and informative keynote speeches and educational seminars. From advanced presentation skills training to motivational seminars. We can provide you with a customized program specifically designed to meet your needs. Visit the website at www.tracybrinkmann.bizhosting.com.

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