Is Your Brain in Closed Mode or Open Mode?
Which mode are you at work? Are you in a Closed Mode or an Open Mode? Here’s two options. Which one sounds most like you at work on a ‘normal’
Facilitation
Posts under Facilitation focuses specifically on the creative technique of bringing people together to generate ideas, such as providing relevant materials in advance, setting up the right environment and atmosphere, facilitating the meeting, leading icebreakers and exercises, and wrapping up so the best ideas can be further refined. Check out Games & Exercises for specific suggestions. Please use the Search bar to scan for other relevant words or tags.
By Andy Eklund
Should I Hire a Facilitator?
There isn’t a single answer to the question – Should I hire a facilitator? – because it requires a few additional questions to determine the best answer. What type of meeting
Using Images as Metaphors for Creative Thinking
Metaphors are one of the most useful tools in creative thinking. Figures of speech, they are useful to compare different things. However, metaphors can also be used as a visual
Best Brainstorming Tips in a Flash
Don’t have time to read a long post on creating ideas? If so, here are my best brainstorming tips, quick-snap. Let’s go!! Get your … … or to give them
Is The Brainstorm Over?
A great article by Mike Brown from Brainzooming in the USA, this post outlines the 10 signs to look for to know if your brainstorm is finished. Here’s the link
Brainstorm Supplies
“Be prepared” is a mantra that stretches from Plato to Madame Curie to the Boy Scouts. It’s also relevant for brainstorm supplies. There’s nothing worse when your participants are ready
The 90-10 Rule
If you work in creativity of any type, you know the 90-20 Rule, also known as Sturgeon’s Law. OK, technically, Sturgeon’s Law is Ninety percent of everything is crap. No, he
16 Ways to Be a Better Brainstormer
I talk often about how to facilitate a better brainstorm, but this time I want to focus on the participants themselves – specifically, how can you be a better brainstormer
Problem Solving the Cause or Effect
Understanding and articulating the problem (“a less than ideal state” says Gene Agre in The Concept of a Problem (1982) is the most crucial step in creative thinking. But, it’s
Is Bad Brainstorm Behavior Acceptable?
During a long bus ride recently, I finished the Australian novel The Slap. Perhaps I was hallucinating after eight hours without WiFi, but I found a lot of symmetry between bad behavior
Ten Qualities of a Brainstorm Facilitator
When someone asks me out for coffee (literally or figuratively), they often follow their invitation with this declaration. “I want to be a brainstorm facilitator.” Like any occupation, a brainstorm
Brainstorm Early And As Often As Possible
Brainstorm early and as often as possible is Post #5 in a series from a presentation entitled 11 Great Creative Slip-Ups: The Most Common Mistakes in Brainstorming. The introduction to