Get People Into an Open Mindset is Post #2 in a series from a presentation entitled 11 Great Creative Slip-Ups: The Most Common Mistakes in Coming Brainstorming. The introduction to the series begins here.
The Problem: Coming to the brainstorm in the wrong mindset
Given how busy people are – faster deadlines, instant communications, higher productivity – it’s no wonder people come to a brainstorm in the wrong mindset.
It’s the difference between an .
The Closed Mode is the mind working in reactive mode. Responding to tasks and duties, it’s a mind under pressure and on deadline. Its focus is order, priorities and efficiency. But at the same time, it’s impatient, probably working in tunnel vision to make sure things get accomplished correctly and on time. This mindset can take up to 90% of a person’s day at work.
Note: It may sound like a minor difference, but in the English vocabulary, Closed Mode is not the same as the Closed Mind.
The Open Mode (or Open Mind) is the mind working in proactive mode. To do this, it needs to withdraw from reacting to be able to be constructive. The Open Mindset is an imaginative mind, one in daydream. There is no order: it’s chaos, a mess. It’s also flexible, curious and playful. For most people, that’s a very small part of their day, meaning too they probably have little practice at it.
It’s so much easier to be in the Closed Mind because it’s specific. It’s probably where most need (want?) to be to ensure they reach their KPIs.
So, it’s not surprising people come to a brainstorm in the Closed Mind. But, Closed Minds aren’t creative. If there’s no conscious attempt to switch from Closed to Open, the person will find it more difficult to create ideas. It’s the equivalent of putting a care into Drive, and then suddenly throwing the gears into Reverse.
Let me stick with the car analogy a moment longer. In winter, a car needs to warm up before it runs properly. Like any other muscle in the body, the brain also needs to warm up to work at its best.
So, if you’re the person going into the brainstorm, or the facilitator managing the creative process, you need to mentally switch the gears to get people into the open mindset and ready to tap into their imagination.
The Solution: Get people into an open mindset
Here are four suggestions to try:
1. Develop a creative brief, and circulate it in advance.
It’s a simple document, usually one page. It outlines the basic information anyone needs to know about the brainstorm. If it’s short, more often than not, people might read it in advance. If it’s simple, it’s also likely to stimulate someone’s subconscious for ideas in advance.
The formats and styles change, but they usually include three items:
- The objectives the decision maker or client wants to achieve. I usually include two: one is the business objective, the second is a creative objective. (See for more detail.)
- The basic problem: what’s the issue to solve? Keep the problem simple. You don’t want to overwhelm people in advance of the brainstorm. Give them just enough information about the problem to be dangerous. But, make sure you phrase the problem as a problem.
- The psychographics and mindset of the target audience. What does the audience believe now, and why? Demographics are good, but psychographics are better. Describe how the audience behaves, or their inner thoughts, concerns and desires. Do not focus just on the statistics of their lives.
2. Give people easy homework so they come to the brainstorm better prepared.
Give participants an activity. For a new toothpaste, I had people brush their teeth immediately before the brainstorm.
With an orange juice client, I had people write down everything they did at home an hour or so before and after drinking the new O.J. product.
For media stories, I had everyone buy two traditional media and print two news websites where they’d never typically find their client’s news. We brainstormed how we’d get the client into these publications and websites, then retro-fitted the ideas into actual story angles.
The key is to get people – as soon as possible before the brainstorm – using the product or service (even a prototype), understanding the project, situation or changing environment, putting themselves in the proverbial shoes of the end user, or experiencing the circumstances of the organisation’s point-of-view.
3. Set the right environment.
For many reasons, internal conference rooms are notoriously bad environments for brainstorms, probably because people don’t properly prepare the space for ideation. If possible, I prefer to get outside. Corner coffee shops are great, but you also can be creative with places to brainstorm. I’ve done brainstorms in supermarkets to launch a new ice cream, in a shopping mall for a global barista, even once in my car, going through the drive-thru for a leading fast food restaurant. All you need is a clipboard, paper and pencils.
If you are going to stay in the office, find a place where you can be loud, silly and imaginative. Bring “sparks” (see Slip-Up #6.)
4. Start with an icebreaker to switch their thinking.
are an excellent way to start a brainstorm. It’s a whole topic onto itself, with two previous articles and suggestions.
And don’t forget to bring good food and drink!
What are other ways you’ve got people to change their mindset? Please add your thoughts or comments below.
If you want to return to the original article with links to the other ‘Slip-Ups’, click here.
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