But not to worry. Here are nine steps to keep solo brainstorming from being a so-so experience.
1. Feed the mind.
Before you bounce into
brainstorming, break out of solitude. Get outside. Look around — small
scenes can lead to big ideas. Walt Disney came up with the idea of
Disneyland while watching bored kids and tired parents dawdle in a
dilapidated park.
Talk to other people. Ask questions. Actively listen. Take notes.
Snap photos. And even when you’re stuck inside and alone, read books and
magazines, websites and blogs, anything and everything.
“If you stuff yourself full of poems, essays, plays, stories, novels,
films, comic strips, magazines and music, said Ray Bradbury, author of
more than 500 published works, “you will automatically explode every
morning like Old Faithful. I have never had a dry period in my life
because I feed myself well.”
2. Make time to brainstorm.
“Every morning
between nine and twelve, I go to my room and sit before a piece of
paper,” says writer Flannery O’Connor. “If an idea does come between
nine and twelve, I’m ready for it.”
With deadlines on our backs, most of us can’t spend three hours
waiting for muses. But we can carve out small chucks of time here and
there. Make appointments with yourself to brainstorm. And make those
sessions short, fun and furious.
3. Judge not.
Opening a meeting one day, Sam
Goldwyn, the legendary filmmaker, told his staff, “I had a fantastic
idea this morning — but I didn’t like it.”
Sound familiar? Probably. Because, like Goldwyn, we’ll have fantastic
ideas one moment and then the next moment convince ourselves that they
are utter nonsense. Catch yourself judging your own ideas and slam on
the brakes. Brainstorming isn’t the time to evaluate or edit ideas. That
comes later. Focus on quantity, not quality while brainstorming.
4. Go nuts.
“Learn not to be careful,”
photographer Diane Arbus told her students. Post that advice when
brainstorming with yourself. Go beyond safe ideas. Move past the weary
and welcome the wacky. Sensible thinking usually proffers predictable
answers. Non-sensical ideas often lead to sensible solutions.
5. Create mind maps.
Mind maps — also called word
maps and semantic maps — are great for single-handed brainstorms. Take a
blank sheet of paper. Write your topic in the center and circle it. As
your brain makes free associations, follow along with your pen, jotting
down words and connecting them with circles and lines. In 20 minutes,
you’ll have a page crammed with ideas.
6. Unplug technology.
It’s impossible for your
right brain to be storming with ideas while your left brain is sifting
through e-mails, texts, caller IDs, instant messages and other
distractions. Disconnect from technology before starting to brainstorm.
7. Focus.
When brainstorming by yourself, it’s
easy to stray into nearby territory. A brochure for another client. A
problem with your printer. A choice between sushi or sandwich for lunch.
Don’t let your mind stray far away. Keep focused on the project before
you.
8. Change things around.
If brainstorms flow
effortlessly in your office or on the kitchen table, stay put. But when
neurons are neutral, make a change. Head for a coffee shop or nearby
park. Visit a zoo or lake. Change seats. Change pens. Change clothes.
Change expressions. Change coffee. Nothing happens, said Einstein, until
something moves.
9. Pause before editing ideas.
Explore before
brainstorming, pause after brainstorming. Inspiration often happens when
the subconscious is fired up by brainstorming, then freed by the rest
that follows. Take a break and see what happens. Einstein said he would
work for hours at his blackboard, and then his subconscious would give
him ideas while he shaved. Allow your conscious brain a break and let
your subconscious clock in for duty.
Reading over these nine points, you’re probably reminded that
brainstorming — whether alone or with a team — is really about new
perspectives. When we notice differences, said ad guru Howard Gossage,
the creative process really kicks in. “It’s seeing a hundred horses run
by,” he said, “and saying, ‘Hey, that one’s a zebra!’”
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