Try A Brain Jam To Stir The Entrepreneurial Juices
When you and your group of entrepreneurs are faced with a problem, or are looking for new product idea or business strategy, you should consider a “brain jam.”
The brain jam, according to an article in the Investor’s Business Daily, is a brainstorming session that is more like a jazz jam session than an idea-collecting event. Usually, this creates static and stale sessions with staff competing against each other, not cooperating with each other.
Brainstorms usually have individuals pitching their own ideas, but a brain jam builds on ideas and gives people the freedom to mash up ideas and collaborate on idea generation.
Here’s how to start:
Gather your group in a comfortable space.
You’ll want a place where you won’t be disturbed, but one that also has comfortable seating and good lighting. It should be a place where your ensemble will feel encouraged to improvise.
Ask some open-ended questions.
“What are some new products we can offer?” “What improvements will make our products better?” “How can we add value to our customer?” are some examples.
Forbid the criticism of ideas.
If people don’t feel empowered to riff on their ideas, you might miss that killer idea and you might negatively affect the sessions free-spirit atmosphere. When you improvise, you’re going to hit some sour notes. But, you can select the best ideas later. This is about idea generation.
Finally, make sure everyone has the chance to pitch their ideas.
Don’t let a few loudmouths dominate the session. Great jazz groups are filled with collaborators, not soloists.
Related posts:
- Is Your Brain a Computer?
- Bring Back Business 2.0!
- This Is Your Brain on Retirement
- Does Your Lizard Brain Control Your Money
- Moving Things with Your Brain
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is one of my favorite financial books of all time. It's an allegory about a guy who has a terrible job, and how he overcomes challenges to achieve his dreams.
