Brainstorming #35 Waigaya: Stimulating the Brain by Bouncing Ideas Off Each Other
Because there is a limit to what an individual can achieve alone, people with the same goal form an organization.
However, even if they share the same goal, their personalities are different.
Furthermore, their ideas on how to achieve that goal vary from person to person.
In that sense, management that aggregates individual ideas and connects them to results is essential for achieving the goal.
Creating innovation is important for enhancing management functions.
Innovation can be said to be a unique value that a company offers, which customers desire.
Therefore, it is not something that can be created easily.
Philip Kotler, known as the father of marketing, says,“Innovation is basically the management of failure, and in order to get a few excellent ideas, you need to generate a lot of inferior ideas.”In other words, rather than pursuing innovation from the start, I think we should begin by sharing the ideas that will become its seeds.
And these should not be safe, conventional ideas.
I believe that even somewhat outlandish, bold ideas have the potential to develop into innovation.
Conversely, for innovation to occur, I think we need a space where we can temporarily set aside past preconceived notions and accept new ideas.
James W. Young, famous as the author of “A Technique for Producing Ideas,” defines an idea as“a new combination of existing elements.”Many people mistakenly believe that when it comes to ideas, they must be created from nothing.
However, in reality, that is not the case; completely different values are created by changing the perspective on existing values or by combining existing values.
One method for generating ideas is brainstorming.
Since the etymology comes from “brain” and “storming,” it might feel a bit intense.
In practice, it involves several participants sharing opinions from their own perspectives, thereby enhancing the breadth and development of ideas through synergy.
It is sometimes abbreviated as “brainstorming” (or “brest” in Japanese), or called “waigaya” because it involves people chatting and sharing opinions freely. (Hereinafter referred to as “brainstorming”)
One benefit is that by listening to the opinions of other participants, you are stimulated and can come up with ideas you never would have thought of yourself.
Also, through the exchange of opinions, you can develop ideas that you could not achieve on your own.
In addition, by creating a space where people can share opinions without hesitation, organizational communication is enhanced, and positive effects on future relationships can be expected.
On the other hand, there are things to be careful about.
First, if you ask for opinions easily without showing a direction or purpose, it will be difficult to converge those opinions later.
With that in mind, you want to draw out bold ideas.
If people hesitate to share bold ideas, or if they only offer safe, conventional ones, it will naturally be difficult to develop them into innovation.
Therefore, it is important to create a safe space where any idea can be shared.
There must never be any negative comments or criticism directed at others' ideas.
As per the words of Mr. Kotler mentioned earlier, the goal is to prioritize quantity over quality when sharing opinions.
Also, opinions generated during brainstorming are in a scattered state as they are.
Therefore, for example, write one opinion on a single sticky note.
Then, post them on a whiteboard or similar surface, grouping them by perspective.
From here, while organizing the opinions, you can develop those ideas by trying to connect them with others' opinions, associating them with new things, or building upon them together. (e.g., IRAC method, KJ method)
In that sense, the results of a brainstorming session can change significantly depending on who acts as the facilitator (the person managing the process and the environment).
You must guide all participants to actively share ideas, accept each other's input, and cooperate to develop them into innovation.