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Brainstorming
by Charles Clark
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Joseph A. Anderson, a division general manager for General Motors, writes in the foreword of Brainstorming, "I can think of no finer way to enrich a person's life than to stimulate them to a greater use of their creative talents. The ability to be creative — in which the techniques of brainstorming play such an important part — is largely a state of mind. It is a state of mind that we can cultivate." Charles Clark tells us how we can cultivate that creative state of mind.
He shows us how ideas make a difference and how ideas can change our lives. As he puts it, the one quality that turns the ordinary into the extraordinary is ideas. Before taking us into brainstorming we are given some interesting anecdotes on how our subconscious mind impacts creativity.
Most of our knowledge of brainstorming comes from a quick run-through of the rules and then someone quickly asks for our ideas and lists them on flip chart paper. This is not the whole idea of brainstorming.
Charles Clark does a great job discussing ways a team can narrow the problem statement from a stem shovel question to a spade question. He gives examples and hints on how to make the problem statement broad enough to elicit a large number of alternatives, which is what the team is looking for in a brainstorming session. He also shows us how steam shovel questions can be brainstormed to give the team a list of spade questions or opportunity statements which then can be further brainstormed for solid results.
Further, limiting a brainstorming group to a small number is an unnecessary restriction. Successful brainstorming techniques can be used by one, two, three, or several hundred people. There is even a chapter on how to make your home life richer using brainstorming with your family.
There are a number of good tips in the book on what to do after the brainstorming session is over. Best among them are a number of good ideas on how to sell your boss on brainstorming. There are also some excellent examples of brainstorming sessions from different unrelated companies. This gives the first time or novice brainstormer as well as the experienced team member some useful examples to see how well the methodology works in the "real world."
The chapter on The Complete Brainstormer has the reader look at the world creatively: ways they can solve their problems creatively; how to start an idea bank, an idea museum and idea traps.
This book is not an end but the summing up of the art of brainstorming. It is a beginning and an inspiration to discover what we can do with our brain power to make our world a better one.
Every team member should have a copy of Brainstorming. It will make good teams better.
Brainstorming
262 pages....$10.00 |
Available wherever books are sold or from the publisher. Send $10.00 (CA res. $10.93) plus $4.00 per book S/H ($20.00 per book for airmail outside USA) to:
Wilshire Book Company, 9731 Variel Avenue, Chatsworth, CA 91311-4315.
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