Cameesa - The Blog

The blank sheet of paper, canvas, computer screen, etc can always be daunting. To get the ball rolling it is usually good to come up with as many ideas possible. This advice is important not only for our Cameesa artists but anyone in a field of endeavour that can be considered “creative”.

A methodological way to tackle brainstorming was popularized by Alex Faickney Osborn, an advertising executive and one of the founders of BBDO, with the use of the following guidelines:

1. Focus on quantity
2. No criticism
3. Unusual ideas are welcome
4. Combine and improve ideas

The guidelines encourage the quantity of ideas generated, which makes it dramatically easier to come up with a solution to a particular problem by then recombining and evolving these ideas. The biggest hurdle for most people is negativity or criticism. They think that their idea is not good and that therefore they shouldn’t share it. However what they fail to realize is that the initial idea can be evolved or recombined with others. It would definitely be difficult to combine and improve ideas if you had a small subset to work from.

IDEO, the multidisciplinary industrial firm that is geared towards innovation, has a set of rules for brainstorming that sound very similar to those offered by Osborn in 1930s.

1. Be visual
2. Defer judgement
3. Encourage wild ideas
4. Build on the ideas of others
5. Go for Quantity
6. One conversation at a time
7. Stay focused on the topic

As is apparent even in IDEO’s principles if the focus on quantity and the removal of criticism. These principles are one the factors that has made IDEO one of the most innovative industrial firms today with clients such as Apple, Intel, 3M and countless others.

I think Paul Arden in his book “It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be” puts it succinctly:

“IT’S RIGHT TO BE WRONG”

According to Arden, if you’re wrong the possibilities suddenly open up and anything is possible. With this mindset worry dissipates, as you are no longer trying hard to be right.

So feel free to be wrong and generate as many ideas as possible without any restraint and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results.