SolveYourProblem
Article Series: Brainstorming
Brainstorming, Where Do I Begin?
Brainstorming
– How To Get Past Your Initial Idea
When seeking solutions to any problem, people
tend to embrace the very first answer that comes to their mind.
Further, if it later becomes clear that the initial solution
was in some way faulty or inadequate, instead of seeking new
solutions, people tend to try and alter that preliminary idea
rather than try and come up new ones.
Off-the-top-of-your-head
thinking is great for brainstorming
several ideas that you can then later analyze and evaluate.
But it fails miserably if we stop the process after the first
idea comes to mind. The first idea is rarely the most innovative
or creative. It is usually less efficient, effective, economical,
and promising than ideas that take a bit more time to emerge
to the surface. And it is the idea that most other people,
your competitors included, would also come up with first as
a solution to the same problem.
To stay competitive in any industry you have to get
past that surface-level thinking. Anybody that executes only the first
solution that comes to mind for any problem - the idea that
half their industry has already considered, tried, and tossed
aside - is destined for failure. To succeed in a business,
one must innovate - rise above the pack - and that means shunning
the commonplace ideas that come so easily to mind and seek
the unrealized gems of ideas that require digging deeper and
reaching farther.
Instead of falling into the trap of sticking with the first
idea that occurs to you or your team, take out a sheet of paper
and write down as many alternate ideas as you possibly can.
Gather your team together in a room and do the same as a group.
Brainstorm. It’s how all the greatest innovations come into
being. Sticking with your first idea is lazy thinking.
It may at times come to pass that your first idea turned out
to be your best idea. It may be that the first solution you
come up with to a problem is the right solution. But that happens
more rarely than people think. And in those cases, it is only
through examining all the other possibilities available to
you that you can make an informed and educated determination
that that first thought was the best and right one.
Plus, by giving that extra time and attention to seeking alternate
ideas and solutions, you very well may hit upon a brand new
course of action for your business, an assortment of other
great ideas that you can choose to implement in other areas
and other ways. Brainstorming is never a waste.
The ideal solution to a problem is often counterintuitive.
That’s how some of the greatest businesses rise above the rest,
by going against the grain. The initial idea that comes to
mind is rarely the one that goes against the grain. It more
often is the grain (so to speak).
The first ideas that come to mind are first to come to mind
for a reason - they are obvious and commonplace. To excel in
any endeavor, we need to shun the obvious and commonplace.
We need to keep searching. You’ll know when you find that great
idea you’re looking for.
# # # # # SolveYourProblem.com
: 2008
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