brainstorm

Tips for Generating Innovative New Product Ideas from the Electronics Industry

Successful organizations worldwide realize how important it is to their success to nourish creativity and innovation. Innovation is, after all, the vanguard to increased competitiveness. In my years of experience in the development of innovative electronic products, innovation challenges have necessitated the gathering and practice of techniques from many arenas. Here are a few ideas that we have developed in my company. I hope that they will help you to expand and enable innovation in your organization, too.

Sarah Vandenberg2020-08-05T19:21:07-07:00September 21st, 2009|Categories: Idea Management|Tags: brainstorm, electronics industry, enterprise innovation, evaluation, goal setting, idea evaluation, idea generation, Ideation, innovation pipeline, inspiration, obstacles, simplification, Technology, urgency|

How to Generate Powerful Ideas by Thinking Laterally

What is lateral thinking and how can you utilize it to generate great ideas? Paul Sloane provides us with an informative overview.

Sarah Vandenberg2021-11-29T14:18:31-08:00January 20th, 2009|Categories: Idea Management|Tags: brainstorm, Creativity, idea generation, Ideation, innovation tool, lateral thinking, question|

Better Brainstorming: How to Improve Quick and Dirty Idea Reviews

Quick and dirty idea reviews, used to efficiently process the wealth of ideas generated in the typical corporate brainstorming sessions, may unwittingly throw away some valuable ideas. Here are several ways to avoid that mistake, according to Jeffrey Baumgartner.

Sarah Vandenberg2021-11-29T13:57:27-08:00October 28th, 2008|Categories: Idea Management|Tags: brainstorm, brainstorming, Creativity, efficiency, idea management|

To Encourage the Flow of Ideas, Remember the Three Cs

While many companies give lip service to innovation, the fact is that your organization's managers may be unwittingly killing new ideas, along with the enthusiasm of the creative thinkers who developed them. Jeffrey Baumgartner provides some advice on how to ensure that managers are more supportive of new ideas.

Sarah Vandenberg2021-11-29T13:42:43-08:00April 22nd, 2008|Categories: Idea Management|Tags: brainstorm, Creativity, idea management, Ideation, Teamwork|

How to Conduct a Visual Brainstorming Session

Brainstorming verbally frequently does not work. Visual brainstorming, that is brainstorming with images, objects and actions frequently works spectacularly well.

Sarah Vandenberg2020-08-09T13:14:28-07:00October 5th, 2007|Categories: Idea Management|Tags: brainstorm, brainstorming, Creativity, idea generation, Ideation, visual brainstorming|

How to Generate 20 New Business Ideas Over Coffee

Reverse (or negative) brainstorming is an ideal technique for people in businesses of all sizes, either on their own or with colleagues. It can also be slotted into short periods of time such as coffee breaks, bus or train journeys or while waiting for someone. And if your board meeting drags on you can always let your mind wander a little.

Sarah Vandenberg2020-08-10T11:48:36-07:00February 26th, 2007|Categories: Idea Management|Tags: brainstorm, Creativity, divergent thinking, Ideation|

Spontaneous Versus Solution-Oriented Creativity

Creativity can come in two forms: spontaneous creativity and solution oriented creativity. Here are some tips on how your organization can benefit from both types, from Jeffrey Baumgartner.

Sarah Vandenberg2020-09-08T16:23:59-07:00February 22nd, 2006|Categories: Idea Management|Tags: brainstorm, corporate innovation, creative thinking, Creativity, Ideation, Problem Solving, solution-oriented creativity, spontaneous creativity|

A Process for Innovation Planning

All too often, hastily planned brainstorming sessions bring up a lot of good ideas that somehow never get used, while the boring kinds of ideas you are trying to get away from seem to be used again and again. One reason for this is the lack of an innovation plan, according to Jeffrey Baumgartner.

Sarah Vandenberg2021-12-20T16:23:18-08:00August 10th, 2005|Categories: Front End of Innovation, Life Cycle Processes, Strategies|Tags: brainstorm, brainstorming, enterprise innovation, goal setting, innovation life cycle processes, innovation planning, Innovation Strategy, Problem Solving, project management|

Brainstorming Techniques for New Product Development

There are several ways to incorporate brainstorming into a new product development session. Here are two of the most productive techniques.

Sarah Vandenberg2021-12-20T18:23:52-08:00July 15th, 2005|Categories: Idea Management, Strategies|Tags: brainstorm, brainstorming, Ideation, Innovation Strategy, Product Development, publication, strategy, techniques|

When Brainstorming, Don’t Give in to Limited Thinking

When we are trying to dream up ideas for a particular problem, we have a tendency to look at the limitations and focus our ideation on ideas that meet the demands of our limitations. In short, we only consider ideas that come within the “good ideas” portion of our realm of ideas. Ideas that do not make it into the good ideas realm are often rejected immediately.

Sarah Vandenberg2021-11-29T07:52:15-08:00January 12th, 2005|Categories: Idea Management|Tags: brainstorm, brainstorming, Ideation, innovation tool, limitation, Problem Solving|

The ten personas of a brainstorm facilitator

Facilitating a brainstorming session is a multi-faceted task, requiring a variety of sensitivities. A skilled brainstorm facilitator is more like 10 people than one, exhibiting a broad spectrum of personalities as needed in order to get the job done. Read on to assess and strengthen your facilitation skills.

Sarah Vandenberg2021-11-29T07:48:54-08:00November 23rd, 2004|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: brainstorm, facilitation, personas|

Enhance your Personal Innovation with a Brainstorming Retreat

If you are a business owner, senior manager or otherwise responsible for strategic issues in your organization, you should consider scheduling a brainstorming retreat. Disconnect from your devices, select a few good books, get yourself a nice thick blank notebook and run off somewhere quiet and inspirational where you can think.

Sarah Vandenberg2021-11-29T07:47:34-08:00October 6th, 2004|Categories: Innovation Psychology|Tags: brainstorm, brainstorming, creative thinking, Creativity, disconnecting, personal development, professional development, retreat|

Six Great Ways to Ruin a Brainstorming Session

The brainstorming session is the most popular group creativity exercise in business. It is quick, easy and it works. But many organizations have become frustrated with them, because they say this form of ideation is old-fashioned and no longer effective. But the real reason for their frustration is that most brainstorming meetings are not facilitated properly. Read on for more details!

Sarah Vandenberg2021-11-29T07:46:11-08:00August 23rd, 2004|Categories: Idea Management|Tags: brainstorm, brainstorming, challenge, creativity exercise, diversity, frustration, goal setting, Ideation, Teamwork|

Group Brainstorming: Dot Voting with a Difference

After a group brainstorming session, how do you decide which ideas to pursue? Dot voting is a popular technique. Here is way to use this idea evaluation technique for the best results.

Sarah Vandenberg2021-11-29T07:44:32-08:00June 15th, 2004|Categories: Front End of Innovation, Idea Management|Tags: brainstorm, brainstorming, fuzzy front end of innovation, Ideation|

What is TRIZ and How can it be used in Problem Solving or Brainstorming?

TRIZ is a problem solving and brainstorming technique that has been growing in popularity, especially among design engineers. What is TRIZ, and why is it such a powerful tool for product development and other business applications?

Sarah Vandenberg2021-11-29T07:35:24-08:00October 20th, 2003|Categories: Idea Management|Tags: brainstorm, brainstorming, Ideation, inventions, Problem Solving, TRIZ|