Try Different Strategies
5
There are scores of ways to run a
brainstorming session. Here are three of
the most effective:
• Mind Map: The leader draws a circle
on the whiteboard with spokes ema-
nating in all directions. In the circle,
he or she writes the topic of the
brainstorm — “Marketing Our Con-
vention,” for instance, or “Recruiting
New Members.” Participants then
share ideas related to the topic while
the leader writes them in new circles
at the ends of the spokes. Soon, peo-
ple suggest ideas that build on the
existing ideas, so the leader draws
new spokes and new circles emanat-
ing from those ideas. Eventually, the
board is a vast collection of circles
and lines, all connected in one way
or another.
• Brainwriting: Brainwriting is a great
way to brainstorm if your group is
on the quiet side. Give each person
in the group a small tablet of paper.
Each person writes one idea related
to the topic at the top of the paper,
peels it from the tablet, then places
it in the middle of the table. Every-
one reads the ideas created by the
others and adds to them if they want
to. If a person does not want to add
anything, he or she can write a new
idea on another sheet and add it to
the mix. After all the sheets have
made a few laps around the table,
someone compiles the ideas into one
master “idea sheet.”
• Reversal: This idea is a favorite of
Ron Moen, director of technology for
the Association Management Center
in Glenview, Ill., who got the idea
from Frans Johansson’s The Medici
Effect. In reversal, the group exam-
ines the goal — say, how to build
membership — and identifies a num-
ber of assumptions about the goal.
In this case, the assumptions may be
that a lower price will attract more
members, that more benefits will
attract more members and that posh
convention locations will attract more
members. Having identified assump-
tions, the group tries to disprove
each, often coming up with radical
ideas in the process. In the case of
membership, someone may say, “
People prefer higher prices,” and it dawns
on the group that higher prices have
a certain cachet. “The brain bending
involved in trying to disprove the assumptions stimulates our thinking,” says
Moen, who conducts brainstorming sessions about three times each year. “It
provides a structure that gets us engaged.”
Keep the Feeling
Alive
6
A major complaint brainstorming
participants sometimes have is that all
the great ideas they developed never
bear fruit. To prevent that, take time
after the session to write down all the
ideas, consider them carefully and
decide which to pursue. Send a memo
to all the participants about the results.
Your brainstorming session may generate the idea that launches your association to new heights. Or it may just be a
fun, buzz-generating group project.
Either outcome is a success, according
to Ensign, who said his brainstorming
session at MDRT “started a good thinking process” and was “successful in
opening the horizons.”
Ed Avis is an assistant director at Health
Administration Press, a division of the American
College of Healthcare Executives. He may be
reached at
eavis@ache.org.
