You may not have blown many bubbles lately, but it’s hard to argue the delight and whimsy that comes from taking a deep breath and creating gleaming spheres of light that float on the breeze. Am I right? Such joy is also the case with unabashed brainstorming and letting your creative juices flow to develop new and exciting ideas.

Although everyone has their own take on how ideas should be sourced. For example, the fine folks at Fast Company can’t seem to make up their mind on whether “brainstorming” is a good idea or not.

Since 2011 they’ve reversed their decision 5 times by posting contradicting articles on the topic. But whether you call it brainstorming, team-building exercises, creative collaboration or whatever, there’s definitely a need to call one of these pow-wows every once in a while to get fresh ideas on the table.

However in this post I’m not going to focus on what you should call it, but instead outline some recommendations for structure, defining goals before you get started and how to rein in unrealistic ideas without being labeled “dream-crusher”. (Because no one wants that written on their name tag.)

Bubble Making 101

Before you start looking at the calendar and sending Outlook invites to the whole office, it’s important to have an outline of what you want to accomplish. Also make sure your boss (or whoever the key decision maker is) has signed off, because if you’re going left and they’re going right it’ll end up being a waste of everyone’s time.

Here’s a quick list of things you want to be sure you have locked down:

What’s the task at hand? Are you coming up with something new or revamping something already on the market?

What’s the goal at the end of the brainstorming? Do you want a list of 500 general ideas or 10 further developed concept ideas?

How much time do you have for the meeting? If this is an all-day affair, there’s definitely room to include some unstructured time, but if it’s only 2-3 hours you’ll need to make sure you have a firm agenda and stick to it.

Who’s driving the bus? It’s important to identify who will be running the session and that they keep everyone focused on the task at hand.

Beneath The Suds

Technically the definition of brainstorming is throwing any kind-of idea out there to see if it sticks, but it’s also important to be realistic. If there are things you know the company will never go for, set up those guardrails early and enforce them. Otherwise you’re devoting time and resources to develop ideas that will never see the light of day, and much like our glistening bubble friends, they may look pretty but they don’t last long.

In addition to that, be wary of good ideas that get blown up by unnecessary or unrealistic add-ons. (If a small bubble is shiny, then a bigger bubble must be even shinier!) Whoa there. This goes back to what was said in the beginning: know your goals for the session and what’s really possible to execute.

From personal experience, I’ve seen lengthy conversations develop over the discussion of completely over the top, high-cost and potentially unmanageable marketing ideas. How is that a good use of anyone’s time? That’s why it’s imperative to stay on task, with one eye on the goal and the other on the agenda.

Runaway Bubbles
You might be thinking at this point, why do we keep talking about bubbles? (Or maybe, “I need to stop and pick up some Calgon…” Who knows ☺) But for the purposes of this post, the idea of chasing a bubble seemed like a good analogy to illustrate how quickly ideas can be developed, overblown and then quickly fade away. So in this last section, let’s quickly talk about reining in bad ideas before they get out of control.

We covered some of this in the paragraphs above, but that’s if you’re able to put the kibosh on something before it even gets started. But what if something is already in play? Maybe the purpose of your brainstorm session is to correct a bad idea that’s already been executed. In which case it’s important to proceed thoughtfully – otherwise you risk putting lipstick on a pig – and in our case we’re trying to save Wilbur from a Mary Kay makeover.

Bad ideas can get started in a number of ways, but a likely culprit is someone making a decision for an area of the business that they shouldn’t be. For example: accounting making a decision for marketing or vice versa. If that’s the case, don’t be afraid to shut it down. Accounting shouldn’t be dictating a marketing campaign just like marketing isn’t telling them how to pay invoices.

Of course it’s always better to play nice in the office and across departments, so if this is the situation you’re in, the best way to unravel the knot is to open up a dialog.

“What’s the total cost?”

“What’s the expected ROI?

“Does this speak to our demographic?

“Does this bring us new customers?”

“How long has the program been running and what have we gained – or lost?”

“Does this align with our brand?”

These will vary depending on the program and your business model, but you get the idea behind the questioning. It’s to identify: “Why are we doing this” and “What are we getting out of it?” Oh and remember to let the bubbles float on by… there’s no ROI if you catch one.