Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 2: Today's tip is that, if you want to get as
Speaker 2: many good ideas as possible, allow time for everyone to
Speaker 2: generate ideas solo before you share your ideas with each other.
Speaker 2: In a recent interview with former Surgeon General v. Vick Murphy,
Speaker 2: Adam Grant, a Wharton School professor, describe this particular idea
Speaker 2: generation tactic as deciding to brain write before you brainstorm.
Speaker 2: Lots of times when groups want to get new ideas,
Speaker 2: you get everyone in a room and then say let's
Speaker 2: put everything up on the board, and that can work,
Speaker 2: but there are lots of group dynamics that can come
Speaker 2: into play that can limit what people come up with,
Speaker 2: So Grant explained, when you are in a group situation
Speaker 2: generating ideas, one way to avoid some of these downfalls
Speaker 2: is to dedicate time for everyone to think and make
Speaker 2: notes silently and individually before brainstorming as a group. With
Speaker 2: individual think time first, everyone and especially the introverts among you,
Speaker 2: will have ample opportunity to come up with ideas and
Speaker 2: will be ready to contribute when you all come back together.
Speaker 1: I think this is a good suggestion. Building in time
Speaker 1: for people to think individually helps ensure that everyone's voice
Speaker 1: is heard. But just as important, allowing individual think time
Speaker 1: means you get more ideas to start from. In a
Speaker 1: shouted out brainstorming session, you often wind up with everybody
Speaker 1: simply responding to the first idea that someone said. And
Speaker 1: let's be clear, this is probably going to be an
Speaker 1: idea from someone senior and vocal. But if everyone has
Speaker 1: generated solo ideas first, you can put them all out
Speaker 1: there and then see what other ideas get sparked without
Speaker 1: priming the pump for one individual idea. Providing time for
Speaker 1: brain writing could be valuable in work meetings, but it
Speaker 1: seems like it might be relevant in other contexts too.
Speaker 1: For instance, if you are talking with your older kids
Speaker 1: about their options for summer day camps or sleepaway camps
Speaker 1: and childcare, it could be helpful to introduce the topic
Speaker 1: and then allow thinking time for them, you, your partner,
Speaker 1: and anybody else who's involved in the decision, in order
Speaker 1: to identify possibilities before you discuss them. Likewise, if you
Speaker 1: and your spouse are figuring out your annual budget instead
Speaker 1: of immediate working collaboratively. It could be helpful for each
Speaker 1: of you to look at your budget and actual tallies
Speaker 1: from the previous year. Then you can develop ideas about
Speaker 1: the coming year's budget independently before you discuss live vacations
Speaker 1: for the year or even planning. Any specific vacation could
Speaker 1: benefit from a similar approach, So could any persistent problems
Speaker 1: you're trying to solve, like how to manage morning drop
Speaker 1: off after a schedule change, When to put your house
Speaker 1: on the market if you don't want to have two
Speaker 1: mortgages for long, but also don't want to be living
Speaker 1: in a house that's for sale, Where to gather for
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving now that your parents are no longer hosting, and
Speaker 1: so forth. Any time you want to generate ideas with
Speaker 1: a group, building in time for people to generate ideas
Speaker 1: solo first can help ensure that everyone's ideas are heard.
Speaker 1: You might also get the broadest and most varied ideas
Speaker 1: to choose from, and that can help make your ultimate
Speaker 1: share much wiser. In the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to before breakfast. If you've got questions ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback. You can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
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