Success Advice
5 Simple Steps to Master the Art of Brainstorming
Everything that you see around originated from an idea. It is that idea that takes the form of anything, from a product or solution to deciding what you are going to do next with you life. Sometimes we get ideas that are so great that we even doubt if they came out of our own head.
Other times, we are plainly frustrated over the mediocrity of our ideas. There is an art behind coming up with really great ideas every time you brainstorm by yourself or with your team.
Here are five simple steps to master the art of brainstorming:
Step 1: Avoid the trap of the favourite idea
An idea enters our head, and it becomes our favourite idea. Although it could be a pretty good one, it blocks the incoming of any other idea — which could indeed be much better.
- Make a list of ideas for the given purpose. Do not pick one yet. Put your idea on the list and detach from it, no matter how good it seems at the moment. Then, move on to other possibilities.
- Break the brainstorming session into segments. Schedule other important work in between, so that you begin with a fresh mind. This is how you can avoid getting trapped in a single thought pattern.
“When you come to a roadblock, take a detour” – Mary Kay Ash
Step 2: Dumb down your standards
You might hold yourself in high regard. But in order to excel at brainstorming, you have to let go of your intellectual self. Realize that your critical mind cannot efficiently confront the situation in front of you. It is time to wake up the child within you.
- Include every single idea that enters your head, no matter how stupid it sounds. Sometimes, the most genius solution is hidden in a very stupid idea.
- Prioritize dumbing down. Dedicate an entire session or two to think about all the worst ways you can think of doing the task at hand.
- To dumb it down even further, consult someone not directly related to the project. That will add greater variety to your list.
Step 3: Let your ideas rot
By now you’d have a long enough list of ideas and absolutely no idea what to do with it. It is time to leave your idea list for a while. Go out hiking, or maybe just a coffee, if you are chasing a deadline. Carry your list ideas along with you.
This is the part where magic happens. This is where ideas intermingle and get refined. They also mix up with other experiences of your life. For example: In the 1980s, while Steve Jobs was working on the revolutionary Macintosh, it’s ‘just-plug-in-and-use’ feature was inspired by a newly born calf that started walking within a few minutes of its birth; a scene that Jobs had once witnessed. This is how life makes our ideas incredible by flowing in from unexpected places if you let it.
Just like different ingredients rot together and ferment to produce a great wine, our ideas also transcend into something else if you allow them to ferment. Life colours them in different flavours. They get refined. Stupid ideas combine with brilliant ones, making them even better. In a short while, you will have developed clarity over your ideas. And unworthy ones simply wither off.
Step 4: Find patterns
Once you are done with the process, the ideas on your list would not be the same as before. When you get back to them, they are not the same bunch of random thoughts. Interesting connections would have been formed among things in and out of the list. Pick up the ones that seem to be standing out. Figure out which other ideas seem to be supporting or enhancing the good ones.
“No idea is so outlandish that it should not be considered with a searching but at the same time steady eye.” – Winston Churchill
Step 5: Analyze the solutions
Then comes the last stage where you finally apply your critical mind that you had switched off in step 2. Analyse your results. List the pros and cons with each of the few selected ideas on a piece of paper. Look at the efficiency, scalability, implementability and other factors that might count in your scenario. And choose the best idea, which would be pretty obvious by now.
What not to do next
Once you have gone through the entire process, the solution you would have at hand shall be many folds better than the one formed directly through practical thinking. This time you thought as an artist. But being an artist has its cons.
Since you have set your brain on a stormy mode, it will keep coming up with ideas one after the other. This process will continue even after you have decided upon a particular idea. It is really like choosing the best rose from a 2 acre rose plantation. You have to understand that there is not one way to do something. Otherwise, the lizard brain will start using your perfectionism as an excuse to procrastinate.
Make a mental note for yourself before you begin the entire process that you are going to avail as much time as possible for a thoroughly elaborate brainstorming, but once you are done with that, you will shut down the thinking machine. It is time to put in the hard work to manifest your golden idea into a breakthrough reality.
What are some things you do to make brainstorming more effective? Comment below!
Image courtesy of Twenty20.com
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How to Alter Your Business Approach With Technological Advancements
Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner.
Technology’s evolution has impacted everything, and business is no exception. Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner. Entrepreneurs unable to do so are being wiped out of the market.
There is no doubt that AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) have taken over the business world. These technological advancements are impacting decision-making, success percentages, and other entrepreneurial aspects.
Adapting to these developments is integral to business success. Let’s explore how you can accomplish these milestones.
Embed the strength of AI and ML.
AI has modified business operations in major ways. For instance, companies have employed bots for customer support. These bots go through an effective learning process via Machine Learning before being able to answer like humans.
Bots can also perform detailed data analytics and make business moves with high success percentages.
ML is used more for the analysis of data chunks and generating successful predictions. This simply means that business owners do not have to worry about large-scale financial losses.
In terms of deployment and usage, a reputed company like Netflix employs machine learning for decision-making.
Blockchain is increasing the count of business opportunities
Tampering of financial transactions is quite common and causes severe monetary damage to customers. With the rise of digital payments, this risk has increased.
Blockchain is used to elevate your experience for monetary transfers. It combats penetrating events to extract confidential customer information.
Most business sectors are using block chain but finance and supply chain management sections have a higher count. These two corporate sections have several monetary deposits and withdrawals taking place.
In terms of percentage, approximately 72% and 5% of finance and supply chain firms have implemented block chain successfully.
Dedicate Yourself to Continuous Learning and Individual Development
You invest in learning some of the very important skills, including digital marketing, financial management, and how to gain customers as an entrepreneur.
You need to set up your knowledge base about doing business on Coursera and Udemy with the basics that are necessary for the business, building further by networking with experts through webinars.
Besides, Agile methodology will introduce elasticity to your company: this review and feedback system with further correction regularly will allow for enhancing efficiency and promptly reacting to the market.
Developing key skills to achieve goals
Running a business successfully is not only about having niche/domain knowledge. Business owners need to have communication / soft skills as well in addition to niche information.
Here are some key technical/domain-related areas that business owners should have a strong grip on.
Data Storage on Cloud: These days, companies do not store their data on physical servers. Therefore business owners should know how data is stored/edited/removed/updated via AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and other platforms.
Data Analysis/Interpretation Qualities: These days, data is as precious as gold. Business owners with data analysis abilities make correct predictions. As a result, their ventures grow in volume.
Development/Coding Knowledge
Programming knowledge gives business owners an edge whether the application is developed in-house or outsourced. It assists in getting updates deployed and handling application underperformance without getting professional support every time.
Hacking proof framework
There is no benefit of having an advanced automated system if can be penetrated. Successful business owners have above-average knowledge of cyber security and hacking attempts. They are able to choose top-notch anti-hacking software without much of an ambiguity.
Communication Abilities/Soft Skills
Here are some key communication qualities that business owners should have:
Communication/Conversation: Business owners should use to-the-point sentences in both written and oral communication.
Issue Resolution Abilities: Business owners should be able to drill down to problems and solve them. This is done successfully only if an entrepreneur has in-depth business domain knowledge.
Agile Implementations
It is mandatory for business owners to have knowledge of iterative/agile models. With such a competitive environment, it is impossible for business owners to succeed without adopting an agile framework.
Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy
A productive business venture starts with a clear vision. The first factor making a business successful is the idea behind it. It helps with endless growth and combating competition successfully. Katherine Philips once mentioned that business goals are inevitable if goals are set concretely.
- Goals should be based on smart achievements instead of complexity. Focus on the value that each one of them adds.
- Business objectives should not be vague. Key indicators should be constructed to measure the success/failure of each milestone.
- Be realistic when setting goals. Do not aim at impossible milestones since they can be demotivating.
- Milestones/goals need to be time-bound. Set a completion deadline for each one of them.
- Business goals should not be alien. Owners can think out of the box but not be obsolete / unrelated.
Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy
Business owners cannot succeed without having a network. Some tips help in this case. Attend conferences and professional gatherings to connect with other entrepreneurs.
Here are some other related points business owners should pay attention to.
- Attend meetings and conferences to stay updated with trends and meet business owners who already have well-set ventures. This helps in enhancing the learning curve of new / growing entrepreneurs.
- Being a part of business communities/groups is very productive. When one shares opinions and discusses decision-making tactics, it helps in preventing errors and enhancing success rate.
- Even the most experienced business owners have mentors as learning never stops. Take part in mentorship programs so there is an assurance that you are following the correct roadmap.
Conclusion
There is absolutely no doubt that business dimensions have evolved with technological advancements. Successful entrepreneurs have grabbed these changes in due course of time and continue to evolve. On the other hand, people following old paths and conventional steps fade out of competition. In a nutshell, keep an eye on the processes and practices you follow as these factors decide success rate.
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