Generate Ideas: Sticky Notes + Forced Connections

Summary

In this video, Roger Feierstein demonstrates practical techniques for generating innovative ideas, focusing on social media marketing. Using Tamara's challenge of creating a marketing plan as an example, the session highlights divergent thinking methods like Stick ‘Em Up brainstorming, forced connections with everyday objects, and building on others' ideas. Participants generate a wide range of creative solutions, including hashtags, live series, contests, and collaborations with university marketing classes. Emphasis is placed on deferring judgment, seeking unusual ideas, and targeting demographics effectively. The video sets the stage for the next step: brainwriting, a silent method to further expand creative possibilities.

Takeaways

• 😀 The session focuses on the 'Generate Ideas' stage of the creative problem-solving process, emphasizing divergent thinking.
• 😀 Tamara clearly defines her problem, goal, and key data on a briefing sheet to guide the idea generation session.
• 😀 Fresh perspectives are introduced by changing members of the resource group to spark new ideas.
• 😀 Participants are encouraged to defer judgment, prioritize quantity, and explore wild and unusual ideas.
• 😀 Stick ’em up brainstorming is used: team members write ideas on Post-its and share them with the group.
• 😀 Forced connections are applied by using objects like Legos or children playing with leaves to inspire creative solutions.
• 😀 The facilitator provides real-time reminders and guidance to keep the idea generation process productive.
• 😀 Initial social media marketing ideas include creating hashtags, automating processes, researching best practices, and connecting with local university marketing classes.
• 😀 Additional creative ideas involve engaging the target audience, identifying demographics, exploring new platforms, and organizing contests or live series.
• 😀 The session plans a follow-up using the brain writing technique to further expand the idea pool.

Q & A

Who is presenting the video and what is the main topic?

Roger Feierstein is presenting the video, and the main topic is generating ideas using post-its, also called 'stick-em-up brainstorming,' to help get out of a creative slump and develop innovative solutions.

What stage of the creative problem-solving process is being focused on in the video?

The video focuses on the 'generate ideas' stage, specifically during the divergent phase of the creative problem-solving process, where participants are encouraged to produce many potential solutions.

Who is Tamara and what challenge is she trying to solve?

Tamara is a participant in the session who wants to develop a marketing team and create a social media marketing plan to expand her company's visibility.

What role does the resource group play in this session?

The resource group, consisting of Mike, Micheline, Kirk, Marcus, Phil, and Ashley, provides fresh perspectives and contributes ideas to help Tamara solve her creative challenge.

What guidelines are given for sharing ideas during brainstorming?

The guidelines include deferring judgment, striving for quantity, seeking wild and unusual ideas, using visual prompts for inspiration, and combining or building on others’ ideas.

What are some of the initial ideas suggested for Tamara’s social media marketing challenge?

Initial ideas include creating a hashtag, automating processes, researching best practices, connecting with a local university marketing class, and creating a weekly Facebook and Instagram live series.

What technique is used to generate new ideas using unrelated objects?

The 'forced connections' technique is used, where participants draw inspiration from unrelated objects, such as a jar of Legos or children playing with leaves, to spark creative ideas.

Can you give examples of ideas generated from the forced connections exercise?

Yes, examples include finding a sponsor, organizing a social media contest for college students, identifying social media problems to avoid, exploring the next big social media platforms, and asking the target market which social media they prefer.

What is the purpose of using the 'brain writing' technique mentioned at the end of the video?

The brain writing technique is used to generate additional ideas by having participants write down their ideas individually before sharing, helping to produce more diverse and creative solutions.

Why is it important to change some members of the resource group for this session?

Changing members of the resource group provides fresh perspectives and prevents participants from being stuck in habitual thinking patterns, which encourages more innovative ideas.

How does the facilitator encourage participants to think creatively during the session?

The facilitator encourages participants to think creatively by promoting a no-judgment environment, prompting them to seek unusual ideas, using visual aids for inspiration, and suggesting the combination and building on of ideas.