Brainstorming is a perfect way to come up with ideas that will increase your income, especially when you are in business. It is part of the ideation phase of any business process. Brainstorming is a problem-solving technique where several ideas are brought up without restrictions. To get the best result from brainstorming, as many as possible ideas are to be shared. Ideas should not be rejected or criticized during brainstorming until well analyzed.
Brainstorming can either be done in group or personally. When you brainstorm on your own you can come up with ideas that can improve your income, but when you brainstorm with others you have a host of experience to draw from thus leading to a better income. Individual brainstorming is most effective when you need to solve a simple problem but when it comes to complex problems like coming up with ideas that increase your income, brainstorming with a partner or partners is better.
The sole purpose of brain storming is to look for answers to question: e.g. what ideas can I take on to increase profitability/ income? A perfect brain storming session should ask more than the question above. More questions are to be asked, questions like: ‘who can I partner up with to increase my income / profitability?’, ‘what can be done to increase my income / profitability?’, ‘why do I even want to increase in the first place?’ etc. Ask questions. Brainstorming in group helps generate ideas and answers to questions you may not have asked personally.
Choosing the right brainstorm partner
Before one can start a group brainstorming session aimed at sourcing for ideas that will increase income, you must prepare for the session, get the right brainstorming tools as well as writing materials for the session. Also, you and your partner(s) must be in the right frame of mind.
Group brainstorming sessions can be held either online or offline. But whether you want to have an online or offline brainstorming session, it is best to do it with someone (or people) with attributes befitting the partnership, so that time would not be wasted. The following are questions you should ask yourself before recruiting a brainstorming partner:
Does the person have different ideas from yours?
People with different ideas from yours are good options for brainstorm partner. This is in order for you to access and take advantage of ideas available to them as a result of their experiences from a different walk of life. This way whenever you get out of ideas the person would be able to bail you out. If it is possible, your brainstorming partner(s) should come from different disciplines from you. Research has shown that team members with different ideas will improve the quality of ideas.
Is the person open minded?
Your brainstorm partner must be a person open to your crazy and seemingly impossible ideas. You too should be open to ideas from your open-minded partner as these ideas can lead to other profiting ideas at the end of the day. The partner must be non-judgmental too.
Is the person open and honest?
The perfect brainstorming partner must be able to air their opinion honestly and completely. They must be open and honest even when they feel you may not totally agree with them.
Is the person selfless?
A brainstorming partner must not be a selfish person. They must be able to give off ideas without claiming ownership of the outcome. A selfish person may not want to give off their best of ideas as they may feel it is not their place to give off ideas that would help you increase income.
Is the person challenging?
A good brainstorming partner shouldn’t be someone that would say yes to all of your personal ideas. Cooperativeness is one of the major characteristic of partnership but when a partner says many ‘yeses’ it may not be as a result of their corporation, it may be because they do not have the guts to challenge your opinion or that they are nervous to admit that your ideas are not good enough. The best brainstorming partner is that partner that has the guts to challenge your ideas when they feel it is not good enough.
Is the person respectful?
A challenging partner must challenge your ideas respectfully so. Disrespecting and hostile partners have a way of shattering and killing your ideas. Your brainstorming partner must be someone that respects your opinions. They shouldn’t be people that tell you that you’re wrong outrightly, they should be people that speak respectfully when airing their opinions or challenging yours.
Is the person a creative thinker?
The person you should brainstorm with must be a person that is original and creative in thoughts. They must also be able to thinks out-of-the-box.
Is the person realistic?
Your brainstorming partner should be someone that would be able to tell the difference between an idea that can be executed in real life from an idea that sounds good on paper but cannot be actualized in real life. The person must be positive pragmatic thinker whose ideation is not controlled by feelings or emotions.
Is the person trustworthy?
Someone you do not trust doesn’t deserve to be your brainstorm partner. Trustworthy people are truthful, honest, loyal, reliable, humble accountable and more importantly, cooperative. Cooperativeness is one quality you need when brainstorming in group.
Do you enjoy listening to the person?
Your brainstorming partner should be someone you enjoy listening to – someone you can take advice from.
Is the person highly evaluative?
Your partner must be a highly evaluative person, but evaluation should only come up at the end of the brainstorming session.
Ask yourself the questions above when considering selecting any partner you want to brainstorm with. If all your answers are in the affirmative, then the person is the best fit for the role but if not, then look further, in no time you’d fine that perfect person to brainstorm with so as to get those ideas that will increase your income.