BrainZooming

MARCH 21, 2017

Short Story: Look for specifics and things that people can actually do or perform to move creative thinking into action. How do you move from creative thinking into action? Two of the client’s senior staff members said this was a question they expected us to answer during the strategic thinking workshop.

Creative Thinking 61

Creative Thinking Creativity Strategic Thinking eBook 61

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 15, 2018

I was talking with someone who was wondering aloud about how to boost the creative thinking skills of a group made up primarily of fact- and logic-driven individuals. Think accountants, engineers, compliance officers, and others in right-wrong answer professions. Click below and download the FREE Disrupting Thinking eBook.

Creative Thinking 96

Creative Thinking Groups Creativity Exercises 96

BrainZooming

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

The week included: Large scale community collaboration workshops – Nearly eighty students from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale gathered Monday night and a comparable number of Carbondale, IL residents assembled on Tuesday for community collaboration workshops to imagine the community’s future with Gigabit Internet capabilities.

Collaboration 40

Collaboration Strategic Thinking Groups Engagement 40

BrainZooming

MARCH 1, 2018

Sometimes, we get to design a creative thinking exercise that seems like so much fun during its development that it causes me to continually smile and giggle. Click below and download the FREE Disrupting Thinking eBook. We have a new one of those that we debuted yesterday. In its new form, it’s called Surf-to-Turf.

Creative Thinking 68

Creative Thinking Exercises Creativity eBook 68

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

Sometimes you think you know best, only to find later that you have absolutely NO clue. As an example, I wrote some time back about the “Shrimp” creative thinking exercise we included during a creative thinking workshop for a regulated financial services company.

Creative Thinking 40

Creative Thinking Exercises Creativity Strategic Thinking 40

Leapfrogging

APRIL 4, 2024

These retreats are not merely a change of scenery but a strategic move to foster innovation and alignment among the top decision-makers of your company. The value of such gatherings lies in their capacity to refresh perspectives, encourage strategic thinking, and address complex challenges without the distractions of the office environment.

Underperforming Technical Team 100

Underperforming Technical Team Leadership Design Exercises 100

Leapfrogging

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

Developing an innovation culture within leadership requires a strategic approach, including implementing leadership development strategies that embed innovation as a core competency. This might involve rethinking traditional leadership hierarchies and fostering a more collaborative and inclusive approach to decision-making.

Culture of Innovation 113

Culture of Innovation Culture Leadership Innovation 113

BrainZooming

OCTOBER 6, 2015

We, however, routinely share how we do things via our methodology, tools, and learnings from Brainzooming strategic thinking workshops. Why Do We Give Away So Many Strategic Thinking Exercises? Strategic Thinking – Exercises and Tools for Creative Thinking and Strategy.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Creative Thinking eBook 40

BrainZooming

MARCH 22, 2016

Delivering a creative thinking workshop , I was eavesdropping on conversations at five tables full of attendees. One group was starting to use one of our creative thinking exercises. They should inspire, not limit thinking. They should inspire, not limit thinking.

Creative Thinking 40

Creative Thinking Exercises Creativity Strategic Thinking 40

BrainZooming

JUNE 20, 2016

We introduced the first Brainzooming strategic planning workshop resembling what we do today as The Brainzooming Group ten years ago, June 19-20, 2006. The First Brainzooming Strategic Planning Workshop. Afterward, they had the strategic plan! Do you want to develop an actionable strategic plan really fast?

Exercises 67

Exercises Strategic Thinking Strategy Strategy 67

BrainZooming

DECEMBER 9, 2015

We facilitated a two-day innovation strategy workshop for an industrial company. In each of the five mini-innovation strategy workshops, we had a group of core team members, plus people familiar with each perspective. And how much time do I have to get ready before the next workshop? Are we done yet?

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Groups Strategy 40

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

We were facilitating report outs at a strategy planning workshop after multiple teams tackled developing high-level plans to improve various employee challenges in a relatively high-performing company. Four of the five report outs in this strategy planning workshop were delivered by female leaders in the organization.

Strategy 98

Strategy Strategy Brainstorming eBook 98

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 22, 2016

During in-person and online strategic planning workshops , we regularly use a strategic thinking exercise that helps leadership groups quickly identify a shared future vision statement. We turn that input into a collaborative vision statement. Pushing Back on a Strategic Thinking Exercise.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Underperforming Technical Team Groups 40

BrainZooming

JANUARY 11, 2016

Here’s an idea for a new strategic thinking exercise that can be a big help. 4 Ways to Examine Brand Performance as a Strategic Thinking Exercise. This is definitely a strategic thinking exercise idea from the Brainzooming R&D lab. First though, a little background. What’s an Examination of Conscience?

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Creativity Engagement 40

BrainZooming

AUGUST 30, 2016

I mentioned upcoming business collaboration opportunities for Brainzooming yesterday , including co-presentations, creating content, and developing new workshop and training offerings. What to look for in a business collaboration? The collaborator brings something different (and complementary) to what we do and offer.

Collaboration 92

Collaboration Strategy Strategy Creative Thinking 92

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

Chuck has been an incredible influence on my career, especially as it comes to creative thinking skills. Chuck was the first person I heard deliver an in-depth presentation on creative thinking skills. Creative Thinking Skills and Place with Chuck Dymer. That was definitely true. Mike Brown.

Creative Thinking 40

Creative Thinking Creativity eBook Video 40

BrainZooming

OCTOBER 19, 2015

What’s a “pizza meeting,” and what does it have to do with creative thinking? Back in the Fortune 500 days, we facilitated so many strategic planning workshop sessions we gave up renting creativity-oriented offsite locations. After one half-day workshop in the multipurpose room, we were getting ready to leave.

Creative Thinking 40

Creative Thinking Meeting Creativity Strategic Thinking 40

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

We’re big proponents of the value of bringing together a diverse group of people with varied creative thinking skills for strategic planning workshops within organizations and communities. Often, however, executives jump too quickly to flying everyone into one place for a big strategic planning meeting.

Collaboration 40

Collaboration Creative Thinking Exercises Groups 40

BrainZooming

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

By and large, hotel meetings rooms suck for actually encouraging people to collaborate and work productively. Most of the time we have to go well beyond what hotels consider standard ways groups will use their meeting rooms when we’re trying to create an effective space for a Brainzooming creative thinking workshop.

Meeting 49

Meeting Collaboration Creative Thinking eBook 49

BrainZooming

OCTOBER 1, 2015

In nearly every Brainzooming community collaboration workshop, we conclude with a Plus-Minus-Interesting-Recommendation-Question exercise (a PMIRQ for short). The open-ended questions in a PMIRQ allow participants to share invaluable reactions and ideas; we use them directly to shape what we do in future innovation workshops.

Collaboration 40

Collaboration Exercises Strategic Thinking Brainstorming 40

BrainZooming

APRIL 11, 2018

We have a call with a client about an upcoming Brainzooming innovation workshop. One question (which we think MAY have been included by mistake on the list of topics they sent us) is what we do when energy is diminishing during a workshop. Move to the Shrimp creative thinking exercise. Photo via Shutterstock.

Exercises 81

Exercises Creative Thinking Creativity Groups 81

BrainZooming

APRIL 24, 2018

Someone wondered about the range of topics included in the disruptive innovation strategy workshop we delivered recently. Even though the workshop spanned nearly ten hours over two days, we had to narrow the content significantly to achieve the client’s innovation objectives. Disrupting Thinking. The reason?

Strategy 88

Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking Exercises 88

BrainZooming

JANUARY 6, 2016

We’re developing a strategic thinking webinar for a client on cultivating and sustaining creativity among its salesforce. Since the webinar is with the organization’s sales leadership, the focus is on creative thinking skills they can and should be embracing to help their salespeople see opportunities in new ways.

Creative Thinking 40

Creative Thinking Creativity eBook Strategic Thinking 40

BrainZooming

OCTOBER 14, 2015

I’ll be presenting on social media super models , followed by a VERY QUICK creative thinking exercises for sales presentation. The creative thinking exercises for sales content is a different take on both familiar and some new creative thinking topics. Force Yourself to Self-Evaluate.

Creative Thinking 40

Creative Thinking Exercises Creativity eBook 40

Leapfrogging

MARCH 6, 2024

Innovation in executive teams is not just about developing new products or services; it’s about fostering a culture of continuous improvement, strategic thinking, and adaptability. This approach encourages a more collaborative and innovative team dynamic, which is essential for business growth and success.

Leadership 113

Leadership Innovation Collaboration Culture 113

BrainZooming

JUNE 5, 2018

It doesn’t start with getting everyone together in a room for a creative thinking workshop and expecting innovative ideas to happen spontaneously. Analysis, outreach, and design thinking combine to make in-person innovation productive and ROI-driven – after completing the pre-work.

Analysis 66

Analysis Strategic Thinking Survey Strategy 66

Leapfrogging

APRIL 4, 2024

By stepping away from the day-to-day operations and fostering a focused environment, your leadership team can craft innovative strategies and strengthen collaboration. Importance of Strategic Planning Offsites A strategic planning offsite is not just another meeting; it’s an investment in your organization’s future.

Roadmap 100

Roadmap Design Underperforming Technical Team How To 100

BrainZooming

OCTOBER 16, 2018

I explained to them that no matter who we bring into an in-person Brainzooming workshop, we design the questions and exercises so that EVERYONE will be successful participating. It’s like the secret to creative success for everyone ! Creative Thinking – 7 Keys to How “Idea Magnets” Boost Creativity.

Creativity 79

Creativity eBook Creative Thinking Strategic Thinking 79

BrainZooming

AUGUST 29, 2016

A New Business Collaboration in Dallas. I think Mess reached out online after reading some Brainzooming articles. Our conversations led to us pursuing a new business collaboration we’re currently defining. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am about collaborating with Mess! A Chicago Creative Nudge.

Collaboration 68

Collaboration Meeting eBook Strategy 68

BrainZooming

APRIL 17, 2017

In response, though, I shared a client’s comment after we completed an all-day social content strategy workshop: “We got six months of work done in one day.” We create strategic thinking exercises to fit the participants. 5 Secrets to Get 6 Months of Work Done in One Day.

Exercises 58

Exercises Strategic Thinking eBook Creative Thinking 58

BrainZooming

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

It was about fully-formed answers with no real support to help business and marketing managers do the strategic thinking to develop their strategies. They billed high-dollar hours like crazy, turning a single strategic planning initiative into a seven-figure annual engagement.

Exercises 76

Exercises Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking 76

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

And the asterisk on fun acknowledges we’re stretching the definition of fun to cover things nerdy strategic planners think are fun such as “mental stimulation,” “highly collaborative groups,” and “people that want to be involved in strategic planning the next time it happens.”.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Collaboration Groups 40

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 1, 2017

While we have done a bunch of strategic and creative thinking skills workshops for sales teams in the past several years , we have never put together a specific diagnostic on this topic. 10 Questions to Identify Innovative Thinking in Salespeople. Develop a Successful Innovation Strategy to Grow Your Business!

eBook 40

eBook Strategic Thinking Creative Thinking Innovation 40

BrainZooming

JUNE 28, 2016

The collaborative approach created more thorough and vetted plans. Involving more people turned weeks of solo work into a one-day collaboration to prepare a strategy plan. Strategy Implication: By building strategy planning around collaborative conversations, the plan input sounds just like how people in the organization talk.

Exercises 65

Exercises Strategy Strategy Collaboration 65

BrainZooming

OCTOBER 4, 2016

What mix of creative diversity will drive implementation? That is a great lesson whenever you are thinking about selecting a diverse group of participants for a strategic or creative thinking workshop. Ultimately, business creativity is about creating strategic impact. Mike Brown.

Groups 91

Groups Creativity Conference eBook 91

BrainZooming

JANUARY 24, 2019

First: the workshops, keynotes, deep-dives and panels were excellent. You can employ the strategic thinking exercises in Accelerate to : Facilitate a collaborative approach to identifying innovation resources. Mike Brown Founder of The Brainzooming Group, and an expert on strategy, creativity, and innovation.

Conference 74

Conference Strategic Thinking Creativity Resources 74

BrainZooming

MAY 11, 2016

“Let’s start with a clean sheet of paper to boost creativity.”. Talking with a potential client about an already-planned innovation strategy workshop, the going-in innovation strategy called for giving participants “a clean sheet of paper.”. The workshop is already planned, so postponing it to readjust the approach isn’t an option.

Creativity 40

Creativity Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking 40