BrainZooming

OCTOBER 5, 2015

Cheerleading for creativity in business isn’t difficult. Yet, you see people, departments, and organizations where overtly expressing creative appreciation doesn’t happen naturally – or happen at all. It could be nobody realized it is good business and good manners to appreciate creativity in business. Maybe it never occurred to anyone that celebrating creativity in business inspires creativity in others and leads to more ideas.

Creativity 87

Creativity Engagement Strategy Strategy 87

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. That is why weeks such as the last one are so rewarding and filled with learning.

Collaboration 75

Collaboration Groups Engagement Exercises 75

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). Originating from an Edward De Bono technique we learned from Chuck Dymer , the PMIRQ asks five open-ended questions on what worked (Plus), didn’t work (Minus), was surprising (Interesting), should be done next time (Recommendation), and didn’t get fully addressed (Question). Small unknown group collaboration”.

Collaboration 81

Collaboration Exercises Brainstorming Groups 81

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? Shame on me, but I’ve never put the criteria I look for from a business collaboration into the type of strategic decision making tool we develop for clients. There is a mutual commitment to learning from the business collaboration.

Collaboration 65

Collaboration Creative Thinking Engagement Training 65

BrainZooming

DECEMBER 1, 2015

Success factors in strategic planning and creating collaborative strategy were the central topics we tackled on an edition of Smart Companies Radio, hosted by Kelly Scanlon, the owner of Thinking Bigger Business Media, Inc., a company that publishes and produces a variety of publications, products and events that connect growth-minded business owners with practical strategies, resources and information that will take them to the next level of success.

Collaboration 57

Collaboration Strategy Strategy Crowdsourcing 57

BrainZooming

MAY 9, 2017

Learning what participants in an upcoming big meeting know, think, and believe before they come together in a large group is one tactic to strengthen team collaboration. 14 Team Collaboration Benefits from Pre-Meeting Outreach. Depending on the nature of the pre-meeting outreach you conduct with participants, it can promote team collaboration and help: Get to know participants better and figure out how to best work with them.

Collaboration 55

Collaboration Meeting eBook Groups 55

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. When discussing a strategic planning or innovation strategy engagement with a client, we use the graphic below to design our recommended approach. Sometimes they proceed an in-person strategy planning meeting, but not always. 3 Ways Online Collaboration Works to Deliver Big Benefits.

Collaboration 56

Collaboration Groups Exercises Creative Thinking 56

BrainZooming

JUNE 26, 2018

Talking with one city’s representatives about strategies to sell-in a broadband recommendation with voters, they asked whether it is okay to engage its citizens after city leadership develops a recommendation. Engage your audience in collaborative strategic planning earlier than later. If you engage your audience early in the collaborative strategic planning process, you can make a legitimate claim to creating a collaborative vision.

Collaboration 47

Collaboration Engagement Strategy Strategy 47

BrainZooming

MARCH 9, 2016

The challenge in a client meeting was developing the strategy for a later meeting intended to build support for a biennial community event. The team leader asked, “How is it possible to listen to us talk and turn it into a strategy so quickly?”. 9 Creative Thinking Skills to Turn Talk into Strategy. Listen for smart things people say , even if they are snippets, and incorporate those right away into the strategy.

Creative Thinking 65

Creative Thinking Creativity Strategy Strategy 65

BrainZooming

DECEMBER 14, 2015

Based on all The Brainzooming Group experience in helping clients generate new ideas and innovative strategies, diversity is vital to successful creative thinking activities. For example, at one of our client creative thinking workshops there wasn’t any of diversity to spare. So how did the participants sit in the large room for the creative thinking activities? 3 Questions to Stop Squandering Diversity in Creative Thinking Activities.

Creative Thinking 47

Creative Thinking Creativity Exercises Groups 47

BrainZooming

APRIL 20, 2016

As in, “We’ve learned from experience that we don’t want them drug into other tasks they might be able to contribute to if that causes performance and timeliness to suffer.” This Brainzooming mini-book, “Results – Creating Strategic Impact” unveils ten proven lessons leaders can use to boost collaboration, meaningful strategic conversations, and results. Increase focus for your team with productive strategy questions everyone can use.

Strategic Thinking 57

Strategic Thinking Engagement Groups Creative Thinking 57

BrainZooming

JULY 25, 2016

The thing is, unsuccessful employee engagement strategies are not an employee problem. It is a LEADERSHIP problem when purported employee engagement strategies are not working. We see great leaders among our clients successfully taking steps that meaningfully involve employees in shaping strategy and implementation. If you want to go deeper on a viable strategy to improve employee engagement, download our Results eBook.

Engagement 48

Engagement eBook Strategy Strategy 48

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 25, 2015

Creating Strategic Impact” Leaders need high-impact ways to develop employees that can provide input into strategy and then turn it into results. This Brainzooming mini-book, “Results – Creating Strategic Impact” unveils ten proven lessons leaders can use to boost collaboration, meaningful strategic conversations, and results. Increase focus for your team with productive strategy questions everyone can use.

Strategic Thinking 59

Strategic Thinking Tips Engagement Product Strategy 59

BrainZooming

APRIL 5, 2016

Since all the companies competed with one another, each one needed to determine its own business strategies. And if it’s bad, use other strategic thinking exercises to gently bring the ideas back to something smarter and more productive. – Mike Brown. This Brainzooming mini-book, “Results – Creating Strategic Impact” unveils ten proven lessons leaders can use to boost collaboration, meaningful strategic conversations, and results.

Strategic Thinking 53

Strategic Thinking Exercises Brainstorming Creative Thinking 53

BrainZooming

JANUARY 25, 2016

You know, this week doesn’t have to be as unproductive as last week, what with business meetings going nowhere along with wasting time, positive energy, and any hope of creativity. The thing is, there’s a different way to structure business meetings to help a group come together and collaborate in an innovative, productive way. In short they need strategic thinkers who can develop strategy and turn it into results.

Meeting 53

Meeting Tips Engagement Creativity 53

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.”. Creating Strategic Impact” Leaders need high-impact ways to develop employees that can provide input into strategy and then turn it into results.

Exercises 44

Exercises Groups Engagement Creative Thinking 44

BrainZooming

DECEMBER 9, 2015

We facilitated a two-day innovation strategy workshop for an industrial company. The company wants to make significant changes to a major production process. During the innovation strategy discussions, we addressed the production process changes from five different perspectives. In each of the five mini-innovation strategy workshops, we had a group of core team members, plus people familiar with each perspective.

Strategic Thinking 56

Strategic Thinking Exercises Groups Brainstorming 56

BrainZooming

JANUARY 22, 2016

And by done well, we mean that the vision statement: Is developed broadly and collaboratively. Collaborating on a Vision Statement. Strategic Planning – All the Strategy Roles You Need. Strategic Visioning Exercises – Group Collaboration the Right Way. Creating Change and Change Management – 4 Strategy Options. 5 Questions for Creating a Collaborative Vision. Actively engage more employees in strategy AND implementation success.

Exercises 66

Exercises Engagement Creativity Groups 66

BrainZooming

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

Creating Strategic Impact” Leaders are looking for powerful ways to engage strong collaborators to shape shared visions. They need strategic thinkers who can develop strategy and turn it into results. This new Brainzooming mini-book, “Results – Creating Strategic Impact” unveils ten proven lessons for leaders to increase strategic collaboration, engagement, and create improved results.

Leadership 77

Leadership Meeting Brainstorming Creative Thinking 77

BrainZooming

SEPTEMBER 16, 2016

Relative to the personal side of strategic planning facilitation, here are ten characteristics to look for in the person facilitating group collaboration-oriented strategic planning for your organization: Strong listening skills – to entire interactions and to bits and pieces of interactions, to what is being said and what isn’t being said. Have a strong grounding in business, creative, innovation, and strategic principles.

Groups 68

Groups Product Strategy Creativity Company 68

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 22, 2016

The descriptions are purposely neither good nor bad; they simply represent ways an organization could pursue the strategy. We turn that input into a collaborative vision statement. The idea of a leader collaboratively determining the direction organization should go is rare. But making fifty top executives “guess” and articulate what the CEO already thinks (which is very common) is a recipe for wasted time and a frustrating strategy meeting.

Strategic Thinking 45

Strategic Thinking Exercises Groups Brainstorming 45

Boxes and Arrows

NOVEMBER 17, 2015

Meaning anyone who provides the vision for a product, whether it be in code, wireframes, comps, prototypes, or cocktail napkins. In years of presentations working at an agency, I learned to sense the tension building before a design was revealed. At a certain point, clients stop listening to the strategy—they just want to get to the pictures. But does that mean that designers should just make pictures and leave the strategy to others? Design itself is a product.

Design 76

Design Roadmap Conference Project 76

BrainZooming

JUNE 29, 2017

Someone downloaded a free Brainzooming strategy eBook, noting his biggest strategy challenge is “how to do a strategic planning process when you are new.” While leading strategy development in a new company poses challenges (including needing to learn a tremendous amount as you go), it has a comparable number of advantages (Including not laboring under preconceived ideas about how the organization does things). All the Strategy Roles You Need.

Resources 61

Resources Comparison eBook Brainstorming 61

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

You can provide people with strategic thinking exercises, creative thinking tools, strategy questions, and ways to collaborate with one another, using structure to help imagine better strategies. This means there is no opportunity for productive collaboration to devise the plan. Productive Structure for Strategic Planning Exercises. After this strategic collaboration, a full-time strategic planner (i.e.,

Exercises 48

Exercises Groups Strategic Management Creative Thinking 48

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 18, 2015

When you have solid planning (maybe even over-planning), good strategic thinking questions to identify ways to adapt, and an appreciation for flexibility, unexpected events become a wonderful opportunity for learning and developing. Creating Strategic Impact” Leaders are looking for powerful ways to engage strong collaborators to shape shared visions. They need strategic thinkers who can develop strategy and turn it into results.

Strategic Thinking 74

Strategic Thinking Engagement Tips Collaboration 74

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 13, 2015

Great branding strategy examples abound. If your organization specializes in one particular area, your branding strategy discussions should include the question: “If our customers can think it, can we make it?” ” If that were your organization’s brand promise, what would you have to do differently with your branding strategy when it comes to: Responsiveness? They need strategic thinkers who can develop strategy and turn it into results.

Strategy 76

Strategy Strategy Guidelines Exercises 76

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

Creating Strategic Impact” Leaders are looking for powerful ways to engage strong collaborators to shape shared visions. They need strategic thinkers who can develop strategy and turn it into results. This new Brainzooming mini-book, “Results – Creating Strategic Impact” unveils ten proven lessons for leaders to increase strategic collaboration, engagement, and create improved results.

Exercises 72

Exercises Groups Brainstorming Engagement 72

BrainZooming

JUNE 28, 2016

Most executives can’t write a strategy plan, so don’t make them. Since strategy planning is an infrequent activity, it is difficult for executives to master it. We learned that if we asked executives a series of questions leading to the information needed to complete a strategy plan, they became productive strategy planners. Strategy Implication: Remove the tedious aspects of strategy planning, replacing them with efficient alternative approaches.

Exercises 47

Exercises eBook Resources Survey 47

BrainZooming

MARCH 16, 2016

Whenever possible, we try to help clients select a mix of people to participate in group strategy exercises. We review the importance of including front-line decision makers, functional experts, and individuals with creative perspectives. We are also proponents for reaching beyond familiar people that are always involved strategic planning meetings and drive the outcomes of group strategy exercises. 9 Ideas on How to Involve a Team in Group Strategy Exercises.

Exercises 45

Exercises Groups Strategy Strategy 45

BrainZooming

MARCH 8, 2016

mini-Book, we ask a question about the biggest strategy implementation opportunity or challenge the individual is facing in his or her organization. Creating Organizational Change and Change Management – 4 Strategy Options. New Business Ideas and a Creative Block in Your Organization. 9 Strategic Thinking Questions – Helping Teams Execute Strategy. Innovation Strategy – 4 Organizational Change Management Struggles at Disney.

Change 44

Change Strategic Thinking Project Resources 44

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

Creating Strategic Impact” Leaders are looking for powerful ways to engage strong collaborators to shape shared visions. They need strategic thinkers who can develop strategy and turn it into results. This new Brainzooming mini-book, “Results – Creating Strategic Impact” unveils ten proven lessons for leaders to increase strategic collaboration, engagement, and create improved results.

Strategic Thinking 54

Strategic Thinking Groups Brainstorming Engagement 54

BrainZooming

APRIL 22, 2016

This Brainzooming mini-book, “Results – Creating Strategic Impact” unveils ten proven lessons leaders can use to boost collaboration, meaningful strategic conversations, and results. Download this free, action-focused mini-book to: Learn smart ways to separate strategic opportunities from the daily noise of business. Increase focus for your team with productive strategy questions everyone can use.

Engagement 41

Engagement Exercises Creative Thinking Report 41

BrainZooming

MAY 6, 2016

At the 2016 Brand Strategy Conference, Antonia Dean, Director – Marketing, Brand Development, & Strategy at The Estée Lauder Companies covered the strategic thinking ideas behind creating an entrepreneurial environment in a large company. In her role, Antonia Dean focuses on incubating acquisitions and top-secret new product concepts. Ask them to provide concrete examples of when they devised creative solutions.

Strategic Thinking 42

Strategic Thinking Culture Conference Policies 42

BrainZooming

JANUARY 11, 2016

But for current and future clients, don’t be surprised if some form of it starts cropping up in your strategy planning workshops! – Mike Brown. Creating Strategic Impact” Senior executives are looking for employees who are strong collaborators and communicators while being creative and flexible. In short they need strategic thinkers who can develop strategy and turn it into results. Actively engage more employees in strategy AND implementation success.

Strategic Thinking 43

Strategic Thinking Exercises Analysis Creativity 43

BrainZooming

JANUARY 20, 2016

What is the business strategy behind launching this new program? Creating Strategic Impact” Senior executives are looking for employees who are strong collaborators and communicators while being creative and flexible. In short they need strategic thinkers who can develop strategy and turn it into results. Download this free, action-focused mini-book to: Learn smart ways to separate strategic opportunities from the daily noise of business.

Project 45

Project Engagement Collaboration Product Strategy 45

BrainZooming

APRIL 21, 2017

The folks at Armada Corporate Intelligence offered an internal branding strategy take on the United Airlines woes, offering strategic thinking questions you can ask and answer to improve your brand’s resiliency and avoid brand crises. 3 Ways Your Internal Branding Strategy Can Be Smarter than United Airlines. 3 Internal Branding Strategy Challenges. In short they need strategic thinkers who can develop strategy and turn it into results.

Policies 53

Policies Report Video Strategy 53

Boxes and Arrows

NOVEMBER 13, 2018

According to a freshly released trends report by the UX Design Collective , “Some designers are adventuring in new fields and technologies, like virtual reality, conversational design, voice interfaces; Some are focusing on more specific areas of the design craft, like motion design, prototyping, and UX writing; Some are updating their titles to product designers, broadening their scope beyond interaction design to focus more on product strategy and business.”.

Design 75

Design Course Study Training 75