1. Say yes…and…
Try communicating with these two words to keep brainstorming moving along and engaging your employees. It shows you want to hear more from them and increases engagement.
2. Be flexible
It’s hard to be creative when you are rigid. Your brainstorming and creative process will be more authentic if you are flexible and will do a better job of meeting your customer’s needs of tomorrow not yesterday. Allow the creative process to flourish and then filter the many ideas through an impact/effort matrix or P.I.C.K. chart to narrow down the best options for implementation. Develop an MVP and try it with targeted customers to gain feedback.
3. Use a ready fire aim process in your new product development
If you are able, try solutions before they are fully ready to get feedback from your target audience. This is referred to as an MVP or Minimum Viable Product and is often used in the software industry. Given 3D printing capabilities today, can you develop MVPs for manufactured products? The feedback you receive from early prototypes will help you understand if your customer assumptions were correct.
4. Give up attachment to preconceived ideas
Especially when brainstorming you want to allow the group to be as creative as possible without having a solution in mind. When you agree on a course of action make sure you commit and take action. Everyone has great ideas, but those that act upon them are the ones that win in the marketplace.
These are a few observations to keep in mind as you begin your Lean journey and the wonderful impact it can have on your culture!
As always it is an honor to serve you. I hope that you and your company are getting better every day!
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