Brainstorming from the Mystery Basket
Written by Annie Jenkel
For creative types in the corporate world, there’s not much middle ground between “diva” and “plays well with others.” It’s all about collaborative innovation, which does not involve being in love with your own ideas and dismissive of others. Creative confidence is important, and it’s only human to think your ideas are, like, totally genius. (Am I right? I’m only human.) But still…
There’s a brainstorming protocol, where even if the thought bubble over your head says, “ this is crap,” the prevailing spirit is that there are no bad ideas. Your role as creative director — in a facilitating context, at least — is to solicit, appreciate, and gently curate whatever ideas fly out of the assembled brains.
Creative collaboration can be hard, but working your way through a messy mix of ideas is worth the effort.
It’s a bit like the tv show Chopped, on the Food Channel. Chef contestants are given a “mystery box” of ingredients that they must turn into an appetizer, entrée or dessert course. There are always some good, solid ingredients — along with something totally random or unappealing. The winner is the chef who can turn a basket of Kobe beef, spring garlic, and gummy worms into the most amazing dish. And it’s not cool just to bury the ingredients in a blender, or marginalize them as a garnish.
What to do with the brainstorming mystery basket? Can you slink away and make something of your own ingredients, incorporating others as a polite garnish that doesn’t destroy the flavor? Or do you challenge yourself to actually make a meal out of that basket? Sometimes inspiration strikes: the gods are with you and your ingredients go together. Other days, you’re looking at trout cheeks, orange sorbet and a bag of Funyons, wondering if you’re in the wrong line of work. Still — if you hang in, it can be worth the effort.
We had an internal brainstorm the other day at DoubleShot that was a bit of a Chopped challenge. It is hard work when the ideas on the table aren’t inspiring collective oohs and ahhs from the judges. (It’s also hard when you’re simultaneously the chefs and the judges.) We suffered through the fits and starts of our good ideas, lame ideas, moments of momentum and moments when it all fell apart. In the end, though, we came up with something we’re all excited about. With luck, our client will share our enthusiasm, but either way, insisting on a true synthesis of ingredients (ideas) was a win for that creative session. Buon appetito!
Originally published at https://doubleshotcreative.com on April 28, 2014.
