The Tomacco Methodology for Ideas
I am happiest at work when I am in front of our whiteboard wall, marker in my right hand (coffee in the other) and surrounded by people armed with the same tools.
Workshops at Dawson & Andrews are an experience and I want to share some of that secret sauce with you.
We pour a lot of emotion into ideas. Ideas are held in such high esteem that we dedicate approximately 20% of our time every month to sessions where we gather around our big whiteboard wall and fill it with whatever thoughts, side projects or design problems that have been on our minds.
By giving ideas an environment to thrive, we increase the chances of turning something that was previously a collection of messages between neurones in an individual’s mind, then visualised in a concept on a whiteboard which is, in turn, collaborated and improved upon before becoming a meaningful thing that delivers value to people.
The Tomacco™ Approach
As we’re a young studio, everything is still in its infancy and is prone to evolving into something else. Our current approach to ideas is much like Homer Simpson’s approach to growing tomatoes.
In case you haven’t seen the Simpsons episode “E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) I’ll briefly recap. The Simpsons leave Springfield as a result of another one of Homer’s trademark gaffes which left him running from a Southern colonel in search of a temporary home for his family. They arrive at Grampa Simpson’s old farmhouse with lots of poor fertile land. After frustrations growing crops, Homer decides to spray his tomato crops with plutonium to give them a bit of encouragement. The tomato seeds then mutate overnight with tobacco seeds (which Homer mistakenly scattered with his tomato seeds) and the fruits of Homer’s accidental alchemy are born as “Tomacco” — a highly addictive fruit worth millions to tobacco companies vying to take it from Homer.
I see comparisons between Homer’s nuclear approach and the fuel we give to ideas internally in the studio. It’s important not to shoot ideas down when they manifest, but rather let them grow even if they become ridiculous and far-fetched. Absurdity is fuel for ideas. You should allow room for the absurd. Doing so will give you fertile ground as a foundation from which to start. By allowing yourselves to get carried away and to remove the baggage of prior knowledge and preconceptions everyone loosens up and ideas start to flow. And it’s remarkable how many times we’ve laughed and thrown a far-fetched idea into the mix only to say “Well, actually… we could do something like that…”. Of course, there will be a point on the path where we’ll need to get real but if we didn’t leave room for the absurd, so many ideas that we have built upon would have remained in the ether.
Whilst I’m running with this Tomacco analogy, it turns out a great way to validate ideas it to let them rest and grow. I generally feel checking in on an idea in a week is a healthy validation window to see if it still makes sense and is worth acting upon.
Equipment
I’m a subscriber to Tony Robbin’s “State→Story→Strategy” mode of getting things done. Before we can establish stories and strategies we need to establish a good state. Although state priming is mainly an inward, personal exercise, I believe your environment and equipment are an important part of state setting.
I recommend the following tools:
1. A big whiteboard
We’re lucky to have a 6m × 2.5m wall coated in whiteboard paint to leave room to dream big.
2. Whiteboard markers
For the big whiteboard.
3. Idea generating substances (optional)
Unless you’re making a follow-up to Sgt Peppers’, I find coffee (of the bulletproof variety) and espressos work wonders. Our communal Chemex gets us in a bit of a tribal mood and probably has some team-working benefits on a subconscious level or something — whatever — I find it helps in setting a good state.
4. People!
My worst ideas are ones that I’ve grabbed like a rugby ball and tried to run the length of the field by myself. I might get there in the end, but the idea will be knackered and worn out if I make it across the line. With people behind the idea, everyone can take it further. This has been a personal revelation for me. I’ve been putting Paul Arden’s advice of “Don’t covet your ideas… more will come back to you” into practice. Previously ego would have prevented me from giving up an idea and watching someone else carry it. I would have felt like I’d no longer have a chance to be a part of it. However what I’ve learned is that you’ve still got a hand on it, but the more hands around it, the more of a chance you’ve got with the idea. Let someone else carry it, pass it back, come at it from a new angle, introduce new perspectives and carry it over the line with fresh energy.
Ideas by nature are almost mystical in that they appear out of thin air. Being true to their nature, we don’t schedule in some sort of contrived “idea time”, instead they mostly happen organically. It shouldn’t be a forced situation where we have to think of ideas at gunpoint although that in itself might be a great vessel for experimental thinking.
(The idea for this post was conceived on a whiteboard)
