Have you ever had to facilitate a creative brainstorm? And have you thought somehow it might be all down to you to come up with the creative genius? If so, take a breath, relax and think again.
Many of the people that come on our Brilliant Brainstorm training come in thinking that it’s down to them to deliver the creative goods.
When she first started out as Creative Director, even our creativity guru and Founder Claire Bridges realised that (understandably given her title) she had seen herself as having to be the one to have the big ideas and that had felt quite a heavy burden to carry.
If you think about it, in a group brainstorm, there are often five different hats that you might need to wear:
The participant hat: the person coming up with the ideas
The subject matter expert hat: the person who has some in-depth knowledge of the subject and is able to advise on facts and data relating to the topic
The leader hat: the person who is going to decide what ideas will work and will be taken forward – who has some accountability for the output of the session
The scribe hat: the person who is recording the session insights as they happen
The creativity facilitator hat: the person who is preparing, designing and running the brainstorm process and working with the people to get the best possible ideas from the group
So as facilitator, have you ever had to perform all these roles at the same time or one after the other in a group brainstorm? Were you tired afterwards? Is that really a surprise?
I think you can see where this is going. The easiest (and most effective, efficient and enjoyable) path for facilitating groups is to have ideally have one hat to wear and in a pinch two. And at the very least to be crystal clear with both yourself and the group which one you are wearing and why.
As a relaxed state of mind, fun and play and are some of the creative elements most likely to generate creative thinking – perhaps it’s worth thinking about what will be fun for you too. After all, if you’re having fun – they’re more likely to as well (this reminds me of the awesome parenting book – rule number 1 – mums have fun).
We explore these ideas and many other aspects of facilitating genius on our Brilliant Brainstorm training. Here’s a few insights people shared from our most recent one:
- I can do it
- I am good at this
- No matter what happens I’ll handle it
- I’m better than I think
- I can be flexible
If you’d like to relax into your own facilitating genius – come and hang with us at our next training in June or September 2018 …. And try on a few different hats. You might just find one that suits you.
Our next open course for Brilliant Brainstorms facilitated by Elizabeth Lovius is scheduled for June 2018.
Written by Elizabeth Lovius who is Now Go Create’s resident leadership and development expert with over 20 years’ experience developing thousands of people. She has worked with household brands in all sectors as a trainer, facilitator and coach, catalysing the transformation of individuals, teams and organisations. She facilitates workshops that enable people to have big relationships and outstanding creative performance; giving people freedom to shine. Follow her on twitter @elizabethlovius