What is Wildstorming?

By: Thom Quinn
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:39:52
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Wildstorming is the radical cousin of traditional brainstorming, as it turns the process upside-down and inside-out, where strange and bizarre concepts are the rule.

During a wildstorm session, team members suggest absolutely crazy solutions to the core issue which is being examined. Wildstorms are a great place to ponder ideas that are true overkill or prohibitively expensive. Wildstorm answers can deny physics and logic; they can be weird, fanciful, or even illegal. In fact, they can be impossible! The main rule for a successful wildstorm is that the ideas should be anything but practical.

The Payoff?

Wildstorming is both an ‘ice breaker’ for thinking about a problem as well as an exercise for looking at a particular issue from a wide-variety of angles, especially non-traditional ones.

The remedies discovered during a wildstorming session themselves would probably never be implemented; nevertheless, wildstorms do lead to creative insights on the causes and effects of the core problem. The end result is novel breakthrough solutions.

How It works!

Although wildstorms by themselves can lead the discovery of a novel answer itself, the following three-day process is recommended for the full impact.

Day 1: The method is explained to the wildstorm team, the problem is presented, and a 30-minute wildstorming session occurs. Every idea suggested, regardless how silly, is recorded by the scribe.

Day 2: This is the ‘share and rest’ day. The entire list of results from wildstorm are distributed to the entire team for review and deep reflection overnight.

Day 3: The same team is re-assembled to have a traditional brainstorm on the exact same problem. This second session will have the new goal of trying to generate a brand new pool of ideas that could be translated into real-world solutions. You will be pleased by the results of following this entire three-day process. Do not be surprised if bits and pieces of formerly crazy ideas from the wildstorm session are recycled to form novel, workable, and superior solutions.

The Bottom Line: Wildstorming is play that leads to true breakthroughs, enhanced productivity, and better teams.

If you would like to find out more information about wildstorming to have your own session, please point your browser to http://www.wildstorming.com

Thom Quinn is a life coach and business consultant who specializes in productivity, creativity, and overall success. Please visit his daily blog at http://qlog.typepad.com

Article source: Expert Articles

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