Brainstorming into the Future

by Mark S. Fulton

H.G. Wells was an English novelist and historian whose stories have entertained readers and moviegoers for more than a hundred years. Writing in the late 19th century, Wells produced several works that became science fiction classics, including “The Time Machine” and “The War of the Worlds.”

Wells’ notions about the nature of time and our relationship to other beings in the universe made for thought-provoking fiction. They also serve as useful themes for two brainstorming techniques you can use to think about your business’s future and your competitors.

“The Time Machine” is a tale about an inventor who travels to the future in order to see how civilization will evolve. Sadly, he discovers a bleak world where a race of docile humans are terrorized by a horde of cannibalistic monsters called Morlocks.

What would your business look like if you could travel five or 10 years into the future? Who will your customers be? How might your products or services be different in order to meet the changing needs of the marketplace? What current trends will help or hurt you five years from now? Will you have to revise your policies and procedures to stay competitive? Answering these and other forward-looking questions may determine whether your business flourishes in the future or becomes a main course for the Morlocks.

One way to improve your prospects for prosperity is to gather your best thinkers in a room, preferably away from the workplace, and spend a half day on a field trip to the future using a brainstorming technique called “what-iffing.”

At the top of a large pad of paper, write: “What if?” Then start recording statements from your brainstormers regarding basic areas of your business, such as: products and services; policies and procedures; sales and marketing. Don’t worry about answering the “what if” questions at first; just write them down. Reject nothing.

Encourage your time travelers to think beyond present limitations. For example, brainstorming about product development might lead to questions such as, “What if our product came in different colors?” or “What if we made it out of a new material?”

Once you have exhausted obvious questions, encourage your thinkers to go to the outer limits of their imaginations. The key to this exercise is to probe not only the possible, but also the impossible and the impractical for ideas. In even the most outrageous concept, there may be a spark of brilliance that could ignite a blaze creativity. Here are some examples of weird but stimulating questions:

What if one of our products suddenly came to life?

What if we could read a customer’s mind?

What if Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa or Elvis Presley (or some other well known person) became our corporate spokesperson?

What if our customers paid us with something other than money?

What if we could only do business one day a week?

After you have compiled a hearty list of “what if” questions, choose some of the most intriguing ones and begin answering them one at a time. Again, it is important to keep your thinking fluid. Allow your answers to lead to more questions.

Here’s a sample of “what-iffing” from my own business: What if all of my business coaching clients turned into talking musical instruments?

One might say, “I need to be tuned regularly in order to make good music.” To keep an instrument in tune, you must know when it’s out of tune. There are devices that can tell you that, but you must also be able to hear it. What books, tapes and other resources can I use to help my clients tune up their performance? How can I develop a better ear for the times they get a little flat? Perhaps I can ask them to call me when they are experiencing a great moment of exhilaration, so that I can hear the notes of their most triumphant songs.

Another client might be a fine Martin guitar. I’d say, “Tell me about your favorite composer. What do you like about his or her compositions?” That question leads me to consider asking my clients about the most influential people in their lives and the impact they’ve made.

What if your brainstorming sessions produce a new product or service that no one else has thought of? What if your team come ups with a new approach to customer service that distinguishes you from your competitors? What if you discover an entirely new message about your business?

H.G. Wells once wrote, “The brain is known by its fruits.” Periodic brainstorming will make it more likely that your business will be known by its innovations.

In a future column, I’ll describe a brainstorming technique that will help you win your “War of the Worlds” with your competitors.

Copyright 2002 © Mark S. Fulton