The Process of Innovation and People Who Have Great Ideas - People Friday with Gert Garman

How do we come up with a new idea? Gert Garman facilitates brainstorming sessions and uses innovation processes to bring new ideas to light.

“Gert” Garman is the owner of Broad Perspective, LLC.  Previously, she was the Director of the Collaborative Design Center at Valencia College.  Prior to that, she was a Creativity and Innovation Catalyst for Disney Destinations, where she facilitated brainstorming sessions and trained fellow Cast Members in Disney’s Innovation Toy Box for the Disney Parks and Resorts worldwide.  Gert has a long history of creating immersive experiences and breakthrough thinking results through her work with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and as an Assistant Athletics Director for the University of Central Florida Knights. She is certified as a facilitator in the Creative Problem Solving (CPS), Think X, Four Sight and Five Faces of Genius processes.

Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/gert-garman-people/

Key Takeaways Innovation is a process - trust the process and trust the facilitator It takes the right people to make an innovation session productive The best ideas come from different levels of an organization or outside views - don't just bring in leadership Ego and status quo can get in the way of innovation Build a Human Library - bring in "naïve experts" and get their perspectives Don't judge people or their ideas - create an environment of trust Break groups of people up out of their comfortable units (friends) and put them with strangers Sit people in circles to create eye contact and conversation Set up brainstorming sessions online to generate ideas across the organization If an idea has merit and a lot of conversation around it, then put a group together to discuss face-to-face Name all the stakeholders and get their input on paper Watch for themes to come up and group ideas together Make sure you're working on the right problem Not trying to solve something too big that is unattainable Not so specific it is really just an actionable list of tasks Give people permissions to be creative and to have "dumb" ideas Determine what success looks like, then back into it through planning We have Rivers of Thinking and they are wide and deep due to our experience We must learn how to jump into new rivers Practice "freshness" - go for a walk, listen to different music, try new things To accomplish something new, we must do things differently Resources Mentioned Think Better: An Innovator's Guide to Productive Thinking by Tim Hurson (Listen on Audible) Sticky Wisdom: How to Start a Creative Revolution at Work by Dave Allan The Five Faces of Genius: Creative Thinking Styles to Succeed at Work by Annette Moser-Wellman Design Thinking by d.school at Stanford Creative Problem Solving (CPS) Think X Four Sight