Planning a Brainstorm? Maybe Look Outside Your Regular Close Network

Is creativity a left-brain or a right-brain activity? According to research by Drexel University’s Creativity Research Lab, creative activity is more associated with the left hemisphere of the brain, which controls logic and analysis, when a person is experienced at a task. Drexel’s study studied the brain activity of jazz guitarists of varied experience as they played improvisations.

But when someone is an unfamiliar situation, as with a novice jazz guitarist who is trying to play an improvised solo, creative productivity comes more from the right side of the brain, the study found.

That’s in part why Vaska Petkovska, director of Swedish IT field service management company Amplius, recommends in a recent Forbes Councils article that leaders participate in group mastermind brainstorming sessions with people who are outside of their regular close network. Particularly when it feels like no ideas are coming their way.

This gets a leader to use their brain actively, and receive feedback from people who might have a completely new perspective, according to Petkovska. And helps increase the chances they’ll gain insights and ideas they never thought of themselves.

Once these mastermind sessions are organized, Petkovska recommends several best practices. Sessions should begin with two minutes to present the problem at hand. Following that should be three minutes for other peers to speak and ask questions to help clarify the problem. The presenter should then exit the room, whether virtual or physical.

Next, the team should brainstorm solutions for 10 minutes, remembering to always keep an open mind to others’ suggestions. After that, the presenter should come back to listen for different solutions for five minutes.

Afterwards, the team can set up SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound) goals and a deadline for implementing chosen solutions. And then in the group’s next brainstorming session, the team can begin by sharing which actions they’ve taken since their previous meeting. This step in particular is great for accountability, according to Petkovska.

One benefit of these types of sessions is that they help you build confidence as everyone comes up with ideas and achieves a state of flow, Petkovska says. Another is that you end up networking.

If your interests align with those of others in the group, you might build real connections. Or even connect to more people who can help with your challenge by tapping into the network of your peers.

All of which sounds pretty swinging to me.