• 0

Marketoonist | Tom Fishburne

Marketoonist is the thought bubble of Tom Fishburne. Marketing cartoons, content marketing with a sense of humor, keynote speaking.

  • Campaigns
  • Speaking
  • About
  • Cartoons
  • Contact
  • Book
  • 0

the wiki wall

December 12, 2010 1 Comment

  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

We can thank adman Alex Osborn for the brainstorm (he’s the O in agency BBDO). In 1948, Alex noted that most offices were full of “discouragement and criticism which so often cramp imagination”. So he invented the brainstorm as a break from the day-to-day office environment. In a brainstorm, ideas could blossom safely before being subjected to critical thought.

Brainstorming helped, but it didn’t address the underlying problem that offices “cramp imagination”.  Ideas don’t conveniently appear in a once-a-quarter brainstorm, just because a group is gathered in a room with beanbag chairs, sticky notes, and those rubber squishy ball toys. Ideas come continuously and in different ways to different people. Some are “slow hunches” that take months to take form. After the brainstorm, all of the flip charts and notes are packed away and the whiteboards are cleaned to make room for the next meeting. There’s no institutional memory.

Another big issue with the once-a-quarter Brainstorm approach is that creative ideas are needed throughout the course of a project, not just at the fuzzy front end. Imagination is needed at every cross-roads, pitfall, and setback. If the office environment is full of too much “discouragement and criticism”, ideas are weakened and made smaller at each of these bumps in the road.

Projects are not the result of one Eureka moment at one point in time. They are the cumulative result of hundreds of minor and major Eureka moments throughout a project.

Instead of escaping the office to go to Brainstorms, we should address the office culture itself. We can make our everyday office more conducive to growing ideas. Instead of calling a brainstorm, build a Wiki Wall. At method, we had floor-to-ceiling magnetic whiteboards on every vertical surface. We called it the Wiki Wall. Ideas are grouped by project. Everyone could add to an idea at any time over the entire course of the project. Pictures and prototypes are added for all to see, comment, and build on. Slow hunches have time to take root.

The Wiki Wall becomes a living embodiment of the project. It also becomes a symbol to the organization of collaborative creativity. It rebels against the clean office policy. I was interested in my last tour of IDEO that it is filled with Wiki Walls. Theirs are rolling partitions that chronicle the evolution of their projects from start to finish.

I’m a big fan of IdeaPaint. They invented a paint that turns any surface into a whiteboard surface. Walls, tabletops, floors, and ceilings are all areas for continuous creative thinking. Their insight is that small whiteboards lead to small ideas.

So do small Brainstorms.

Filed Under: ideations, innovation

Get a new marketoon each week:

Previous Post Next Post

fad men

monetize it

Browse similar cartoons in: ideations, innovation

Browse By Category See All Marketoons

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Your Ad Ignored Here Book Image

15 years of Marketoonist compiled for your marketing pleasure.

Order Now

About Marketoonist

tom_image

Marketoonist is the thought bubble of Tom Fishburne a career marketer and cartoonist. Learn More...

Subscribe

Get a new marketoon delivered to your inbox each week.

 

Browse Blog Posts

Most Popular Cartoons Browse Categories

Marketoon Campaigns

contentmarketing

Content marketing with a sense of humor.

Learn More

Keynote Speaking

speakingworkshops

Insightful, funny, and visual keynote talks and workshops.

Book Tom to Speak

Search Blog Posts

Interested? Let’s Talk!

Marketoons

Browse Categories

Get New Cartoons Weekly

About Marketoonist

Tom Fishburne is the Founder and CEO of Marketoonist, a content marketing studio that helps businesses reach their audiences with cartoons.

© 2023 Marketoonist