Brainstorming with Da Vinci

Eric Bowe

Hello everyone, welcome to the Brainstorming with Da Vinci podcast where we’ll discuss how to amp up team collaboration and generate great ideas. I am Eric Bowe, your podcast host and a brainstorming guru who has led over 1,000 brainstorming sessions from start-ups to major clients including Jeep, ALDI, and Pure Michigan. Bottom line, I am a guy who is passionate about leading teams to generate big ideas. My goal of this podcast is simple: share stories of best practices on how to maximize team collaboration and creativity. This podcast is companion content to my book available Amazon.

Episodes

  1. Episode 8: Extreme Brainstorming: Pontiac G4, MySpace, and Friends with Benefits

    22/02/2022

    Episode 8: Extreme Brainstorming: Pontiac G4, MySpace, and Friends with Benefits

    Not all brainstorming is greenfield, pie in the sky, and anything goes. Sometimes you get a square peg in round hole situation. This is what I refer to as extreme brainstorming. These sessions assess your skills as a brainstorming leader. Extreme brainstorming are the situations where you need to pull out all kinds of different methods to generate a successful idea. This is the case with my experience with the Pontiac G4 and MySpace. In this podcast, I reflect on a series of brainstorming sessions in 2005. The sessions were about launching a new entry level vehicle from Pontiac called the G4. The North Star was about a massive media buy on MySpace for the vehicle launch (keep in mind MySpace was king in 2005, and Facebook was in social media diapers). Honestly, when we heard about the buy, we were dumbstruck thinking “who wants to be friends with a Pontiac G4?” As far as the “Friends with Benefits,” you need to listen to the podcast to find out how that enters the picture (don’t worry, this is a G-Rated podcast. Okay, maybe PG). Want to learn more about other Da Vinci Methods? The Brainstorming with Da Vinci book is available on Amazon, and we offer various brainstorming collaboration and leadership training. #IdeaGeneration #brainstorming #inspiration #ideas #brainstorm #creativity #collaboration #ideasmatter #marketingideas

    9 min
  2. Episode 7: Idea Fusion: Challenge Your Team to Break Out in an Innovative Way

    15/02/2022

    Episode 7: Idea Fusion: Challenge Your Team to Break Out in an Innovative Way

    Have you ever has a brainstorming session where the ideas were okay, but nothing really wowed you? Or have you ever felt the ideas out of your session have been done before? Finally, did you ever wish you pushed the ideas in a more innovative way? If you feel this way, there is a good chance it is a result of Idea Inbreeding. Idea inbreeding is where idea generation is limited to team members experience or category knowledge. The brainstorming may focus too much on what the competition is doing. Or the team may be too focused on common approaches within a discipline or skill set. The result is a lackluster session where ideas are only incrementally better than the current norm. Break Out by Fusing Ideas Outside of Your Norm A way to break out of this thought process, is inspiring the team with innovative ideas that worked in other categories. This is the idea behind the Da Vinci Fusion method. In this episode, I will share several Fusion stories to illustrate how the method works. The first story is about rethinking the Chevrolet web site to break the mold of automotive web sites. The second is from ALDI about creating an innovative online experience to capture shoppers earlier in their shopping journey. I will also talk about how to implement the Fusion method for your next brainstorming session. Want to learn more about other Da Vinci Methods? The Brainstorming with Da Vinci book is available on Amazon, and we offer various brainstorming collaboration and leadership training. #brainstorming #inspiration #ideas #brainstorm #creativity #collaboration #ideasmatter #teamculture

    11 min
  3. Episode 6: Executive Brainstorming Challenges

    08/02/2022

    Episode 6: Executive Brainstorming Challenges

    Executive brainstorming can be the most challenging (and rewarding) sessions you could ever lead. Linda Taylor, the Managing Partner from Executive Rhythm. joins me on this podcast to discuss her experience leading executive brainstorming sessions. Linda has over two decades of experience leading HR Teams. Prior to starting her own gig, she was the global head of HR at GTB and BBDO Detroit. We kick off the podcast with Linda sharing different types of executive sessions she led. This includes brainstorming about organizational structure, employee engagement, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Most recently, she has been working with clients on how to handle employees working from home or getting them excited to come back into the office. In the second section of the podcast, Linda discusses challenges she experienced when leading executive brainstorming sessions. A challenge we talk about is the impact of having the CEO or executive leader in the session. Also, we discuss how executive ego-centric behaviors can derail a session and how political correctness can limit ideas. “Having the CEO or senior leader of an organization involved in the brainstorming really prevents or stifles any free thinking that you would like to achieve.” – Linda Taylor, Managing Partner, Executive Rhythm We follow-up the challenges discussing different Da Vinci methods that are effective when leading executive sessions. We talk about the North Star and how to set-up a session for success. Also, we touch on the Idea Waterfall method which is like speed dating for ideas. Want to learn more about other Da Vinci Methods? The Brainstorming with Da Vinci book is available on Amazon, and we offer various brainstorming collaboration and leadership training. #brainstorming #inspiration #ideas #brainstorm #creativity #collaboration #ideasmatter #executive

    16 min
  4. Episode 5: Method Acting Inspired Brainstorming

    31/01/2022

    Episode 5: Method Acting Inspired Brainstorming

    There are many ways to inspire people prior to brainstorming. In my experience, one of the most effective ways is a Da Vinci method call the Mimic. The Mimic requires participants to walk in the shoes of people you are trying to affect in brainstorming (e.g., customers, employees, students). Think of it like method acting inspired brainstorming. The method gets participants out of their personal bias by providing them with an empathetic perspective of your brainstorming target. In this podcast, I discuss the method acting inspired brainstorming. I will share stories of how I used the method to inspire people prior to brainstorming (I often referred to it as method-vertising). I will also break down the Mimic method and talk about when to use it and different tactics to consider. Along the way I will share a few of my favorite stories from famous method actors like Dustin Hoffman and Daniel Day Lewis. Want to learn more about other Da Vinci Methods? The Brainstorming with Da Vinci book is available on Amazon, and we offer various brainstorming collaboration and leadership training. #brainstorming #inspiration #ideas #brainstorm #creativity #collaboration #ideasmatter #teamculture

    10 min
  5. Episode 4: Who's in your 7?

    25/01/2022

    Episode 4: Who's in your 7?

    If you could invite seven people, living or dead, to a brainstorming session, who would you choose? For me, Leonardo da Vinci is at the top of the list. Others on my brainstorming dream team would include Lady Gaga, Steven Spielberg, Kurt Vonnegut, Amy Poehler, Quincy Jones, and Nikola Tesla. Now, I am not sure what brainstorming topic would make sense for this eclectic group (or if they would get along), but those would be my seven. So, why seven people? Well, seven is the sweet spot for brainstorming participation. In this podcast, I will discuss why seven is the magic number and the challenges you may encounter in choosing seven people. Also, I will talk about some guiding principles to think about when selecting people in order to create the best session possible. #brainstorming #inspiration #ideas #brainstorm #creativity #collaboration #ideasmatter #teamculture

    13 min
  6. Episode 3: Beware of Rudderless Brainstorming

    17/01/2022

    Episode 3: Beware of Rudderless Brainstorming

    Awhile back, I was on a podcast and asked the question: what is bad brainstorming? My reply was rudderless brainstorming. You see, bad brainstorming can feel like you are on a boat going at top speed in circles. No focus. No outcome. Just spinning round and round. The result is a frustrating experience for everyone involved. Fundamentally, rudderless brainstorming is a brainstorming session without a North Star – an defined objective of why your brainstorming. However, there is more to preventing rudderless brainstorming than just defining an objective. In this podcast, I will discuss different rudderless brainstorming scenarios including absent objectives, subjective objectives (you read that right), and my favorite: the objective shift. After the scenarios, I will talk about the appropriate way to set a North Star to generate great ideas. #brainstorming #inspiration #ideas #brainstorm #creativity #collaboration #ideasmatter #teamculture

    12 min
  7. Episode 2: Zoom Storming is Here to Stay

    09/01/2022

    Episode 2: Zoom Storming is Here to Stay

    The pandemic has disrupted business and it will never be the same. Many companies have transitioned from a traditional office environment to allowing employees to work from home and hiring people across the country and beyond. This transition has come with challenges. One challenge is collaboration and brainstorming. This is the topic of my latest podcast. In this podcast, I will discuss how the Da Vinci approach works very well in a Zoom or virtual environment. I was pleasantly surprised at the easy transition from a physical session to a virtual session. I will also discuss a few things that did not work as well. While I still prefer to brainstorm with a team in person, I won’t hesitate to do a Zoom Storm. Want to learn more about other Da Vinci Methods? The Brainstorming with Da Vinci book is available on Amazon and we offer various brainstorming collaboration and leadership training. #brainstorming #inspiration #ideas #brainstorm #creativity #collaboration #ideasmatter #teamculture

    10 min
  8. Episode 1: Brainstorming with Introverts

    03/01/2022

    Episode 1: Brainstorming with Introverts

    A question I am asked regularly is: How do you engage introverts within a brainstorming session?. So, I thought it would be a great topic for my first Brainstorming with Da Vinci podcast. In this episode, I discuss different reasons introverts (and others) may find brainstorming intimidating. I will also cover three Da Vinci actions you can use to set-up a session, make it less intimidating and engage introverts. I also talk about a Da Vinci method called the Power Pause that I regularly use to engage people early in the session to put them at ease and build their confidence to share ideas.  #brainstorming #inspiration #ideas #brainstorm #creativity #collaboration #ideasmatter #teamculture

    11 min
  • 8 Episodes

About

Hello everyone, welcome to the Brainstorming with Da Vinci podcast where we’ll discuss how to amp up team collaboration and generate great ideas. I am Eric Bowe, your podcast host and a brainstorming guru who has led over 1,000 brainstorming sessions from start-ups to major clients including Jeep, ALDI, and Pure Michigan. Bottom line, I am a guy who is passionate about leading teams to generate big ideas. My goal of this podcast is simple: share stories of best practices on how to maximize team collaboration and creativity. This podcast is companion content to my book available Amazon.

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