Kill Their Darlings

The "negative brainstorming" version of a briefing.

Active Time

20 - 60 minutes

Preparation Time

30 - 60 minutes

Objective

Agree on priorities

Explore possibilities

Collective Ideation

How?

Identify the business objectives, challenges & opportunities as briefed by the client.
Individually, come up with “bad” ideas that will prevent the project from achieving its' objectives.
In the group, identify one positive aspect of each of the bad ideas. Remember, there is always a positive side to every bad idea.
Come up with a new idea that can help the project achieve its' business objectives, using the positive aspect identified in the previous step.

1. Identify business' requirements

2. think of bad/negative ideas

4. new ideas based on the + aspects

1. Identify business' requirements

1/4

Example?

Business’ requirements can sometimes be seen as constraints for creativity. People are more likely to “buy” the requirements when it is delivered in a playful way. In addition, negative ideas may also open up non-obvious associations that can be useful for creativity.

Why?

Communicate the business’ requirements in a brief & clear manner. Facilitators should also encourage the team to loosen up and come up with really bad ideas.

BREVITY