The Art and Science of Brainstorming
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Note: This is the introduction from Volume 7 of “300 Strategies for making Real Estate & Business Deals”
Obtaining Ideas Not Available Through Conventional Thinking
This book and its strategies and formulas represent a major key to potentially unlocking the creativity that is within you. This is not something invented by the author but is the result of the studies of two men who were the pioneers: Dr. Sydney J. Parnes and Dr. Alex Osborn (and also their students) who ran hundreds of tests so that we might hitchhike on their efforts. It is also the result of the author’s participation as both a member of groups brainstorming and as the moderator of these types of groups. These latter examples were from the real estate exchange market and were not theoretical but actual business transactions “in process.”
The mind, to say the least, is awesome. If we can extract just a little more from its capacity, we have moved in a positive direction. Hopefully this book will help prove that anyone can learn to create at any age and that there are no restrictions or limitations to what can be done. The world really is ours. It makes no difference what your targets are, brainstorming can add a dimension that you can’t get in any other way. The trick of course is to use the knowledge. The easiest way to learn it is to use it; so perhaps a good place to start is now. Take anything you are trying to solve, place it in your mind and start brainstorming it as you read this book. By the time you finish the book you will have some new ideas about how to solve your problem. It is mechanical and it will produce ideas that you have never thought of before.
Good luck,
Robert W. Steele
“Brainstorming As Lifestyle”
Note: This is the forward from Volume 7 of “300 Strategies for making Real Estate & Business Deals”
My name is Nancy Steele and I have spent a good deal of the last 29 years brainstorming with Bob. I now cannot imagine living my life without this valuable tool in my tool chest. But it hasn’t always been that way for me!
My career was as a schoolteacher. I can remember faculty meetings, committee meetings, PTA meetings and lunchroom conversations where the exercise was to come up with as many ideas as possible within the allotted time and the person who had the most ideas was the most respected. That was the exercise. There was never any notion of doing anything with these ideas as we were, somehow, trained to believe that the drill was in the process.
Shortly after I met Bob and we realized that we were going to be making a life together, we started brainstorming. I can remember our first session sitting in my living room in Westlake Village, California.
It was a beautiful day, we had wonderful music playing and were sitting with our tablets on
our laps. We had a wonderful time brainstorming about our future life together and its endless possibilities.
Bob laid out the fundamentals for the brainstorm before we started and away we went. As
I recall the brainstorm went on for several hours and when we finished we had an impressive list of exciting possibilities. After we reread these aloud I suggested that we go get something to eat whereupon Bob looked at me with a curious smile and said, “But we’re not finished!”
I had no idea that one ever did anything with all of those ideas. From my experience we were through after we thought them up and went on with our lives until the next time we’d decide to brainstorm and then repeat the process. WRONG. From there we went into the selecting and then activating stage which was putting the best idea(s) into action. What a concept and did it ever work.
From this first brainstorming session our lives changed in the most fantastic and astounding ways. Over the years, I don’t believe we have ever made a major decision without brainstorming it out first and then putting the results into form. This goes for both our business and private lives. We have developed a routine whereby we go to the nicest place we can think of (such as a lovely hotel or a beautiful beach) and conduct our brainstorming session in that inspiring atmosphere. It works like a charm, is a tremendous amount of fun and I have learned that the implementation is the best part of the process.
When Bob asked me to write the introduction for this book, I felt a little intimidated because I am not really a business person. But I do know that brainstorming works—and it’s very fortunate to learn it from a person such as Bob who has mastered the art. And now you, the reader, will have the same advantage I’ve had (more or less). I know that if you study and work with this book you will master the art also, and I can imagine that both your business life and your personal life will benefit and grow as mine has.
Best wishes for your new life and enjoy the process. Oh…and please don’t forget the implementation. That’s the best part.
Editor’s note: Please enjoy the “Five Steps in Brainstorming” that follow this introduction and forward.
