Sometimes we need an idea to execute fast but we don’t have time to gather a team. We have gone through that situation a lot. And maybe, you ever try brainstorming with your team and it came with nothing to execute, and you think “You know what?, I can do this alone”. Trust me, you can do it alone. Brainstorming with the team required much energy to do and sometimes you think you don’t need that much energy to solve that problem.

So, when is it best to brainstorm alone? Asked yourself:

1. Can I do it alone?
2. Is it worth my colleagues’ time?

If you answer Yes then NO, maybe you should brainstorm alone.

The benefit of brainstorm alone

Let say that you need to make a solution for making a more productive office. Everyone is excited to share their ideas.

“How about [some idea]” Your designer says

“Yeah and then [more idea]” Your marketer says

Then everyone keeps sharing their idea until your CEO came to say:

“Yeah, you know that reminds me with [some unimportant fact] yesterday”

“Hah!? I ever feel that too…….

Then your brainstorming session becomes a networking session.

If you brainstorm alone, you will get rid of any unimportant conversation and focus on what solution that possible to solve that problem. It will save a lot of time, effort, and money. Brainstorming alone can also make your brain think creatively. So if you have some problem, take time to brainstorm it to practice your creative thinking.

The best method to brainstorm alone

You can use any methods that you like. But my favorite one is Lightning Decision Jam(LDJ) Because the idea of LDJ is “Working together alone” so I think I can do it alone(and it works).

If you want to go deep about LDJ, you can read it from Jonathan's blog on Medium. I highly recommend it for you because you can use it together or alone. But here is the simple steps that you can take.

1. Start with things that are working [10 minutes]
2. Capture all things that aren’t working [5 minutes]
3. Prioritize problems [3 minutes]
4. Reframe the problems as standardized challenges [3 minutes]
5. Ideate the solution as many you can [6 minutes]
6. Prioritize solutions [5 minutes]
7. Decide what to execute on [10 minutes]
8. Make solutions actionable

Time is relative. You can change it to suit your case.

If stuck, try this approach

When working alone we will often get creative blocks. To avoid this, we need to build our self-support system. It’s easy enough. Here’s some suggestion that you can try to restore your creativity.

1. Don’t judge: When you came up with ideas, try to not judge them too quickly. Aim for the quantities, not qualities. Like famous Seth Godin said, “Good ideas come from bad ideas, but only if there are enough of them.”
2. Stretching: Stand up from your desk and do some little stretch. Stretching makes your blood flow better and allows your body to receive more oxygen. In the end, this will make you more creative.
3. Go outside: Stop thinking, go outside. Try to walk and appreciate the beauty of nature. By doing this, you change your thinking from active to diffuse. Both are important to bring creative ideas.

In the end, brainstorming is all about trying to figure out what possible solution to the problem. So if you can do it alone or in a group, it doesn’t matter. Now you know how to do it by yourself, I hope you can implement it to make your life more productive.