What to Expect from Brainstorming

This is what hit me this morning: Brainstorming fails because we tend to expect too much from it.

 

How come?

Easy: Brainstorming is about effective solutions to a given problem while people expect efficient solutions.

 

For example

Question: How can we get to the moon?

Answer: We build a ladder.

 

No matter how experienced and well trained participants are, they will always ask (themselves): “But how? We will not have enough oxygen”

 

It’s just a rough idea for the moment, but I think it’s a good start

Brainstorming rule #1: “We look for effective alternatives and then pick the most efficient one.”

Three Lessons

Living in interesting conditions is always a good opportunity to think about hard learned lessons one relies on when making decisions.
Here are my 3 lessons so far

(1) Try again
While I did fundraising for I've learned that trying again and again, is one of the best methods to close the deal. Luck, personal chemistry and low prices can bring you business deals, but nothing works better than trying harder.
Despite being on a tight project schedule and a "enjoying" a pressure on funds, I once called more than 20 times a potential partner. The 21st call saved the project.

(2) Be human
People are buying holes not drills, right? This is both sales and marketing myopia 101. But, what I've come to believe is that people do business with people. I have always been true to my nature, with feelings and passion and faults. And this has, I believe, helped me get more business and more satisfied clients.

(3) Don't lie
You'll always end up as a fraud (and, boy, does news travels fast!). If you're lying in a meeting, you need two skills: (1) acting skills and (2) good memory. while I may have the first ones, good memory has never been a strength of mine.

As I'll get older, I'll get wiser. I hope... :)
Anyways,
what are your favourite business lessons? 

I'll Dance No Matter What Happens

There's a German tradition in Sibiu, my home town. In the first week-end of May, people gather in a forest near city boundaries and celebrate spring. Dancing, singing and having fun. As a school boy I used to step up on the stage and sing songs about birds and spring. Nowadays, kids have new, fancy shoes but they still dance the same dances. It's like a the spirit of spring tells you "I'll dance no matter what happens".