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Where to start · Updated 2026-10-22

How do I run a brainstorm that goes somewhere?

Start with a sharp question, invite the people closest to the customer, get a lot of bad ideas out fast, then narrow on purpose and leave with one idea, one owner, and the smallest test of it. A brainstorm without the narrowing step is a nice afternoon that changes nothing.

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A brainstorm without a decision at the end is a nice afternoon.

Jared Lukes, Minneapolis consultant

Give it a real question, a time limit, and a decision at the end. Most brainstorms skip the last part.

What question should a brainstorm start with?

A specific one. "How do we grow?" gets nothing. "How could we get ten more customers like our best one by spring?" gets ideas you can try.

Who should be in the room?

The people closest to the customer: whoever answers the phone, sells, delivers, and fixes complaints. Add one outsider who will ask the obvious question. Keep it under ten.

How do I get past the first obvious ideas?

Ask for a lot of ideas fast, including bad ones. The first ten are the ones everyone already had. The useful ones show up after people stop trying to look smart.

How do I pick the idea?

Narrow in two passes. First, everyone marks the ideas that would matter most to the customer. Then, of those, pick the one you could test cheapest next month. Name an owner before anyone leaves.

What happens after?

Build the smallest test of the idea within a few weeks, while people still care. See testing an idea before you spend money on it.

Answered by Jared Lukes, Minneapolis. Twenty-five years in brand, UX, and technology, currently holding fractional AI and technology seats at three companies. About Jared.

Quick answers

How long should a brainstorm be?

Ninety minutes to half a day. Longer and people stop thinking and start waiting.

Should the boss be in the brainstorm?

Yes, but speaking last. When the boss goes first, everyone else agrees.

Do remote brainstorms work?

Yes, with a shared board and quiet time where people write ideas alone before anyone talks.

Should I hire someone to run a brainstorm?

It helps when the team is stuck in old arguments or the boss cannot help talking first. An outsider can run the room and keep it moving.

More questions like this

How do I test a business idea before spending money?Build the smallest version a real customer can react to, put it in front of ten of them, and watch what they do. A landing page, a clickable prototype, a sign-up form, or a one-month trial of a new sales channel usually costs a small fraction of the full build and tells you whether to keep going.
How do I find new customers without hiring a sales team?Pick one or two channels, run each one like an experiment for a month, and keep the one that works. The usual options are asking current customers for referrals, being findable on Google and in AI assistants, partnering with a business that already has your customers, and using automated research to find and qualify leads so the few hours you have go to the best ones.
Should my small business build an app?Usually not first. Most things a small business wants an app for, like booking, ordering, reminders, and loyalty, work as well on a mobile website or by text message for much less money. Build an app when customers use you often enough to keep it on their phone, or when you need something only an app can do, like working offline or using the camera all day.

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