“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” — Henry Ford

I am often asked to share the most critical “must haves” for a successful brainstorming session.  There are many things that could be included in that list such as number of participants, types of participants (internal/external), location, length of time, activities, etc.  But there’s one very important element that often gets overlooked – an open, positive mind that believes there are many solutions to the challenge at hand.

In my 18-year career as an innovator, I’ve seen sessions backfire because of what I’ll term “non-believers.”  There was one session in particular a few years back where many of the participants had been through a similar innovation process, if not once, than many times before, with apparently no big ideas coming from their efforts.  They were there physically just “putting in their time,”  but were not actively engaged in the process of creating.  You know the type – constantly checking their blackberries or stepping out of the room – many times throughout the day – to handle business back at the office.  Now I’m not saying that there aren’t emergencies that come up.  I get that, but this was a blatant disregard for putting forth any effort to assist in the successful outcome of this project.  They had lost hope, become “non-believers” and lacked the open-mind and motivation to make the magic happen.  Although we did achieve our goals for the session, it was just very painful getting there.

I love the Henry Ford quote because I have found it to be the absolute truth.  Science has only scratched the surface in understanding the power of the human brain.  It is believed that intuition and premonition should not be taken lightly.  Nor should we discount processes designed to sharpen our mental focus, discipline and attention. Ask anyone that has engaged the services of a motivational coach or participated in the many seminars of Tony Robbins about the power of the human brain to guide their future. They are certainly “believers.” We can see the amazing results of mental focus through super star athletes such as Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan.

We all have the ability to imagine, dream, visualize, and focus our energies against a positive goal.  So what type of participant are you?  Keep an open mind, believe, and watch the magic happen!

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