The Great Gatsby & Creative Brainstorming

I had a high school gym coach who gave me some of the best advice I’ve ever received:

“Shooting baskets can be fun, but you know what’s better than fun? Making baskets and winning games. If you’re not practicing with intent, if you’re just fooling around shooting baskets, you won’t be able to make those baskets when it counts.”

Creative brainstorming is similar. It’s fun to sit in a room filled with toys, games, markers and whiteboards and bounce around ideas. But unless there’s intent behind the brainstorm, it’s tough to really get anywhere.

Here’s an example I like to use when discussing brainstorming with intent. Below I’ve pasted a paragraph from the great American novel The Great Gatsby. In the text, Nick Carrawy describes Jay Gatsby’s smile.  As you read the paragraph, try and picture in your mind what Gatsby looks like as he’s smiling.

“He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.”

Can you picture what Gatsby’s smile looks like? Is it locked in your brain?  Perfect. Scroll down, and let me know if this image aligns with your expectations.

I’ve carried out this exercise in front of about a dozen different teams, each time with the same result.  Usually a heated discussion breaks out as to why or why not Leo is the perfect Jay Gatsby. On the odd occasion, someone has vouched for Redford as the ideal Gatsby. Sometimes hurtful things are said that cannot be taken back. People get really serious when it comes to Gatsby.

This is the perfect example of how a creative brainstorm can go wrong, and it’s because I set you up for failure from the beginning. I didn’t give you any direction or objective for the brainstorm.  I just gave you a paragraph, asked you to imagine a fictional smile, then tossed someone else’s creative vision in your direction. I didn’t take into account any of your thoughts, feelings, inspiration or input. 

So how could I have set up a better Gatsby brainstorm?  First, I would ask better questions to get better answers.  Think of someone in your life who has made you feel the way Nick Carraway felt when he saw Gatsby’s smile.  What about their smile made you feel that way? What kind of presence did they have? What did their features look like?  Based on your experience, who would you cast as Gastby?

Second, instead of starting a debate as to why or why not Leonardo DiCaprio is the perfect Gatsby, we could collaboratively discuss our shared experiences and determine who might be the best fit for the role. Whether or not Leo is the perfect Gatsby is subjective. But personal experiences and feelings lead to discussion, sharing and collaborating. 

Most times, it just comes to giving yourself time before a brainstorm to determine the questions and direction you’ll need to give the team to get to the answer you want. The difference between shooting baskets and practicing with intent. 

Establishing productive guardrails and asking productive questions are a couple of good ways to brainstorm with intent. I’d love to hear any other thoughts and ideas from my friends and colleagues as well.  Looking forward to hearing from you!