Change the scenery and boost innovation

Move the meeting to the Holodeck...

Want a cheap and easy way to boost the effectivity of your creative sessions (and in fact any meeting)? Just change the scenery.

My collegue Markus and I felt like a change for our brainstorming session this week, so we headed across the street and into the park where the local town have provided this brilliant performance/meditation/party/picnic/being space.

A pen, a pad of Post-its, and our meeting room was ready. There were no chairs, so we kept thinking on our feet. We weren't alone - but chatting to other space-users kept the mood light and the ideas flowing fast. In the end, our latest plans for world domination benefited from the presence of a couple of bikers, a theology student, two old ladies, and a dog.

Changing your physical surroundings is once of the best ways to increase the output of creative sessions. So take your crew out of that dang meeting room and hit the cafés, museums, parks and rooftops. You'll see the benefits fast, I promise.

And perhaps your people might even look forward to the next meeting...

Pics by Adam's ancient Motorola phone