Let’s be honest with ourselves. Being creative is hard. Suppose a crisis within your organization happens, and you need to come up with ideas on demand. How do you respond? While this situation sounds scary, there are steps you can take to respond successfully.

I use three steps to brainstorm ideas on demand. The first step is to create a problem statement. Define the problem before you start collecting solutions. Focus on answering the following: who is being impacted by the problem, what is the problem, and why is it important to solve.

I lead a project solving a problem involving broadband for those living in rural areas. In this situation, those impacted were the people in rural areas. The problem was the lack of access to broadband for those living in low population areas. The impact was the inability to work at home, access various information, and engage in entertainment.

Step two is to ideate through brainstorming ideas. Since this is an on-demand situation, I focus on two dimensions, the first being time. Does your innovation save people time or make them more efficient? The second dimension is money. Can your innovation help save money, make more money, or make people efficient with money?

Step number three is to share your raw ideas with others who can join you. Please invite others to build upon your ideas, or plus it. Next, you share the problem statement, describe the two dimensions, and present your ideas. Then, rank your ideas and select the best ideas to dig into.

By the end of ninety minutes to two hours, you will come up with a handful of good ideas to move forward with. Remember, this is just a starting point. You will not have fully developed ideas, but you will have enough to get started. The first time you try this, you may be nervous and stressed. Don’t your emotions filter your ideas because you are trying to create ideas on demand. The crazier, the better.

To know more about brainstorming ideas on demand, listen to this week's show: 3 Steps to Brainstorming Ideas on Demand.