Ideas & Beers.
What’s the best idea you’ve come up with over a couple of beers? I can think of some but they mostly involve nudity. Ahem.
This week we heard the remarkable story of a joint crime-fighting effort between the Australian Federal Police and the American F.B.I.
In all, over 4,000 law enforcement officers arrested more than 100 people. They seized over 3.7 tonnes of drugs and $45m… yes million… in cash. The numbers are staggering.
How did they do it?
The seemingly simple idea of creating an app, called ‘ANoM’, was seeded into crime syndicates as a (supposedly) encrypted communication tool.
Problem was, it turned out the ‘tools’ were actually the people using it. Egad! The fuzz was listening! Well, in this case, they were reading, decrypting, and then decrypting some more. After three years of gathering intel about murder plots, drug smuggling, and whatnot, they turned the sirens on and went arresting.
So maybe it’s true what George Gobel said. To catch a better mouse, you need to build a better app.
What fascinated me the most about this story was this quote from Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw.
“Some of the best ideas come over a couple of beers”.
Was this amazing piece of law enforcement really planned over a Pint? Schemed over a Schooner?
We may never know where this “couple of beers” actually took place (delicious if it was at ‘The Seized Arms”), but what has been revealed is a brilliant breadcrumb of intel.
As Bruce Springsteen sang, “You can’t start a fire without a spark” and maybe this beers session was the spark.
One of the things I find puzzling about the creation of ideas is that people habitually attempt creativity in the same place they hold more mundane activities — like meetings. That is, boring Boardrooms.
No matter how many bean bags, post-it notes and inspirational quotes from Einstein are on the wall — nothing can replicate the creative stimulus of changing the scene. Doing the creative thinking away from all the other ‘doing’.
One of the creative sessions I facilitate is actually called The ‘Ideas & Beers’ Session’. We get a bunch of people in a private room in a pub, and we discuss ideas over some (responsibly served) beverages and bar snacks.
The liquid refreshments aid the more relaxed mindset of the participants and it is far more conducive to free thinking. I divide people into teams, gamify the whole session into pub-style activities (trivia, darts), and walk away with great ideas to solve real problems.
*Legal and Worksafe practices are followed and everyone has a fun time.
You can’t expect innovative ideas if the environment where you want them created is part of the everyday.
Getting small or large groups into a more natural habitat, where stories are told, tales are spun and freedom of expression is encouraged — makes for ideas you could never have thought of back in the office.
Who knows? Maybe your team could crack open a case of lager and develop some arresting solutions.
Cheers!
