On the surface, BrightHouse appears to be made up of a bunch of
rich intellects who are really lucky. Because their clients span
the globe and have cash to burn, BrightHouse employees get some
pleasant perks. The BrightHouse team has held brainstorming
sessions on yachts, beaches and mountains and in world-class spas.
Small wonder COO Anne Simons admits, "Some people have the
idea that we just lounge around all day."
They don't, but part of innovation is thinking, and because
thinking looks a lot like loafing, not many companies follow
Reiman's lead. Who wants to pay employees who look like
they're daydreaming about last week's Six Feet Under
episode? Neither Reiman nor Simons fears that. "The people who
enjoy being here enjoy being intellectually stimulated," says
Simons.
Reiman's process of innovating involves four basic steps.
Not that anything about BrightHouse is basic. The steps are
complicated, and the process won't translate to all companies
because a lot is dependent on having a leader who has the drive and
whimsy to be creative. Alf Nucifora, a prominent marketing
consultant, facilitates many of BrightHouse's brainstorming
sessions, known as "ideations." "A hell of a lot of
the success is due to Joey," he says. "He's a shot of
adrenaline. He brings an edginess and a risk to the table, which I
think is lacking in most corporations. I wish we could distill him
and inject him into our veins."
"If you really
want something great, something that's going to change the
world, we have to move slower, not faster."
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But since we can't, here are the four steps: 1)
investigation, 2) incubation, 3) illumination and 4)
illustration.
Most companies probably already do Steps 1 and 4. Investigation
involves analyzing the project, learning everything possible about
it. The last step, which often takes BrightHouse nearly three
months, is putting the knowledge together into a dynamic package.
But businesses often ignore incubation and illumination.
Incubating an
Idea
For every BrightHouse project, Reiman builds in three to four weeks
of incubation, "where all we do-literally-is think." In
fact, he's written a book on the subject, Thinking for a Living (Longstreet
Press), and he's working on another one, Business at the
Speed of Molasses. "What happens when you ponder?"
asks Reiman. "You have more insight, more discovery, more
compassion, more wonder. And the results all lead to, of course,
more profits."
Before you contend that in a 24/7 world, careful thought is
overrated or impossible, consider this: "It takes a bamboo
tree four years to take root; in the fifth year, it grows 80 feet.
That is the power of the incubator," says Reiman. "So we
say to our clients, 'Wait a second, guys. If you really want
something great, something that's going to change the world, we
have to move slower, not faster.' The power of slow is our
secret weapon."
Reiman encourages paid sabbaticals. Employees cut out early on
Fridays during the summer, and during the incubation period,
"the five bastions of thinking" are highlighted. Says
Reiman, "We have this notion that there are five places left
in the world to really think: the john, the shower, the car, the
gym and church or temple."
No, the BrightHouse staff doesn't shower together, but as
Reiman says, "We try to find places where we can relax. One of
the things a lot of us will do is go fishing. Fishing is the
perfect state to think. When you're fishing, two things are
happening in your brain: Your brain is on high alert in case a fish
is around, but your brain is completely relaxed. So this climate
that we create is one of high relaxation and high attentiveness.
That combination, we have found, is the time when you have the
'Aha!' moment."
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