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Image courtesy of stu_spivack (flickr); permission being requested.

We remind our clients that the best brands are single-minded—that they stand for something special and unique. We warn them not to attempt to be all things to all people, that tradeoffs must be made when creating a powerful brand.

Yet at times, in the spirit of achieving excellence through teamwork, organizations "overcollaborate" internally when generating big ideas. In doing so, they run the risk of developing average (literally) results, ideas, and products. Great brand ideas become ordinary, with smoothed-out edges, when we try to incorporate everyone’s input. Without a doubt, brainstorming and cooperation among teams is essential in the development of big brand ideas. But if overdone or not managed correctly, they can diminish the final product. Several suggestions:

Incorporate formal brainstorming and ensure that sessions are led by expert facilitators. Structured brainstorming is key and there is a lot of information available on the subject, but some principles come immediately to mind. For example, throwing as many ideas on a wall as possible to see what sticks is only one form of an ideation session. Early on in the process, yes, cast the net wide. Later on in the process, use brainstorming to go deep—really build out that single idea. At the end of the day, make sure you and your team know what the objective of the session is. And establish what is open to debate and what is not; what the core idea is, and what ideas will best illustrate or extend that core idea.

Remember that consensus and collaboration do not mean compromise. As you hone in on a solution, use input wisely and don’t feel obligated to include everyone’s contribution if it doesn’t improve the product. Ask yourself and ask the team—does this input make the idea better? Or just different than it is now? You may have to agree to disagree.

Own it. Too often people enter into collaborative sessions and toss around underdeveloped ideas, come unprepared, or repackage familiar solutions. Assign homework, do your homework, seek out new sources of inspiration and arrive with fresh, strong ideas.

Challenge your colleagues. Engage in spirited, but professional and positive, debates about brand ideas. Defend them, argue against them, put them through the proverbial obstacle course! These exchanges will pressure test ideas and make them stronger as well as weed out the weak.

Let average ideas die. The leadership team would much rather see two fantastic solutions than four ordinary ones, regardless of what the project plan states.

Get some alone time. Develop, research, and refine ideas outside of brainstorming sessions. Sequester yourself in finalizing the big idea and packaging it for leadership consumption. Use teammate feedback to “disaster check” at this point or obtain very specific input.