Phil & Monique: Painstorming

FADE IN:

INT. MUSEUM CONFERENCE - GRAB-AND-GO CAFE - DAY 

At the end of a long coffee line is MONIQUE, exhibition developer wise beyond her years. PHIL, anxiety-prone independent museum consultant, runs in.

PHIL: Sorry I’m late, I was on Zoom doing some painstorming.

MONIQUE: You mean brainstorming.

PHIL: What? No, I mean painstorming.

MONIQUE: …

PHIL: [Smiles] You’ve never heard of it!

MONIQUE: What? Well, no, I mean …

PHIL: …

MONIQUE: [Rolls eyes] OK, I haven’t heard of it.

PHIL: Aha! So, ever wonder why brainstorming doesn’t work that well?

MONIQUE: Actually, yeah.

PHIL: You could have a room full of geniuses, but if they don’t know what problem they’re solving — like, what pain they’re addressing — the ideas never feel right.

MONIQUE: That’s so true!

PHIL: Painstorm before you brainstorm. Come up with the problems you need to solve first, then solve them. You can even use the first half of a brainstorm as a painstorm.

MONIQUE: “Painstorm before you brainstorm” should be a t-shirt!

PHIL: Yes, but what problem would that solve?

MONIQUE: Ha! Well played.

…

P.S. Phil wishes to thank Kelly Custer of Knack for this idea.