The Braintrust Method: How the World's Best Teams Create What's Next

Ian Clawson

Leadership and Team Advisor | BraveCore

Chris Deaver

Advisor to F500s I Ex-Apple, Ex-Disney

Learn to lead teams to build together - like a multiplier, not a micromanager

Most teams are capable, experienced, and full of untapped creativity. But without the right system, their intelligence stays scattered across people, functions, and meetings. The result is work that falls short of what it could become.

The Braintrust Method gives leaders and teams a practical system to build new products, platforms, and AI solutions — together.

Across four 90-minute sessions, what you'll walk away with:

  • The conviction of a leader who can make any team think bigger

  • A repeatable co-creation system you can apply to real work

  • A practical method for building stronger ideas together

  • Innovation framework to shift from meeting culture to braintrust culture

Facilitated by Chris Deaver and Ian Clawson, co-authors of Brave Together. Their co-creation work helped scale AirPods Pro into a $24B business, launch billion-dollar incubators at Apple and Dell, and drive Disney transformations inspired by Pixar's Braintrust approach. Their work has been featured in Next Big Idea Club, Fast Company, Forbes, Big Think, and The Wall Street Journal.

Backed by outcomes connected to co-creative leadership:

↑2.4x performance | ↓40% turnover | +10x co-creation growth

What you’ll learn

Use Braintrusts to give your team a shared approach for surfacing truth, shaping stronger ideas, and owning better work.

  • See why traditional collaboration breaks down and what teams actually need.

  • Explore what makes a Braintrust different from a meeting, committee, or working group.

  • Identify where your team’s intelligence can get trapped inside roles, hierarchy, or habits.

  • Anchor Braintrusts in real challenges, decisions, opportunities, and tensions.

  • Practice reframing experiences with a creative question, not just status updates.

  • Use the “Right 3” to choose who belongs and create focus, candor, and momentum.

  • Harness the Four Waves to move from confusion to clarity and shared creation.

  • Apply the co-creation method to Identify, Ideate, Iterate, and Integrate.

  • Turn the best thinking in the room into a clear, useful next step.

  • Collaborate in a small Braintrust to improve how communication flows inside a team.

  • Practice pressure testing ideas against real team dynamics, friction, and constraints.

  • Shape a simple 30-day Braintrust plan and refine it through feedback.

  • Use the Braintrust Diagnostic to see where co-creation is strong or stuck.

  • Identify where your team needs more clarity, candor, ownership, or rhythm.

  • Build a repeatable way to turn important conversations into better work.

Learn directly from Ian & Chris

Ian Clawson

Ian Clawson

Leadership Advisor | Team Facilitator | Co-Author of Brave Together

Work Featured in
Fast Company
Forbes
Big Think
McGraw Hill
Training Industry
Chris Deaver

Chris Deaver

Co-Founder & Advisor to F500s I Ex-Apple & Disney I Co-Author, Brave Together

Work Impact
Apple
The Walt Disney Company
Pixar
Amazon
Dell
See all products from Ian

Who this course is for

  • Mid-level, senior leaders in large orgs who are done with team friction and ready to lead differently--and grow into bigger rooms.

  • Product leaders and founders scaling fast who need a proven system for collective intelligence before politics and bureaucracy take over.

  • Innovation, AI, and transformation leads whose job is making teams think bigger and need a method that actually delivers.

What's included

Live sessions

Learn directly from Ian Clawson & Chris Deaver in a real-time, interactive format.

Lifetime access

Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.

Community of peers

Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.

Certificate of completion

Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.

Two-part braintrust build lab

A hands-on lab where you practice the Braintrust Method in two parts: generating better ideas together and strengthening them through real-world feedback.

1:1 personalized coaching session

A focused coaching session scheduled during the course to help you apply the Braintrust Method to your team, leadership challenge, or real work context.

A braintrust diagnostic tool

A practical tool to assess where your team’s co-creation is strong, where it is stuck, and what to improve next.

Maven Guarantee

Your purchase is backed by the Maven Guarantee.

Course syllabus

4 live sessions • 12 lessons

Week 1

Aug 4—Aug 9

    Aug

    4

    Session 1: Live Cohort

    Tue 8/45:00 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)

    From Brave Alone to Braintrusts

    3 items

    Aug

    6

    Session 2: Live Cohort

    Thu 8/65:00 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)

    The Four Waves of Co-Creation

    3 items

Week 2

Aug 10—Aug 13

    Aug

    11

    Session 3: Braintrust Build Lab - PART ONE

    Tue 8/115:00 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)

    Lab PART ONE: From Ideas to Stronger Work

    3 items

    Aug

    13

    Session 4: Braintrust Build Lab - PART TWO

    Thu 8/135:00 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)

    Lab PART TWO: Integrate and Move Forward

    3 items

Schedule

Live sessions

6 hrs

4 live sessions | 90 mins each | Delivered over two weeks

    • Tue, Aug 4

      5:00 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)

    • Thu, Aug 6

      5:00 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)

    • Tue, Aug 11

      5:00 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)

    • Thu, Aug 13

      5:00 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)

Testimonials

  • Join the co-creation movement.

    Testimonial author image

    Marshall Goldsmith

    Thinkers50 Hall of Fame executive coach and bestselling author
  • Helps leaders explore their creativity and creatives to expand their leadership.

    Testimonial author image

    Randy Nelson

    Former Dean of Pixar University | Apple University Faculty
  • An exhilarating exploration of genuine collaboration, where every voice matters and every idea is a potential catalyst for transformation.

    Testimonial author image

    Daniel Pink

    New York Times bestselling author of Drive and To Sell Is Human
  • An entirely new experience. Discover how to work creatively together.

    Testimonial author image

    Fast Company

    How building a culture of creative collaboration can supercharge your teams | Fast Company Article
  • This will transform your business.

    Testimonial author image

    Inc. Magazine

    5 Books on Leadership That Will Transform How You Run Your Business | Inc Article
  • Deaver and Clawson know a thing or two, and a lot more, about what works best in the workplace.

    Testimonial author image

    Forbes

    Dissatisfied With Your Work Results? Give Co-Creation a Try | Forbes Article

Frequently asked questions

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Private cohort

Run a cohort for your org

A dedicated cohort with a custom schedule and curriculum, tailored to your team.

Book a private cohort