Brainstorming is perhaps the best-known method of stimulating creativity in people, giving them the opportunity to suggest every small idea that occurs to them, feeding off the creativity of others. It was developed in the 1940s by Alex Osborn, an American advertising executive.
There are many different techniques involved in brainstorming, but to make a session as productive as possible, there are a few basic ground rules that are useful to follow.
In preparing for a session, try to make sure that all the participants are aware of the topic to be brainstormed. That way they can mentally prepare to think on that topic.
In choosing the participants, try to get a variety of people. The more varied the outlooks of the participants, the greater the chance of really creative thinking.
Make sure everyone is aware of the three basic rules:
no criticism of ideas;
all ideas are encouraged, no matter how odd; and
participants should try to build on each other’s ideas.
Try to keep sessions to a maximum of 30 minutes. If no solutions have been found by then, have another session later. Brainstorming can be tiring, so bear this in mind.
Keep the size of the group down to around 10 participants. If there are more than that, divide them into two groups of five or six, and have the two teams brainstorm the same problem simultaneously.
Write up the objective or problem in a place where everyone can see it, so that during the session no one should lose sight of the purpose of the brainstorming.
Make sure that all the ideas created are captured. This can be done through a variety of methods, including whiteboards or flipcharts.
Nominate a leader or facilitator for the session. If the creation of ideas slows down, the leader can step in and try to spark fresh ideas from the existing ones. The leader can keep an idea or two to themselves and bring them out at times of idea drought.
After the session, gather the brainstorming notes together and send out a copy of the ideas to the participants. Ask them to identify their favourite idea, and how it could be implemented.
Within this overall framework, this is a selection of the different techniques for the actual brainstorming:
Word association – a good warm-up to a session is to use word association from a randomly chosen starting point.
Mind mapping – this allows a topic to be split up into its constituent areas, and each area to be brainstormed separately.
Spider diagrams – where related chains of ideas spring from a central word or idea.
Sticky notes – the use of repositionable notes allows ideas to be moved around and grouped in relevant areas.
The physical environment in which a session takes place can be important too. At IDEO Product Development, there are specifically designed Brainstormer rooms. Participants in sessions can draw almost anywhere, the walls are covered by whiteboards, tables are covered with butcher paper, there are VCRs, TVs, computer projectors and video screens. IDEO has also put its five principles of brainstorming on the walls to concentrate the thinking of participants:
stay focused on the topic;
encourage wild ideas;
defer judgement;
build on the ideas of others; and
attempt one conversation at a time.
Because of the huge number of ideas generated, IDEO use digital cameras to record the ideas strewn around the room and get them quickly written up.
If the above ground rules are followed, brainstorming can be a productive way of initiating new ideas. It is not for nothing that brainstorming is the best-known and most widely used form of idea creation in both business and other walks of life.
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