Brainstorming

Brainstorming

Creating bigger & better ideas

Why use it?

To establish a common method for a team to creatively and efficiently generate a high volume of ideas on any topic by creating a process that is free of criticism and judgment.

What does it do?

• Encourages open thinking when a team is stuck in "same old way" thinking

• Gets all team members involved and enthusiastic so that a few people don't dominate the whole group

• Allows team members to build on each other's creativity while staying focused on their joint mission

How do I do it?

There are two major methods for brainstorming.

• Structured. A process in which each team member gives ideas in turn.

• Unstructured. A process in which team members give ideas as they come to mind.

Either method can be done silently or aloud.

Structured

1. The central brainstorming question is stated, agreed on, and written down for everyone to see

Be sure that everyone understands the question, issue, or problem. Check this by asking one or two members to paraphrase it before recording it on a flipchart or board.

2. Each team member, in turn, gives an idea. No idea is criticized. Ever!

With each rotation around the team, any member can pass at any time. While this rotation process encourages full participation, it may also heighten anxiety for inexperienced or shy team members.

3. As ideas are generated, write each one in large, visible letters on a flipchart or other writing surface

Make sure every idea is recorded with the same words of the speaker, don't interpret or abbreviate. To ensure this, the person writing should always ask the speaker if the idea has been worded accurately.

4. Ideas are generated in turn until each person passes, indicating that the ideas (or members) are exhausted

Keep the process moving and relatively short—5 to 20 minutes works well, depending on how complex the topic is.

5. Review the written list of ideas for clarity and to discard any duplicates

Discard only ideas that are virtually identical. It is often important to preserve subtle differences that are revealed in slightly different wordings.

Unstructured

The process is the same as in the structured method except that ideas are given by everyone at any time. There is no need to "pass" since ideas are not solicited in rotation.

Variations

There are many ways to stimulate creative team thinking. The common theme among all of them is the stimulation of creativity by taking advantage of the combined brain power of a team. Here are three examples:

• Visual brainstorming. Individuals (or the team) produce a picture of how they see a situation or problem.

• Analogies/free-word association. Unusual connections are made by comparing the problem to seemingly unrelated objects, creatures, or words. For example: "If the problem was an animal, what kind would it be?"

• 6-3-5 method. This powerful, silent method is proposed by Helmut Schlicksupp in his book Creativity Workshop. It is done as follows:

a) Based on a single brainstorming issue, each person on the team (usually 6 people) has 5 minutes to write down 3 ideas on a sheet of paper.

b) Each person then passes his or her sheet of paper to the next person, who has 5 more minutes to add 3 more ideas that build on the first 3 ideas.

c) This rotation is repeated as many times as there are team members, e.g., 6 team members = 6 rotations, 6 sheets of paper, 18 ideas per sheet.

This interesting process forces team members to consciously build on each other's perspectives and input.