Brainstorming

Generating new ideas in a group activity. Explanation of Brainstorming.

Brainstorming ProcessThe Brainstorming (brainstorm) method is a semi-structured creative group activity, used most often in ad-hoc business meetings to come up with new ideas for innovation or improvement. Members of the group are encouraged to put forward ideas about a problem and how it may be solved, in order to generate as many ideas as possible, even if they are not always usable alternatives. The idea behind brainstorming is, that a group of people can achieve a higher (synergy) level of creativity than the sum of the participants separately.

 

Brainstorming Rules

Three major rules for a successful brainstorm session are:

  1. Participants should be encouraged to come up with as much ideas as possible, however strange they are (there are no bad ideas).
  2. No judgment should be given about any idea, until the end of the session. Whether negative or positive.
  3. Participants should be encouraged to build on each others ideas, creating unlikely combinations and taking each one in unexpected directions.

Brainstorming hints

Some hints for a successful brainstorm session are:

  • Use an experienced facilitator. External?
  • Appoint one person to write down all ideas that come out of the brainstorm session.
  • Use a flip chart for making the notes. This enables later study and evaluation at the end of the session.
  • Identify a precise topic to be discussed (keep the session focused on the problem).
  • No more than 8-10 people in one session. If there are more participants, then split up the brainstorm session and report to each other afterwards.
  • One person writes everything down.
  • Evaluate the ideas in 2 steps: A: define the criteria. B: score the results on the criteria.
  • At the end of the brainstorming session you should discuss the steps needed to implement the ideas. If this is complicated, do another brainstorming session on how to implement the ideas.
  • Clearly define the problem you want solved, and lay out any criteria to be met.
  • Ensure that no one criticizes or evaluates ideas during the session. Criticism introduces an element of risk for group members when putting forward an idea. This stifles creativity and cripples the free running nature of a good brainstorming session.
  • Encourage an enthusiastic, uncritical attitude among members of the group.
  • Try to get everyone to contribute and develop ideas, including the quietest members of the group.
  • Let people have fun with the brainstorming meeting.
  • Encourage people to come up with as many ideas as possible. Both the solidly practical ones and the wildly impractical ones are welcome.
  • Welcome creativity.
  • Ensure that no train of thought is followed for too long.
  • Encourage people to develop other people's ideas, or to use other ideas to create new ones.

The effectiveness of brainstorming

Although brainstorms are used frequently worldwide for over 70 years, the effectiveness of them for generating new ideas is debatable. Brainstorms are most effective to generate a lot of ideas in a short timeframe. Group processes are also effective for evaluating existing ideas. However (bright) individuals are said to be better at creating original and higher-quality ideas.

 

Book: Michael Michalko - Thinkertoys (A Handbook of Business Creativity) -

Book: Jason Rich - Brain Storm: Tap into Your Creativity to Generate Awesome Ideas and Remarkable Results -

 

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Brainstorming Forum

Recent User Comments
 - Malaysia Brainstorming is Team-building "Agreements on management issues and approaches strengthen team-spirit and enhance common values.
Differences in management issues and approaches when positively taken for the good of an organization create respect and tolerance."		    0
 - Malaysia Brainstorming Difficulties "Brainstorming is a great idea. Staffs at all level and spectrum shall be engaged in the entire process of the exercise.
Dfficulties normally cropped up in such sessions are the absense of shared values, internal politics and honesty. Interdepartmental rivalries can also be a problem in implementing the outcomes of the brainstorming result."		    0
 - India Affinity Diagrams "I have been using the Affinity Diagram method for a long time now and this has proven to be a hit when it comes to selecting criteria and then categorizing ideas. It's participative, silent, quick and very effective. Another variant in brainstorming is using the 6 minus 1 thinking hats, just avoid the Devil's Advocate hat, this can be used in the concerns stage of Brainstorming."    5
Mikael - Sweden E-Brainstorming "Who has any experiences to share on Electronic Brainstorming? Under what circumstances would you recommend using it?"    11
Hafiz Saqib - Pakistan Brainstorming Types "Although this page gives most powerful information, why are the types of brainstorming not written on this page."    8
Best User Comments
Josh - US Reverse Brainstorming "Also refered to as: 'Negative Brainstorming'. This variant can be used when a regular brainstorming did not provide enough good ideas. The process: 1. Reverse the original challenge (So from: 'How can we increase...' into: 'How can we decrease...'). 2. Capture the ideas in the usual way (include any unlikely, strange ideas and keep it short). 3. Reverse the resulting ideas."    33
Maurice Peters - Netherlands Preparing participants "A good method to open the mind and stimulate creative thinking is to start with asking a simple question like "What can you do with a glass of water". Just go around in the group and let everyone answer this question a couple of times. The answers will be more and more creative during this session."    27
Umang Vidyarthi - India Inverse Brainstorming "Brainstorming is a creative tool to solve a problem. In REVERSE BRAINSTORMING, you reword the problem to how to create it, and then work towards solution. In both cases, the problem is present and identified. In INVERSE BRAINSTORMING, you select a process, method etc. and ask the participants to find ways to CREATE problems (their minds are provoked to be in destructive, problem creating mode). Thereafter, in a second session - same or different team - (their minds provoked to be in creative, problem solving mode), you find solutions to the problems. In this scenario, no problem is identified at the start of the session! Inverse Brainstorming is in use since ages, and is based on the premise that the Destructive Energy in Homo-Sapiens - surpressed since childhood -can be tapped and used for creative solutions. Just like the devastating force of atomic energy is creatively used in generating power! I have found this tool to be extremely effective,and the results are really amazing. /Umang"    23
Koen Dumont - Belgium Group composition "Make sure that the participants in the group do not think alike. Have different personality types in the session. Brainstorming has an element of "storming". It was discovered with computer program simulations that if the storming phase is intense, the final solutions to a problem will be of a high quality. A parameter to make the storming phase intense is diversity in the group."    9
Roger - US Why make it "Rain in your Brai "I always thought "brainstorming" was a good concept, but the more I used it the less productive or efficient and relevant it appears to huge influx of information and ideas that come our way. Think a better approach is a "Dimensional Thinking Model" that will keep your you sync with creativity and the art of the possible."    -18

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Compare:  Groupthink  |  Spiral of Silence  |  Cause and Effect Diagram  |  Mind Mapping  |  Six Thinking Hats  |  Belbin Team Roles  |  Metaplan  |  Stage-Gate  |  Scenario Planning  |  Game Theory  |  Root Cause Analysis  |  Dialectical Inquiry  |  Analogical Strategic Reasoning  |  Theory of Constraints  |  Force Field Analysis  |  Catalytic Mechanisms  |  Johari Window  |  Delphi Method  |  Pyramid Principle  |  Value Engineering

 

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  ●  (Malaysia) Purpose of Brainstorming "Differences in opinions expressed during a brainstorming session are expected and normal outcomes. The differences can become difficulties when participants misunderstand the purpose(s) of such brainstorming. Brainstorming is a process of team building - to have one common achievable organizational objective in the midst some differences in management approaches."

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  ● Eva (UK) Brainstorming Types "Hafiz, If you are missing certain types, why don't you submit these types via this forum instead of asking why they are not there?"

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  ● Shrikar (India) Reverse brainstorming "It is a fine extrapolation of the principle " whatever can go wrong, will go wrong" with a suffix - " So what can it be? " I wouldn't call it destructive mentality but '360 degrees apprehension' mentality. You must have a team of fellows good in this skill to anticipate the unanticipated."
  ● Koen (Belgium) Reverse brainstorming "Great tip. Paradoxical interventions always release a lot of positive energy. I would set it as a groundrule for the faciliation of the session, that nobody should turn to actual situations with regard to the defined problem and start to "blamestorm" ( A method of collectively finding one to blame for a mistake)."

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  ● Alan (UK) Thanks for the Brainstorming tip "Thanks Umang for this tip on inverse brainstorming."
  ● Andrea (Italy) Thanks for the REVERSE brainstorming thing ":-)"
  ● Craig (USA) Inverse Brainstorming "Can you please illustrate this with an example or two, Umang?"
  ● Maurice (England) Why Inverse Brainstorming? "I’m struggling to understand the need for ‘inverse brainstorming’.
As I understand it, this approach takes some ‘system’ that is working without any problems and ‘brainstorms’ in how many ways this ‘system’ (that doesn’t currently have any faults) could fail (i.e. develop faults).
I’m unclear on how this is different from “Reverse Brainstorming” (Which asks the question “In how many ways can this idea/option fail?”) Reverse Brainstorming is the penultimate phase of ‘Brainstorming’. It identifies potential weaknesses / risks as counters to those ideas/options that have met the selection criteria."

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  ● Derek A. Schroder (England) Reverse Brainstorming "Umang Vidyarthi's description of reverse brainstorming was not too clear but Josh cleared this up by using a very simple method - he gave an example!"

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