Why Brainstorming

The best-known and widely used team-based creative problem solving and creative thinking technique is brainstorming. One major reason why brainstorming is useful is that it helps to free us from 'fixed ideas'.

  Best Brainstormin Rules: Top 10 Tips

 

 

Vadim Kotelnikov (VadiK), creativity and brainstorming speaker trainer

Among all intelligences, Yin-Yang Intelligence (YYI) is the most effectively efficient one.

 

Yang and Yin of Brainstorming

Yang (creative). Divergent thinking phase: attacking the problem with a lot of new, often wild ideas and suspending judgment

Yin (adaptive). Convergent thinking phase: analyzing and evaluating the proposed solutions and arriving at the best conclusion.

 

 

 

Best Brainstorming Process for creative problem solving (CPS)  

Three Parts of the Brainstorming Session

Problem identification

Idea generation

Idea evaluation and selection

 

 

 

IDEO Tom Kelley creativity innovation quotes

Make brainstorming a religion. The buzz of a good brainstormer can infect a team with optimism and sense of opportunity.

Tom Kelley

IDEO

 

 

 

Separate Idea Generation and Evaluation Phases

"Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud. Any of us will put more and better ideas if our efforts are appreciated," said Alexander Osburn.

As evaluation and judgment get in the way of creativity, divide your time between these two types of activity. In a brainstorming session, suspend judgment – your left brain activity – while you're coming up with ideas by using your right brain.

So, create, create, create.

Then switch over and evaluate, evaluate, evaluate, to arrive at the best conclusion.

 

How Our Mind Works

How To Run a Brainstorming Session

Brainstorming Rules

Brainstorming Techniques

Knowledge Management

BIG: IT-powered Brainstorming for SMEs

 

 

 

Manage the Flow of Ideas

The ideas you want to develop during brainstorming session should flow from the strategies you identify to achieve the objectives. The clearer your objective is, the better you will be able to devise strategies to achieve it.

The objective is what you want to achieve. Start all objective statements in the infinitive, and make them measurable, e.g. "to generate at least 20 ideas that could help us to solve the problem" (not "to solve the problem").

The strategy is how you propose to achieve the objective. Start all strategy statements with an active verb, e.g. "invite proposals" or "hold a brainstorming session".

Individual Brainstorm

When you brainstorm on your own you will tend to produce a wider range of ideas than with group brainstorming because you do not have to worry about other people’s egos or opinions, and can therefore be more freely creative.

 

 

 

You may not, however, develop ideas as effectively as you do not have the experience of a group to help you and cannot cross-pollinate ideas with others.

It is also challenging to look at the problems with different eyes and discover more ways to address the problem, synergize diverse ideas, and, hopefully, turn it to an opportunity.

 

Two Creativity Catalysts

Why? What If? Questions

KoRe 10 Innovative Thinking Tools (10 KITT)

 

 

 

Idea Evaluation and Selection

At the end of the idea generation phase of the brainstorming session or ideas campaign, you should choose the ideas you wish to take further. A good brainstorming session can generate a lot of ideas. If you have no means of determining which ideas will best meet your needs, it is all too easy to become overwhelmed by ideas and select none of them, or to choose to implement one of the most obvious but least effective ideas.

 

Idea Management

Stimulate Radical Idea Generation

Loose-Tight Leadership

Fast Idea Evaluation Techniques

Weighted Guiding Principles