10 Brainstorming Rules

1. Set directions. Describe the situation and define the → problem. Help people to understand the problem to be solved and clarify the objectives. Focus on productive objectives and keep group on track.

→ Problem Solving Strategies: 4 Levels 

2. Stay focused. Keep the group focused on the task at hand. Don’t let Idea sessions dissolve into wandering. When unrelated topics come up, put them on a special list to be discussed another time.  >>>

3. Involve everyone. Encourage everyone to contribute. Control dominating participants. Celebrate diversity. Use various techniques to draw ideas from group.

→ Solving People Problems

4. Encourage outside-the-box thinking. Challenge assumptions. Be creative. Go crazy. The wilder the ideas the better. Sometimes the wildest ideas lead to great ones. Step out of your shoes to surface new insights. ("What if you were a cat, or a film scenario writer – how would you solve the problem?"). Encourage active listening.

→ Creative Problem Solving 

→ Turn Problems to Opportunities: 6 Tips

5. Look for the overlooked obvious – the obvious solution is sometimes the best.

6. Encourage cross-fertilization. Build on each other. Let others' ideas take you somewhere else. Combine, → synergize, and improve upon ideas.

7. Suspend judgment. No ideas are bad ideas. All ideas are good ideas. (Actually, a minority opinion offered during group decision making often stimulates more innovative solutions to a problem).

8. Allow repetitions. At different moments you see with different eyes. During discussion afterwards the duplicate ideas you may find them different or they may trigger a different response at a different time.

9. Don't stop and discuss. Go for quantity, not quality. Keep the momentum going.

10. Record and display each idea. Make sure each idea is complete – don't use one-word descriptions to avoid misunderstanding. Don't edit.

Post-Brainstorming Rapid Evaluation of Ideas

Gold Coin Cards

The quickest team-based way of evaluation of ideas generated during a brainstorming session is to use Gold Coin cards.

Initially, I invented the two-phase "Garden" and "Kitchen" brainstorming model and Gold Cards for rapid selection of the best idea for Innompic Games where teams have just 10 minutes for brainstorming a great creative solution. Now, Gold Coin cards are used internationally anywhere where rapid selection of the best idea by a group is required. In particular, Gold Coin cards are used during INNOBALL entrepreneurial simulation games both for training purposes and to make a real radically innovative project a great strategic success. 

80/20 Principle and 4x2 Perceptual Positions

Use fast idea evaluation techniques such as → 80/20 Principle and perceptual positions to select the best ideas. Look through your list of ideas and circle the 20% that will yield 80% of the results you are looking for. Encourage full-spectrum thinking.

Brainstorming