Brainstorming

Brainstorming is one of the simplest and most well-known of all creativity techniques. A brainstorming session is an excellent way of generating new ideas - and ideas are the core of the creative process. Hence you will find brainstorming in almost every creativity handbook and it also forms the basis of many of the more sophisticated techniques and systems.

How To Brain Storm

One of the reasons for the popularity of brainstorming is its simplicity. You can brainstorm alone or as a group. The session requires no training in special techniques. You can buy dedicated brainstorming software - or work with nothing more than pencil and paper. Yet despite - or perhaps because of - this simplicity, many brainstorming sessions simply don't work.

This lack of success is usually the result of not following one of the three basic rules of brainstorming:

Capture everything
Reject nothing
Keep going

The Brainstorming Process

To begin a brain storming session, first choose a place where you won't be disturbed, be it by ringing phones, small children or anything else! Make sure all participants have enough time to spare.

Make sure you are ready to capture everything. If you are working alone, you might want to type directly into some brainstorming software - or just have a large pad of paper and pencils. If working as a group it is probably best to work initially with hard copy then, if using software, enter the session into this later. For group sessions it is important that everyone can see everything. A large white board is one option, my favourite is flip charts. As the session progresses, pages from these can be torn off and stuck around the walls.

Begin by identifying the issue to be brainstormed. It could be anything: solving a specific problem, creating new opportunities or simply getting out of a rut. Write this in the centre of the whiteboard or piece of paper to provide an initial focus.

Now begin coming up with ideas. It is essential to capture every idea however wild or impractical it might seem. In a group session it is useful to have one person act as a facilitator who captures all the action without actively taking part in the brainstorming. The best facilitators are often those who know nothing about the subject at hand and will not be tempted to prejudge suggestions.

It's essential to avoid black hat thinking. Never criticise or dismiss an idea at this stage. Even if it's obviously ridiculous - write it down anyway. It might inspire a more useful idea later.

A good way of organising information is with multi-coloured concept maps. Some people like to write the generated ideas in different colours and join connected ones - but don't get hung up on it at this stage. This process is about ideas generation; organisation and selection comes later.

Once the ideas seem to have run out don't stop! It's about to get good.

In most sessions, people begin by coming up with fairly obvious ideas, often very slight variations on what has already been done. Once these run out they dry up. Keep the session going and people will start throwing out really off the wall ideas just to have something to say. Capture these as well. Keep it going and, with luck, you'll start getting some genuinely innovative and useful ideas.

Once everyone involved has dried up for the second time, the session is probably over. Take the notes from the session and make sure that everything is kept. If using a computer program, this is the time to enter your ideas and make connections.

Very often the desired "answer" is found before the session is over. Even so, make sure you record and re-visit everything. You might be surprised to find how many other valuable gems you have.

That's about it. Just one more thing: have fun. Brainstorming is about pushing the envelope, thinking the unthinkable - whatever cliche you prefer. If people feel pressurised or inhibited then this won't happen. Even the silliest idea may have a grain of value in it somewhere. In my experience the best group brainstorming sessions usually generate plenty of laughter.

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