Brainstorming

A specific technique designed to help people generate lots of ideas in a short time.

Brainstorming is a specific technique, with its own rules and procedures, designed to create a temporary haven where it is OK for people to come up with off-the-top-of-the-head ideas. The whole idea is to give people 'permission' to go at risk and blurt out ideas with no fear of ridicule or retribution.

Clearly the main purpose of brainstorming is to generate lots of different ideas in a short time but it also provides people with an opportunity to learn a number of useful things. When brainstorming people have the chance to discover:

• how people perceive what is ostensibly the 'same' problem in quite different ways
• the usefulness of the prefix 'how to' as a way of guaranteeing a helpful, open-ended question that solicits more ideas
• the importance of having rules that everyone is clear about and a chairperson who ensures they are adhered to
• the importance of listening to other people's ideas and cross-fertilising
• how difficult it is to suspend judgement when listening to other people's ideas
• how difficult it is to suspend judgement with your own ideas, ie not to censor them
• how vital it is to support and develop other people's ideas instead of finding fault with them (you don't require much of a brain to come up with reasons not to do things)
• why idea generation and idea evaluation are best kept separate (the former requires right brain thinking and the latter left brain thinking)
• why it is important to see the ideas recorded in writing and not just to listen to them
• how it is possible to generate 100 ideas in 15 or 20 minutes
• how, even when all ideas have apparently been thought of, it is possible to squeeze some more out by forcing a connection between two unrelated ideas
• how creativity can be artificially induced by formal procedures rather than depending on people being in the mood (ie the techniques make the mood, not the other way round)
• why it is crucial to write up verbatim what someone says rather than a summary of one-word bullet points
• how the presence of a sceptical boss who 'knows all the answers' inhibits the flow of ideas.

A vast array of learning points all drawn from one short activity. If brainstorming can also succeed in contributing to problem solving then it has to be a highly recommended practice on both counts. A classic example of getting double mileage out of one technique.

If you are unsure how to set up a brainstorming session, here is a simple description of the stages involved:

1. The chairperson states the problem
2. The group joins in restating the problem, listing statements in the form of 'How to...?'
3. The group selects a basic restatement and the chairperson writes down 'In how many ways can we...?'
4. The chairperson explains and displays the brainstorming rules:
   • Think wild
   • Cross-fertilise
   • Suspend judgement
   • Go for quantity
5. The group do a warm-up session on a neutral problem - 'Other uses for a ...?'
6. The group brainstorm
   • Aim for 100 ideas in 20 minutes
   • Display ideas on flip-charts
   • Number each idea
   • Include 30-second silences to aid cross-fertilisation
7. The chairperson selects the wildest idea 'Let's see if we can make something of...?'

If you want to make brainstorming an even richer development opportunity than it already is, rotate the chair and give different people a go on different occasions.