[ Home | Links ] Updated 2005-12-27

Brainstorming

Filippo A. Salustri, Ph.D., P.Eng.

Overview

Brainstorming is a group based exercise for developing innovative solutions. The idea is that talking about a problem will generate new thoughts and ideas that no individual would have thought of on their own - it promotes synergy by getting people to collaborate positively.

A brief history of brainstorming is available; note its popularity in many different fields and disciplines.

How to Brainstorm

Here's a quick procedure guide for brainstorming.

1. Make sure everyone on your team is available for the brainstorming session.
2. Make sure there is a clear goal for the brainstorming session - a specific question that needs to be answered.
3. Appoint a discussion facilitator and a secretary. The job of the facilitator is to make sure the team as a whole follows the brainstorming rules. The secretary's job is to write down statements that a majority of the team thinks are important. Since they have extra chores besides just participating in the brainstorming, the facilitator and secretary are usually not expected to contribute as much to the brainstorming itself.
4. Have a warm-up period, during which the team discusses the overall project. This typically lasts between 5 and 15 minutes.
5. Set a time limit on the brainstorming. Brainstorming sessions that last more than one hour will make people very tired. 30 minutes is usually a good duration, but the actual time depends on the nature of the team members, and the difficulty of the question to be answered. Make sure you leave some time at the end, to summarise the discussion and identify the key points that were the most important results of the session.
6. Begin brainstorming. Follow the rules.

   The goals of each participant are

   1. to suggest ideas for solutions that will work
   2. to suggest ideas that will stimulate others to come up with their own ideas
7. Stop when you've hit your time limit, no matter what.

Special Notes about the Facilitator:

• The facilitator is not a leader in the usual sense. The facilitator does not direct the group or impose his will upon it.
• Instead, the facilitator makes sure that the rules of brainstorming are obeyed, and tries to keep the discussion focussed on answering the question that was asked at the session's outset.
• If the facilitator is also the leader of the group (the 'boss', or group leader, or manager, or CEO, or instructor, or teaching assistant, or chairperson,....) then he will intentionally not contribute his own ideas to the brainstorming session. This can help prevent bias in the results toward the 'company line'.
• If the brainstorming session starts to loose energy, it is up to the facilitator to find a way to revitalise it, maybe by asking the group to consider a different aspect of the question of study.
• Facilitators are strongly encouraged to read about leading brainstorming sessions.

Special Notes for the Secretary:

• The secretary must spend time watching the other participants for reactions. It is usually very evident when a very good idea or a very bad one has been thought of. You want to capture them both in the record of the brainstorming session, perhaps by putting an asterisk beside them. However, the secretary must not forget than even the typical or mediocre ideas deserve to be noted.
• Try to write down each idea without also writing down your bias about it. Act as if you were an investigator or a reporter and had to write "just the facts".
• Make sure everyone in the team gets to check your notes for accuracy; make sure everyone has a copy of your notes when you sit down to consider the ideas more critically.

The Rules

Withhold Judgement of Ideas

Don't waste time and brains trying to knock down everyone's ideas during the session. Focus on coming up with alternative ideas, or build on the ideas of others to improve them.

Encourage Whacky Ideas

You'll never know how high you can reach unless you aim for the top. Do not settle just for conventional ideas. Accept bizarre or unconventional ideas, so long as they are not patently impossible (e.g. "Let's implement a faster-than-light drive for this SUV!") The whacky idea itself may not survive, but it may promote some other team member to come up with a truly successful idea.

Quantity Counts

You can choose the best ideas later. Brainstorming is the time to generate as many different ideas as possible and not worry about which ones are good. The worst idea in the world might promote a chain of thought that will lead to the best idea. And that best idea would have never been thought of if the worst idea hadn't been there first.

Build on the Ideas of Others

Don't be afraid to base your ideas on the ideas of other team mates. You are all working together - you are not in competition. Instead of knocking down someone's idea because you see a problem with it, come up with a new idea that builds on it by correcting the problem that you perceive.

Every Person and Every Idea has Equal Worth

Everyone around the table must be treated equally and participate equally. Every idea must be given the chance to pass or fail on its own merits and not on the bias or prejudices of the participants.

Further notes on these rules are available online.

Other Resources on Brainstorming

There is much information on brainstorming available on the Web. Some recommended URLs are:

• Brainstorming.co.uk (this is probably the best site of the bunch)
• Step-by-step guide to brainstorming (with free trial download)
• Brainstorming for teachers
• Brainstorming process guide
• How to brainstorm
• Notre Dame's guide to brainstorming
• Brainstorming guidelines and an example

When you look through these web sites, you'll find alot of repetition: these are the underlying principles of brainstorming that are the most important.

Also, don't fear using your team's personality type indicator results to choose the roles (e.g. leader, scribe, etc.) that need to be assigned for good brainstorming.