as a problem solving method brainstorming is highly effective because

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Better Brainstorming

• Hal Gregersen

Great innovators have long known that the secret to unlocking a better answer is to ask a better question. Applying that insight to brainstorming exercises can vastly improve the search for new ideas—especially when a team is feeling stuck. Brainstorming for questions, rather than answers, helps you avoid group dynamics that often stifle voices, and it lets you reframe problems in ways that spur breakthrough thinking.

After testing this approach with hundreds of organizations, MIT’s Hal Gregersen has developed it into a methodology: Start by selecting a problem that matters. Invite a small group to help you consider it, and in just two minutes describe it at a high level so that you don’t constrain the group’s thinking. Make it clear that people can contribute only questions and that no preambles or justifications are allowed. Then, set the clock for four minutes, and generate as many questions as you can in that time, aiming to produce at least 15. Afterward, study the questions generated, looking for those that challenge your assumptions and provide new angles on your problem. If you commit to actively pursuing at least one of these, chances are, you’ll break open a new pathway to unexpected solutions.

Focus on questions, not answers, for breakthrough insights.

The Problem

Great innovators have always known that the key to unlocking a better answer is to ask a better question—one that challenges deeply held assumptions. Yet most people don’t do that, even when brainstorming, because it doesn’t come naturally. As a result, they tend to feel stuck in their search for fresh ideas.

The Solution

By brainstorming for questions instead of answers, you can create a safe space for deeper exploration and more-powerful problem solving. This brief exercise in reframing—which helps you avoid destructive group dynamics and biases that can thwart breakthrough thinking—often reveals promising new angles and unexpected insights.

About 20 years ago I was leading a brainstorming session in one of my MBA classes, and it was like wading through oatmeal. We were talking about something that many organizations struggle with: how to build a culture of equality in a male-dominated environment. Though it was an issue the students cared about, they clearly felt uninspired by the ideas they were generating. After a lot of discussion, the energy level in the room was approaching nil. Glancing at the clock, I resolved to at least give us a starting point for the next session.

• Hal Gregersen is a Senior Lecturer in Leadership and Innovation at the MIT Sloan School of Management , a globally recognized expert in navigating rapid change, and a Thinkers50 ranked management thinker. He is the author of Questions Are the Answer: A Breakthrough Approach to Your Most Vexing Problems at Work and in Life and the coauthor of The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators .

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What is brainstorming? Definition, guide, and methods

When you hear the term brainstorming, there are a few images that might come to mind. One is the classic stock photo of a group of colleagues huddled around a whiteboard or a pile of papers, all big smiles and high energy.

But brainstorming sessions don’t always go as smoothly as these images make them seem. Sometimes, there are disagreements between co-workers. Other times, there’s too much agreement with just one person’s ideas. And then there are days when ideas just don’t seem to make their way onto the blank canvas in front of you. 

Whether you’re problem-solving, developing a new product, or trying to come up with creative ideas for your business, brainstorming isn't just about gathering your group members together and hoping the innovation sparks fly. 

There are proven methods, techniques, and tools that can make effective brainstorming easier than ever. 

In this guide, we’ll dive into all of the resources Mural has put together to help managers and their teams run successful brainstorms.

What is brainstorming?

Brainstorming is a method for producing ideas and solving problems by tapping into creative thinking. Brainstorming usually takes place in an informal, relaxed environment, where participants are encouraged to share their thoughts freely, build upon the ideas of others, and explore a wide range of possibilities.

How to get the most out of your next brainstorming session  

Running a great brainstorming session encourages your team to use techniques that inspire creative thinking. As a manager, you’ll likely be the one to facilitate these sessions and make sure they run smoothly and produce positive results. 

How to run a brainstorming session

As a facilitator, it’s your job to guide your team in the right direction throughout the process, from start to finish. To start, prepare for the session and define your brainstorming topic. 

This means setting a clear purpose or goal for the session, deciding on a structure, and dividing your team up into small groups if need be. You’ll also want to define the rules and parameters for your team members. 

Next, depending on the brainstorming method you’ve chosen, you may need to keep an eye on the time to give everyone a chance to contribute. Throughout the process, encourage members to voice their opinions. Toward the end, make sure you explain any next steps or action items for your team. 

Strategies for better group brainstorming

Group brainstorming can help you generate awesome ideas that one person alone might never come up with. But when you gather a group of people together, it often comes with some challenges. Dominant personalities can hijack a conversation, making the exercise less effective and the rest of the group feel unheard. Groupthink is another potential issue in which too much conformity prevents you from delivering original or creative solutions. 

Here are a few things you can do to combat these challenges and have better group brainstorming sessions:

• Establish rules that emphasize the importance of diverse points of view.  
• Choose a brainstorming technique that's beneficial for groups, like reverse brainstorming or ‘Crazy 8s.’ 
• Make sure team members have time to also do some solo thinking. 

No matter what techniques you implement, the key is to make sure every participant is on the same page when it comes to rules and expectations. 

Structured brainstorming and when to use it 

A structured brainstorm helps keep everyone focused on your goals or the task at hand. It’s also a good way to make sure everyone’s opinion is heard. In some cases, participants can also prepare ahead of time, which could be beneficial for the overall success of the activity. 

Structured brainstorms are best for remote or distributed teams to efficiently replicate past successes, and for large groups. 

Understanding problem framing

Problem framing is a critical step in the brainstorming process that gives context and provides a deeper understanding of the purpose of the brainstorm. It helps provide your team with clarity and a narrow scope so that their ideas aren’t all over the place. It also helps increase the efficiency of the session as you or the facilitator can spend less time re-orienting them back in the right direction.  

Here are a few steps for framing a problem: 

• Create a problem statement . 
• Identify the root of the problem. 
• Empathize with customers or stakeholders. 
• Frame the problem with prompts or questions that can be used during brainstorming. 

Brainstorming questions to generate better ideas

Thought-provoking questions can really help your team thrive during a brainstorming session. They provide participants with a starting point to think up ideas or directions. They can also be used to enhance or refine any suggestions or solutions that have already been produced. Here are a few examples of the types of questions that produce better ideas: 

• Information-gathering questions (e.g., “Why did we shift our marketing strategy from traditional advertising to digital platforms?”) 
• Problem-solving questions (e.g., “What are the criteria we should use to evaluate potential solutions?”) 
• Refining questions (e.g., “How can we ensure the sustainability of the solution over time?”) 

Questions can help reduce the overwhelm or blind spots that can happen as you develop ideas. It narrows everyone’s focus and helps you make ideal decisions.  

Advice for teams during a brainstorming session 

Generating ideas that solve challenges can be a lot of pressure for your team. It can also be discouraging if it feels like they’re not coming up with anything groundbreaking or even viable. Not to mention, there can be a lack of cohesion and beneficial collaboration among group members. 

But, knowing the right strategies and rules for effective brainstorming can help turn a stressful activity into a productive and fruitful one.  

Ground rules for brainstorming

Ground rules help set expectations, decrease the chance of a conflict, and make participants feel more comfortable throughout the process. Before your team gets started on ideation, they should create a “rules of brainstorming” document that they can refer to throughout the process. You can create this for them or have them make one as a team. 

Here are a few examples of significant ground rules that improve the flow of a brainstorming session:

• There are no “bad ideas”; be accepting of all suggestions no matter how crazy and wild. (You can always iterate, refine, or vote on it later.) 
• Incorporate a “private” portion of the brainstorm so people can think for themselves. 
• Read ideas carefully before commenting, and don’t judge others' ideas at face value. 

Following these rules and others relevant to your team’s needs can help ensure a smooth and efficient process. 

Avoiding groupthink in teams

Groupthink is when people, consciously or unconsciously, choose to agree with one another rather than challenge each other with conflicting views. This can happen when there’s poor conflict management, a lack of diversity, or psychological safety issues. One way you can tell that your team is under the spell of groupthink is when there's quick and unanimous agreement or a lack of push-back or follow-up questions to others’ ideas. 

To reduce the chances of groupthink, consider ways you can remove bias, like using a private mode or voting feature. Participants should encourage each other to express their own ideas, even if that means light conflict when there's a difference of opinion. It’s also important that every team member understands groupthink and how to spot it. 

Creating better action items to follow up on

At the end of a brainstorming session, team members should have a list of action items to follow up on. These action items hold everyone accountable and help keep track of progress as you carry out tasks related to the solutions developed during the brainstorming session. 

An effective list of action items has the following traits: 

• They summarize what needs to be done. 
• They explain why each action item or task matters. 
• They have a team member assigned to each item with a due date. 

You can use a simple to-do list or a project kickoff template , whatever works best for your team! 

Tips for brainstorming remotely 

Remote brainstorming exercises can be just as successful at idea generation as in-person brainstorming. The main difference between running a regular brainstorm and a virtual one is the tools you use to communicate and collaborate. Group discussions can be done easily through software like Zoom or Microsoft Teams . Plus, online whiteboards like Mural work just as well, if not better than the analog version. 

Optimize your virtual brainstorming session

Virtual brainstorms lack some of the face-to-face interaction of an in-person session. This means you’ll need to adapt your processes to fit an online dynamic. For one, it’s crucial to find a collaboration platform where everyone can contribute their ideas in a central location. You’ll also need a facilitator or point person to keep everyone on track and update the shared document or whiteboard accordingly. Brainstorming templates are also extremely useful for creating an efficient and smooth virtual meeting. 

Try asynchronous brainstorming 

Asynchronous brainstorming is a great option for those who want to prevent groupthink, improve focus, and reduce time constraints — especially for distributed teams. If you have a team that works across different time zones or working hours, ‌individual brainstorming allows them to contribute at a time that works best for them. 

Just like a synchronous brainstorming, you still want to establish a clear goal, select a collaborative platform, and outline the rules and expectations. However, a key difference is that for async work, you need to establish a timeframe and set deadlines so that you’re not waiting on any one person to contribute, iterate, or respond to ideas.  

Related: 6 essential steps for building an async-first culture

Improve group communication

Whether you’re in-person or remote, effective communication improves collaboration, increases productivity, and promotes problem-solving. But when you’re working on a distributed team, solid group communication is vital. In our busy digital spaces, things can either get lost in translation or literally lost in a pile of emails and Slack messages. 

Here are a few helpful things you can do to combat poor online communication:

• Recognize and celebrate healthy behavior and helpful communication examples. 
• Foster a supportive culture that invites constructive feedback but not judgemental criticism. 
• Build trust through team activities like icebreakers or team check-ins .  
• Use tools that make communication easy and efficient. 

Working on each of these will help your team get their footing when it comes to communicating and flourishing in remote work environments. 

Brainstorming techniques, methods, and templates 

There are countless brainstorming methods and techniques you and your team can use to uncover creative solutions. Some involve lateral thinking, while others start with a basic brain dump. Regardless of which you choose, it’s a good idea to try out different ones over time and see which produces the best results for your team. In fact, switching up the brainstorming method could add some novelty by reengaging your team to come up with new ideas each time you’re faced with a challenge. 

One thing most brainstorming methods have in common is the idea of quantity over quality. At the beginning of any brainstorming session, the number of ideas you produce is often more valuable than the quality or viability of any one of those ideas. You can always keep workshopping the existing ones until you narrow down and refine the optimal ones.  

Rapid ideation

Producing a high quantity of ideas is the name of the game here. There are many brainstorming exercises that incorporate rapid ideation. The key is to be quick and spontaneous so as not to censor or edit any ideas that come to mind. 

Brain-netting

Brain-netting is a term used to describe brainstorming via multiple digital tools and spaces, in other words, online brainstorming. Typically, it’s preceded by online brain dumping, and then connecting related ideas and concepts to narrow down the best ones.

Reverse brainstorming

Reverse brainstorming is a counterintuitive technique in which you come up with ideas on how to make a problem worse. Then, you “reverse” those ideas by coming up with applicable solutions to those problems. This process helps you discover some possible ideas for your original challenge.   

Round-robin

In round-robins, each participant writes their idea down during a set time limit before the next person gets a turn to contribute. There are a few variations of this: You can compile ideas on sticky notes to return to later, pass them off to the next person to iterate on, or refine the ideas by providing feedback. 

Ready to get started? Try the round-robin template from Mural.

Mind mapping

Mind mapping is a visual way to brain-dump ideas onto a blank page and use those existing ideas to spark new ones. You start with one concept in the middle of the whiteboard and add related ideas on branches shooting out from the central topic. Then you keep building on it like a map or family tree. 

Get started with the Mind map template .

Rolestorming

During rolestorming, participants role-play as someone else, such as a famous person or customer persona, to embody different perspectives. Taking on that character during the brainstorm can change the way they think and help them produce creative ideas. 

Brainwriting

Brainwriting takes advantage of solo brainstorming time. Participants develop their ideas individually before sharing them with the rest of the team. There are different variations of this method, including a rapid ideation version in which six participants need to each generate three ideas in five minutes. 

Start generating ideas with the 6-3-5 brainwriting template .

Starbursting

During a starbursting exercise, group members develop questions that begin with “who, what, when, where, why, and how.” These six questions are based on a specific topic or problem statement. The team uses a star graphic, with each point on the star representing one of the six types of questions you come up with during this exercise.   

Step-ladder technique

The step-ladder technique begins by selecting two participants in the group to discuss the problem and come up with an idea. Then, you introduce a third team member to the first two, and they present ideas to each other and discuss. Then you add a fourth person, and so on and so forth.  

Enhance the collaborative process of brainstorming with the right tools

We use brainstorming activities to help us with creative problem-solving. But without the right tools, it can be difficult to collaborate and record the ideas you’re coming up with together. To make the process more efficient and productive, use tools that make collaboration easier — whether you work in-person, remote, or hybrid. 

That’s where Mural can help. 

Mural is the visual work platform for all kinds of teams to do better work together — from anywhere. Get team members aligned faster with templates, prompts, and proven methods that guide them to quickly solve any problem. They can gather their ideas and feedback in one spot to see the big picture of any project and act decisively. From online brainstorming , to retrospectives , Mural helps you change how you work, not just where.

That’s what happens when you change not just where, but how you work.

Get started with the free, forever plan with Mural to start collaborating with your team.

About the authors

Bryan Kitch

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What is brainstorming? Definition, history, and examples of how to use it

November 28, 2019 by MindManager Blog

Brainstorming is a great technique that business professionals can use to generate new and unique ideas. It’s a term that’s thrown around quite a bit, and is often used interchangeably with other problem solving and idea generation techniques.

Brainstorming has become part of our daily lexicon in business. But what is brainstorming , and why is it an important technique for business professionals?

This article will tackle these two questions, and give you some examples of brainstorming topics or problems that are common in various business settings.

What is brainstorming?

Brainstorming is a group creativity technique that is often used to find a solution to a specific problem. This is accomplished by gathering and recording new ideas from team members in a free-flowing manner.

Brainstorming sessions are usually made up of a handful of core team members, and typically are led by a director or facilitator.

Brainstorming originated from an advertising executive named Alex F. Osborne, and dates back to around 1939. Frustrated with his employees’ inability to generate creative new ideas, Osborne began developing new methods for problem solving that focused on a team-based approach to work.

He began hosting group-thinking sessions, and discovered that this approach led to a significant boost in the quality and quantity of new ideas. Osborne coined these group meetings “brainstorm” sessions, and wrote about the technique in later publications.

During these brainstorming sessions, ideas are collected and recorded using whatever tool is available to the team. Modern businesses have begun to adopt digital brainstorming tools to speed up the process and make the review phases faster and more productive.

Quantity of ideas is usually emphasized over quality, with the goal of generating as many new suggestions as possible. Once all ideas have been collected, the team then evaluates each of them and focuses on the ones that are most likely to solve the problem.

The four principles of brainstorming

While brainstorming has evolved over the years, Osborne’s four underlying principles are a great set of guidelines when running your own sessions. These principles include:

• Quantity over quality. The idea is that quantity will eventually breed quality as ideas are refined, merged, and developed further.
• Withhold criticism. Team members should be free to introduce any and all ideas that come into their heads. Save feedback until after the idea collection phase so that “blocking” does not occur.
• Welcome the crazy ideas. Encouraging your team members to think outside of the box, and introduce pie in the sky ideas opens the door to new and innovative techniques that may be your ticket for success.
• Combine, refine, and improve ideas. Build on ideas, and draw connections between different suggestions to further the problem solving process.

Brainstorming techniques and processes helps your team innovate and work collaboratively. There’s no single right way to hold a brainstorming session. In fact, holding individual or reverse brainstorming sessions can both be helpful activities for generating new ideas.

Your goal should always be to use the process that works best for you and your team.

Eight reasons why brainstorming is important?

If you’ve ever held a brainstorming session, you likely know that they can be very effective for generating new ideas, and finding solutions to a problem. This is largely due to the many advantages of brainstorming that help teams work more collaboratively towards a common goal.

Some of the advantages of brainstorming for businesses and individual productivity include:

• Brainstorming allows people to think more freely, without fear of judgment.
• Brainstorming encourages open and ongoing collaboration to solve problems and generate innovative ideas.
• Brainstorming helps teams generate a large number of ideas quickly, which can be refined and merged to create the ideal solution.
• Brainstorming allows teams to reach conclusions by consensus, leading to a more well-rounded and better informed path forward.
• Brainstorming helps team members feel more comfortable bouncing ideas off one another, even outside of a structured session.
• Brainstorming introduces different perspectives, and opens the door to out-of-the-box innovations.
• Brainstorming helps team members get ideas out of their heads and into the world, where they can be expanded upon, refined, and put into action.
• Brainstorming is great for team building. No one person has ownership over the results, enabling an absolute team effort.

In summary, the core advantages of brainstorming are its ability to unlock creativity by collaboration. It’s the perfect technique to use for coming together as a team, and can help to generate exciting new ideas that can take your business to a new level.

Now that we’ve established what brainstorming is, and why it’s important, let’s take a look at some examples of scenarios where it would be useful.

Examples of when to use brainstorming

As you can probably guess, brainstorming is a technique that can be used in a wide variety of different situations. It can be in both your personal and professional life to help you find new ideas and solutions to different problems you’re working on.

Because of this versatility, brainstorming is a widely used technique among companies and teams of all sizes.

To get you thinking about where you can use brainstorming, here are some examples of scenarios when this technique might be useful.

Scenario #1

Your content and product marketing teams need to generate new messaging ideas for an upcoming product launch. You have a set of new features that you know will be exciting for your users, but you’re struggling to find the right words to convey their importance and benefits.

Calling a brainstorming session to generate new messaging ideas would be a perfect way to start this writing process. As a team, you can throw as many ideas and slogans together as you can, and then refine them together to get a clear picture of the direction going forward.

Scenario #2

You’ve been tasked by your executive team to come up with a growth strategy for the coming fiscal year, which focuses on expanding your footprint into your most successful markets. You know that there is room for growth, but aren’t sure which areas to focus on.

Gathering the key stakeholders in your department and across the organization for a brainstorming session will help you quickly gather a list of growth opportunities. Each team member will have their own ideas for growth within their role which can be added to a longer list of strategic possibilities.

Scenario #3

Your product development team has been repeatedly running into an issue with a new version of your software. Because of the complexity of the project, it’s difficult to tell what the root cause of the problem might be.

Calling your product team together for a brainstorming session will help you gather opinions on what the issue might be. As more theories come forth, it’s likely that a consensus will start to form about where the core issue lies. From there, you can brainstorm ways to fix the problem.

These are just three high level examples of brainstorming. This technique is incredibly versatile, and can be applied to virtually any problem or goal that your business needs to address.

The advantages of brainstorming are many, and we highly recommend that you start to incorporate it more throughout your business operations.

MindManager® is an innovative visual productivity solution that offers a variety of  pre-built templates to help you visualize projects more effectively, including Kanban boards, Gantt charts, Flowcharts, and more.

Download a free trial of MindManager today to get started with brainstorming!

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Brainstorming

What is brainstorming.

Brainstorming is a method design teams use to generate ideas to solve clearly defined design problems. In controlled conditions and a free-thinking environment, teams approach a problem by such means as “How Might We” questions. They produce a vast array of ideas and draw links between them to find potential solutions.

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How To Use Brainstorming Best

Brainstorming is part of design thinking . You use it in the ideation phase. It’s extremely popular for design teams because they can expand in all directions. Although teams have rules and a facilitator to keep them on track, they are free to use out-of-the-box and lateral thinking to seek the most effective solutions to any design problem. By brainstorming, they can take a vast number of approaches—the more, the better—instead of just exploring conventional means and running into the associated obstacles. When teams work in a judgment-free atmosphere to find the real dimensions of a problem, they’re more likely to produce rough answers which they’ll refine into possible solutions later. Marketing CEO Alex Osborn, brainstorming’s “inventor”, captured the refined elements of creative problem-solving in his 1953 book, Applied Imagination . In brainstorming, we aim squarely at a design problem and produce an arsenal of potential solutions. By not only harvesting our own ideas but also considering and building on colleagues’, we cover the problem from every angle imaginable.

“It is easier to tone down a wild idea than to think up a new one.” — Alex Osborn

Everyone in a design team should have a clear definition of the target problem. They typically gather for a brainstorming session in a room with a large board/wall for pictures/Post-Its. A good mix of participants will expand the experience pool and therefore broaden the idea space.

Brainstorming may seem to lack constraints, but everyone must observe eight house rules and have someone acting as facilitator.

Set a time limit – Depending on the problem’s complexity, 15–60 minutes is normal.

Begin with a target problem/brief – Members should approach this sharply defined question, plan or goal and stay on topic.

Refrain from judgment/criticism – No-one should be negative (including via body language) about any idea.

Encourage weird and wacky ideas – Further to the ban on killer phrases like “too expensive”, keep the floodgates open so everyone feels free to blurt out ideas (provided they’re on topic).

Aim for quantity – Remember, “quantity breeds quality”. The sifting-and-sorting process comes later.

Build on others’ ideas – It’s a process of association where members expand on others’ notions and reach new insights, allowing these ideas to trigger their own. Say “and”—rather than discourage with “but”—to get ideas closer to the problem.

Stay visual – Diagrams and Post-Its help bring ideas to life and help others see things in different ways.

Allow one conversation at a time – To arrive at concrete results, it’s essential to keep on track this way and show respect for everyone’s ideas.

To capture everyone’s ideas in a brainstorming session, someone must play “scribe” and mark every idea on the board. Alternatively, write down your own ideas as they come, and share these with the group. Often, design problems demand mixed tactics: brainstorming and its sibling approaches – braindumping (for individuals), and brainwriting and brainwalking (for group-and-individual mixes).

Take Care with Brainstorming

Brainstorming involves harnessing synergy – we leverage our collective thinking towards a variety of potential solutions. However, it’s challenging to have boundless freedom. In groups, introverts may stay quiet while extroverts dominate. Whoever’s leading the session must “police” the team to ensure a healthy, solution-focused atmosphere where even the shiest participants will speak up. A warm-up activity can cure brainstorming “constipation” – e.g., ask participants to list ways the world would be different if metal were like rubber.

Another risk is to let the team stray off topic and/or address other problems. As we may use brainstorming in any part of our design process—including areas related to a project’s main scope—it’s vital that participants stick to the problem relevant to that part (what Osborn called the “Point of View”). Similarly, by framing problems with “How Might We” questions, we remember brainstorming is organic and free of boundaries. Overall, your team should stay fluid in the search for ways you might resolve an issue – not chase a “holy grail” solution someone has developed elsewhere. The idea is to mine idea “ore” and refine “golden” solutions from it later.

How to Supercharge Brainstorming with AI

Learn more about brainstorming.

The Interaction Design Foundation’s course on Design Thinking discusses Brainstorming in depth.

This blog offers incisive insights into Brainstorming workshops .

Jonathan Courtney’s article for Smashing Magazine shows Brainstorming’s versatility .

Literature on Brainstorming

Here’s the entire UX literature on Brainstorming by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Learn more about Brainstorming

Take a deep dive into Brainstorming with our course Design Thinking: The Ultimate Guide .

Some of the world’s leading brands, such as Apple, Google, Samsung, and General Electric, have rapidly adopted the design thinking approach, and design thinking is being taught at leading universities around the world, including Stanford d.school, Harvard, and MIT. What is design thinking, and why is it so popular and effective?

Design Thinking is not exclusive to designers —all great innovators in literature, art, music, science, engineering and business have practiced it. So, why call it Design Thinking? Well, that’s because design work processes help us systematically extract, teach, learn and apply human-centered techniques to solve problems in a creative and innovative way—in our designs, businesses, countries and lives. And that’s what makes it so special.

The overall goal of this design thinking course is to help you design better products, services, processes, strategies, spaces, architecture, and experiences. Design thinking helps you and your team develop practical and innovative solutions for your problems. It is a human-focused , prototype-driven , innovative design process . Through this course, you will develop a solid understanding of the fundamental phases and methods in design thinking, and you will learn how to implement your newfound knowledge in your professional work life. We will give you lots of examples; we will go into case studies, videos, and other useful material, all of which will help you dive further into design thinking. In fact, this course also includes exclusive video content that we've produced in partnership with design leaders like Alan Dix, William Hudson and Frank Spillers!

This course contains a series of practical exercises that build on one another to create a complete design thinking project. The exercises are optional, but you’ll get invaluable hands-on experience with the methods you encounter in this course if you complete them, because they will teach you to take your first steps as a design thinking practitioner. What’s equally important is you can use your work as a case study for your portfolio to showcase your abilities to future employers! A portfolio is essential if you want to step into or move ahead in a career in the world of human-centered design.

Design thinking methods and strategies belong at every level of the design process . However, design thinking is not an exclusive property of designers—all great innovators in literature, art, music, science, engineering, and business have practiced it. What’s special about design thinking is that designers and designers’ work processes can help us systematically extract, teach, learn, and apply these human-centered techniques in solving problems in a creative and innovative way—in our designs, in our businesses, in our countries, and in our lives.

That means that design thinking is not only for designers but also for creative employees , freelancers , and business leaders . It’s for anyone who seeks to infuse an approach to innovation that is powerful, effective and broadly accessible, one that can be integrated into every level of an organization, product, or service so as to drive new alternatives for businesses and society.

You earn a verifiable and industry-trusted Course Certificate once you complete the course. You can highlight them on your resume, CV, LinkedIn profile or your website .

All open-source articles on Brainstorming

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What is brainstorming?

Table of contents

Definition of brainstorming.

Brainstorming is a creative thinking technique for coming up with new ideas and solving problems. Teams use this ideation method to encourage new ways of thinking and collectively generate solutions. Brainstorming encourages free thinking and allows for all ideas to be voiced without judgment, fostering an open and innovative environment. This process typically involves a group of people, although it can be done individually as well.

This guide will help you get the most out of every creative session. When you're ready to start your next free thinking exercise, jump into Miro’s brainstorming tool to generate ideas and turn them into action.

What is the main purpose of brainstorming?

The primary purpose of a brainstorming session is to generate and document many ideas, no matter how “out there” they might seem. Through this lateral thinking process, inventive ideas are suggested, which sparks creative solutions. By encouraging everyone to think more freely and not be afraid to share their ideas, teams can build on each other’s thoughts to find the best possible solution to a problem. Brainstorming usually takes place in a group setting where people get together to creatively solve problems and come up with ideas. However, it’s also useful for individuals who need to explore novel solutions to a problem. Sitting down by yourself and writing down solutions to potential problems is a great way to brainstorm individually. Focusing your mind on a defined problem allows you to think of many creative ways to get to an answer. While brainstorming normally allows for free-form methods of thinking and doesn’t require many rules, the best results usually stem from controlled sessions. Posing questions and role-playing different scenarios during the brainstorming session is a smart way to pull out unusual ideas and never-before-thought-of solutions.

Benefits of brainstorming

Why is brainstorming such a popular approach to solving problems and generating ideas? Here are some of its many advantages:

Encourages creativity

Brainstorming sessions are meant to be free of judgment. Everyone involved is meant to feel safe and confident enough to speak their minds. There will be some good and some bad ideas, but this doesn’t matter as long as the final outcome is one that can solve the problem. This kind of free-thinking environment, along with a few essential brainstorming rules, encourage creativity in the workplace.

Fosters collaboration and team building

Brainstorming is not only good for problem-solving. It also allows employees and team members to understand how the people around them think. It helps the team get to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and helps build a more inclusive and close-knit workforce.

Generates innovative, revolutionary ideas

Brainstorming is the perfect mix between a free-thinking, creative environment and one that is governed by rules. Being faced with a defined problem or asking questions like “What do we do in X scenario?” forces everyone in the room to come up with ideas and solutions. No two people think alike. So, combining the good parts of everyone’s answers will result in holistic and revolutionary solutions.

Establishes different perspectives

One of the major benefits of brainstorming is that it allows and encourages all members of the session to freely propose ideas. This type of environment fosters courage in people who may not usually offer their perspective on a problem. Garnering a range of different perspectives can lead to a never-before-thought-of solution.

Introduces many ideas quickly

The beauty of brainstorming is that it encourages teams to come up with many ideas in a relatively short period of time. Ideas are thrown around, and every train of thought is documented. Different perspectives give different answers, and sifting through a few good answers in quick succession may lead to the perfect solution in no time.

Types of brainstorming techniques

There are plenty of creative brainstorming techniques to choose from. Here are some of the most popular ones:

Reverse brainstorming

In a typical brainstorming session, the group is asked to consider solutions to a problem. This means that they will spend time thinking about the outcome — the end goal — rather than the root of the problem — the starting point. Reverse brainstorming is simply the opposite: teams are asked to ideate on the problem instead of the solution. This type of brainstorming is done before the start of an important project, as it helps teams anticipate any future obstacles that might arise. To help frame this way of thinking, use a Reverse Brainstorming Template to get the team started.

Random word brainstorming

One of the main goals of a brainstorming session is to come up with new ideas. One of the best ways to do this is to say the first words that come to mind when a specific topic or subject is mentioned. Random word brainstorming allows for exactly that. The team is given a problem, and they need to shout out the first words that they think of, regardless of what they are. These words are then written down and later put into interesting combinations to see if they will lead to a usable solution. This brainstorming method is extremely fast and usually very efficient at solving a defined problem. The Random Words Brainstorming Template can help get you started.

The 5 Whys Method

Like the reverse brainstorming method, the 5 Whys method aims to look at the root causes of a problem to stop that same issue from arising again. This method attempts to curb the problem before it can reoccur by asking the question “why?” over and over until it can no longer be answered. Once you reach this stage, you have arrived at the root cause of the issue.

SCAMPER model

Developed by Bob Earle, an author of creativity books for kids, the SCAMPER model was originally a game aimed at imagination development in adolescents. It has, however, become popular in the corporate world as a means of improving and encouraging creativity in team members when dealing with complex, defined problems. Using this model, your team will view a problem through 7 filters: substitute, combine, adapt, modify, put to another use, eliminate, and reverse.

Rapid ideation

Rapid ideation brainstorming is almost the exact same thinking model as random word brainstorming. In this method, however, everyone writes down the solutions they are thinking of instead of shouting them out. This gives participants a bit more privacy with their immediate thoughts — possibly leading to even more creative and revolutionary outcomes.

Starbursting

Once again, brainstorming can change based on the team’s perspective and each session’s expected outcome. Starburst brainstorming focuses on getting the team to ask questions instead of coming up with answers.

How to hold a brainstorming workshop

Ready to harness the power of a well-run brainstorming session? Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to organize a successful brainstorming workshop:

1. Assign a facilitator

When done as a group, a brainstorming session needs to have boundaries. You need to choose someone who will facilitate the session and provide guidelines for the thinking exercises that the group will partake in. This is so the session doesn’t get too scattered and stays on the right track. The facilitator should pose questions and guide the group from start to finish.

2. Establish context and ensure group understanding

A brainstorming session cannot be properly carried out without context. The group must understand why they are meeting and what the end goal of the session is. Everyone should also understand the meaning of brainstorming and what to expect from the brainstorming process. The brainstorming method that will be used should also be established (see point 5) and explained at the outset.

3. Define an objective

While brainstorming is often looked at as a form of free-thinking creativity, it is best to try to stay within certain rules. It’s essential that you define a clear objective and use the session to reach your predetermined goal.

4. Set a time limit

Setting a defined time limit before the session starts is important to the success of your brainstorming session. No doubt your team could come up with countless ideas, but there has to be a limit on how long the session can run. Knowing that you need to solve a problem within one hour, for instance, will help the team focus on the job at hand and come up with ideas faster. It will also keep everyone thinking about the same problem.

5. Decide on the brainstorming technique

The brainstorming technique that will be used must be decided on before the session begins. The best way to do this is to look at the problem at hand. If you’re looking to prevent obstacles from arising in the future, try the “5 Whys” technique. If you’re looking to come up with new marketing ideas or get creative with workplace conflicts, try the rapid ideation technique.

6. Set some ground rules

As stated above, the best and most productive brainstorming sessions are those that allow for free thinking and creativity within preset boundaries. Brainstorming ground rules are essential to to the success of the session, as they keep everyone focused on the topic at hand and ensure that no one goes off track.

7. Capture all ideas

The entire point of a brainstorming session is to come up with as many ideas as possible, regardless of whether the standalone suggestion will lead to success. This means that you need to use the right tools to document the ideas being suggested. Miro has a host of idea-capturing tools, including a simple-to-use visual platform for remote brainstorming sessions and digital sticky notes .

8. Discuss and vote on ideas

After all the ideas have been captured, it’s time to discuss them. The team needs to be productive in choosing a creative idea that suits the problem, or they can try combining a few ideas to come up with a holistic solution. To make decisions as a group and come to an agreement, teams can use the dot voting method . This technique reveals group priorities and helps everyone reach a consensus on the direction to take.

9. Turn ideas into action

Once the final idea has been chosen, it’s time to create a plan of action and a deadline for the idea to be put in place. Transform your ideas into detailed, tangible steps with the Action Plan Template . This will help with coordination between team members and ensures that nothing is missed.

Tips for your brainstorming activities

While all brainstorming sessions look a little different, here are some best practices to get the most out of yours:

Record all ideas

If you want to have a successful and productive brainstorming session, it’s important that you capture every idea suggested, good and bad. An idea might seem silly when first brought up, but it might become an invaluable idea as the session moves on. Capture everything, and right at the end, work out which ideas best suit the problem.

Ensure that everyone’s ideas are heard

When brainstorming is done as a group activity, everyone needs to feel comfortable and confident to propose ideas. The best way to make sure the environment fosters these feelings is to make the session feel like a conversation, not a presentation. Create a safe and open environment that gives everyone equal opportunity to voice their opinions and ideas.

Focus on quantity

People often like to say, "Focus on quality, not quantity," but it’s the opposite when brainstorming. In a brainstorming session, you should focus on getting as many ideas on the board as possible, even if they're only one-word ideas. These can all be used to come to a holistic solution at the end of the session. Each suggestion could be invaluable if you're coming up with a combined idea.

Brainstorming should be a fun and creative endeavor. You shouldn’t be too rigid — though some ground rules are important. If your team has weekly brainstorming sessions, try new brainstorming techniques and activities each time you meet. This will keep your team members on their toes and help make them excited about the next meeting. It will also encourage out-of-the-box thinking, which is essential to any successful brainstorming session.

Avoid criticism

We’ll say it again: there are no bad ideas in a brainstorming session. This is the attitude that all team members must adopt when entering the session. No one should be criticized for the ideas that they propose. The best way to foster an environment that is devoid of criticism and encourages creativity is to maintain a relaxed approach. This will make everyone feel comfortable and happy to contribute their ideas.

Discover more

Guide to collaborative brainstorming

When to use brainstorming (and which techniques are best)

What is brainwriting?

What is reverse brainstorming?

How to conduct a brainstorming session

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Seven steps to better brainstorming

Companies run on good ideas. From R&D groups seeking pipelines of innovative new products to ops teams probing for time-saving process improvements to CEOs searching for that next growth opportunity—all senior managers want to generate better and more creative ideas consistently in the teams they form, participate in, and manage.

Yet all senior managers, at some point, experience the pain of pursuing new ideas by way of traditional brainstorming sessions—still the most common method of using groups to generate ideas at companies around the world. The scene is familiar: a group of people, often chosen largely for political reasons, begins by listening passively as a moderator (often an outsider who knows little about your business) urges you to “Get creative!” and “Think outside the box!” and cheerfully reminds you that “There are no bad ideas!”

The result? Some attendees remain stone-faced throughout the day, others contribute sporadically, and a few loudly dominate the session with their pet ideas. Ideas pop up randomly—some intriguing, many preposterous—but because the session has no structure, little momentum builds around any of them. At session’s end, the group trundles off with a hazy idea of what, if anything, will happen next. “Now we can get back to real work,” some whisper.

It doesn’t have to be like this. We’ve led or observed 200 projects over the past decade at more than 150 companies in industries ranging from retailing and education to banking and communications. That experience has helped us develop a practical approach that captures the energy typically wasted in a traditional brainstorming session and steers it in a more productive direction. The trick is to leverage the way people actually think and work in creative problem-solving situations.

We call our approach “brainsteering,” and while it requires more preparation than traditional brainstorming, the results are worthwhile: better ideas in business situations as diverse as inventing new products and services, attracting new customers, designing more efficient business processes, or reducing costs, among others. The next time you assign one of your people to lead an idea generation effort—or decide to lead one yourself—you can significantly improve the odds of success by following the seven steps below.

1. Know your organization’s decision-making criteria

One reason good ideas hatched in corporate brainstorming sessions  often go nowhere is that they are beyond the scope of what the organization would ever be willing to consider. “Think outside the box!” is an unhelpful exhortation if external circumstances or company policies create boxes that the organization truly must live within.

Managers hoping to spark creative thinking in their teams should therefore start by understanding (and in some cases shaping) the real criteria the company will use to make decisions about the resulting ideas. Are there any absolute restrictions or limitations, for example? A bank we know wasted a full day’s worth of brainstorming because the session’s best ideas all required changing IT systems. Yet senior management—unbeknownst to the workshop planners—had recently “locked down” the IT agenda for the next 18 months.

Likewise, what constitutes an acceptable idea? At a different, smarter bank, workshop planners collaborated with senior managers on a highly specific (and therefore highly valuable) definition tailored to meet immediate needs. Good ideas would require no more than $5,000 per branch in investment and would generate incremental profits quickly. Further, while three categories of ideas—new products, new sales approaches, and pricing changes—were welcome, senior management would balk at ideas that required new regulatory approvals. The result was a far more productive session delivering exactly what the company wanted: a fistful of ideas, in all three target categories, that were practical, affordable, and profitable within one fiscal year.

2. Ask the right questions

Decades of academic research shows that traditional, loosely structured brainstorming techniques (“Go for quantity—the greater the number of ideas, the greater the likelihood of winners!”) are inferior to approaches that provide more structure. 1 1. For two particularly useful academic studies on the ineffectiveness and inefficiency of traditional brainstorming, see Paul A. Mongeau, The Brainstorming Myth , Annual Meeting of the Western States Communication Association, Albuquerque, New Mexico, February 15, 1993; and Frederic M. Jablin and David R. Seibold, “Implications for problem solving groups of empirical research on ‘brainstorming’: A critical review of the literature,” Southern Speech Communication Journal , 1978, Volume 43, Number 4, pp. 327–56. The best way we’ve found to provide it is to use questions as the platform for idea generation.

In practice, this means building your workshop around a series of “right questions” that your team will explore in small groups during a series of idea generation sessions (more about these later). The trick is to identify questions with two characteristics. First, they should force your participants to take a new and unfamiliar perspective. Why? Because whenever you look for new ways to attack an old problem—whether it’s lowering your company’s operating costs or buying your spouse a birthday gift—you naturally gravitate toward thinking patterns and ideas that worked in the past. Research shows that, over time, you’ll come up with fewer good ideas, despite increased effort. Changing your participants’ perspective will shake up their thinking. (For more on how to do this, see “ Sparking creativity in teams: An executive’s guide .”) The second characteristic of a right question is that it limits the conceptual space your team will explore, without being so restrictive that it forces particular answers or outcomes.

It’s easier to show such questions in practice than to describe them in theory. A consumer electronics company looking to develop new products might start with questions such as “What’s the biggest avoidable hassle our customers endure?” and “Who uses our product in ways we never expected?” By contrast, a health insurance provider looking to cut costs might ask, “What complexity do we plan for daily that, if eliminated, would change the way we operate?” and “In which areas is the efficiency of a given department ‘trapped’ by outdated restrictions placed on it by company policies?” 2 2. For a full discussion about identifying and using a portfolio of such right questions in the generation of personal and institutional ideas, see Brainsteering , the book from which this article is adapted, as well as Patricia Gorman Clifford, Kevin P. Coyne, and Renée Dye, “Breakthrough thinking from inside the box,” Harvard Business Review , December 2007, Volume 85, Number 12, pp. 70–78.

In our experience, it’s best to come up with 15 to 20 such questions for a typical workshop attended by about 20 people. Choose the questions carefully, as they will form the heart of your workshop—your participants will be discussing them intensively in small subgroups during a series of sessions.

3. Choose the right people

The rule here is simple: pick people who can answer the questions you’re asking. As obvious as this sounds, it’s not what happens in many traditional brainstorming sessions, where participants are often chosen with less regard for their specific knowledge than for their prominence on the org chart.

Instead, choose participants with firsthand, “in the trenches” knowledge, as a catalog retailer client of ours did for a brainsteering workshop on improving bad-debt collections. (The company had extended credit directly to some customers). During the workshop, when participants were discussing the question “What’s changed in our operating environment since we last redesigned our processes?” a frontline collections manager remarked, “Well, death has become the new bankruptcy.”

A few people laughed knowingly, but the senior managers in the room were perplexed. On further discussion, the story became clear. In years past, some customers who fell behind on their payments would falsely claim bankruptcy when speaking with a collections rep, figuring that the company wouldn’t pursue the matter because of the legal headaches involved. More recently, a better gambit had emerged: unscrupulous borrowers instructed household members to tell the agent they had died—a tactic that halted collections efforts quickly, since reps were uncomfortable pressing the issue.

While this certainly wasn’t the largest problem the collectors faced, the line manager’s presence in the workshop had uncovered an opportunity. A different line manager in the workshop proposed what became the solution: instructing the reps to sensitively, but firmly, question the recipient of the call for more specific information if the rep suspected a ruse. Dishonest borrowers would invariably hang up if asked to identify themselves or to provide other basic information, and the collections efforts could continue.

4. Divide and conquer

To ensure fruitful discussions like the one the catalog retailer generated, don’t have your participants hold one continuous, rambling discussion among the entire group for several hours. Instead, have them conduct multiple, discrete, highly focused idea generation sessions among subgroups of three to five people—no fewer, no more. Each subgroup should focus on a single question for a full 30 minutes. Why three to five people? The social norm in groups of this size is to speak up, whereas the norm in a larger group is to stay quiet.

When you assign people to subgroups, it’s important to isolate “idea crushers” in their own subgroup. These people are otherwise suitable for the workshop but, intentionally or not, prevent others from suggesting good ideas. They come in three varieties: bosses, “big mouths,” and subject matter experts.

The boss’s presence, which often makes people hesitant to express unproven ideas, is particularly damaging if participants span multiple organizational levels. (“Speak up in front of my boss’s boss? No, thanks!”) Big mouths take up air time, intimidate the less confident, and give everyone else an excuse to be lazy. Subject matter experts can squelch new ideas because everyone defers to their presumed superior wisdom, even if they are biased or have incomplete knowledge of the issue at hand.

By quarantining the idea crushers—and violating the old brainstorming adage that a melting pot of personalities is ideal—you’ll free the other subgroups to think more creatively. Your idea crushers will still be productive; after all, they won’t stop each other from speaking up.

Finally, take the 15 to 20 questions you prepared earlier and divide them among the subgroups—about 5 questions each, since it’s unproductive and too time consuming to have all subgroups answer every question. Whenever possible, assign a specific question to the subgroup you consider best equipped to handle it.

5. On your mark, get set, go!

After your participants arrive, but before the division into subgroups, orient them so that your expectations about what they will—and won’t—accomplish are clear. Remember, your team is accustomed to traditional brainstorming, where the flow of ideas is fast, furious, and ultimately shallow.

Today, however, each subgroup will thoughtfully consider and discuss a single question for a half hour. No other idea from any source—no matter how good—should be mentioned during a subgroup’s individual session. Tell participants that if anyone thinks of a “silver bullet” solution that’s outside the scope of discussion, they should write it down and share it later.

Prepare your participants for the likelihood that when a subgroup attacks a question, it might generate only two or three worthy ideas. Knowing that probability in advance will prevent participants from becoming discouraged as they build up the creative muscles necessary to think in this new way. The going can feel slow at first, so reassure participants that by the end of the day, after all the subgroups have met several times, there will be no shortage of good ideas.

Also, whenever possible, share “signpost examples” before the start of each session—real questions previous groups used, along with success stories, to motivate participants and show them how a question-based approach can help.

One last warning: no matter how clever your participants, no matter how insightful your questions, the first five minutes of any subgroup’s brainsteering session may feel like typical brainstorming as people test their pet ideas or rattle off superficial new ones. But participants should persevere. Better thinking soon emerges as the subgroups try to improve shallow ideas while sticking to the assigned questions.

6. Wrap it up

By day’s end, a typical subgroup has produced perhaps 15 interesting ideas for further exploration. You’ve been running multiple subgroups simultaneously, so your 20-person team has collectively generated up to 60 ideas. What now?

One thing not to do is have the full group choose the best ideas from the pile, as is common in traditional brainstorming. In our experience, your attendees won’t always have an executive-level understanding of the criteria and considerations that must go into prioritizing ideas for actual investment. The experience of picking winners can also be demotivating, particularly if the real decision makers overrule the group’s favorite choices later.

Instead, have each subgroup privately narrow its own list of ideas to a top few and then share all the leading ideas with the full group to motivate and inspire participants. But the full group shouldn’t pick a winner. Rather, close the workshop on a high note that participants won’t expect if they’re veterans of traditional brainstorming: describe to them exactly what steps will be taken to choose the winning ideas and how they will learn about the final decisions.

7. Follow up quickly

Decisions and other follow-up activities should be quick and thorough. Of course, we’re not suggesting that uninformed or insufficiently researched conclusions should be reached about ideas dreamed up only hours earlier. But the odds that concrete action will result from an idea generation exercise tend to decline quickly as time passes and momentum fades.

The president, provost, and department heads of a US university, for example, announced before a brainsteering workshop that a full staff meeting would be held the morning after it to discuss the various cost-savings ideas it had generated. At the meeting, the senior leaders sorted ideas into four buckets: move immediately to implementation planning, decide today to implement at the closest appropriate time (say, the beginning of the next academic year), assign a group to research the idea further, or reject right away. This process went smoothly because the team that ran the idea generation workshop had done the work up front to understand the criteria senior leaders would use to judge its work. The university began moving ahead on more than a dozen ideas that would ultimately save millions of dollars.

To close the loop with participants, the university made sure to communicate the results of the decisions quickly to everyone involved, even when an idea was rejected. While it might seem demoralizing to share bad news with a team, we find that doing so actually has the opposite effect. Participants are often desperate for feedback and eager for indications that they have at least been heard. By respectfully explaining why certain ideas were rejected, you can help team members produce better ideas next time. In our experience, they will participate next time, often more eagerly than ever.

Traditional brainstorming is fast, furious, and ultimately shallow. By scrapping these traditional techniques for a more focused, question-based approach, senior managers can consistently coax better ideas from their teams.

Kevin Coyne and Shawn Coyne, both alumni of McKinsey’s Atlanta office, are cofounders and managing directors of the Coyne Partnership, a boutique strategy consulting firm. This article is adapted from their book, Brainsteering: A Better Approach to Breakthrough Ideas (HarperCollins, March 2011).

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What Is Creative Problem-Solving & Why Is It Important?

• 01 Feb 2022

One of the biggest hindrances to innovation is complacency—it can be more comfortable to do what you know than venture into the unknown. Business leaders can overcome this barrier by mobilizing creative team members and providing space to innovate.

There are several tools you can use to encourage creativity in the workplace. Creative problem-solving is one of them, which facilitates the development of innovative solutions to difficult problems.

Here’s an overview of creative problem-solving and why it’s important in business.

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What Is Creative Problem-Solving?

Research is necessary when solving a problem. But there are situations where a problem’s specific cause is difficult to pinpoint. This can occur when there’s not enough time to narrow down the problem’s source or there are differing opinions about its root cause.

In such cases, you can use creative problem-solving , which allows you to explore potential solutions regardless of whether a problem has been defined.

Creative problem-solving is less structured than other innovation processes and encourages exploring open-ended solutions. It also focuses on developing new perspectives and fostering creativity in the workplace . Its benefits include:

• Finding creative solutions to complex problems : User research can insufficiently illustrate a situation’s complexity. While other innovation processes rely on this information, creative problem-solving can yield solutions without it.
• Adapting to change : Business is constantly changing, and business leaders need to adapt. Creative problem-solving helps overcome unforeseen challenges and find solutions to unconventional problems.
• Fueling innovation and growth : In addition to solutions, creative problem-solving can spark innovative ideas that drive company growth. These ideas can lead to new product lines, services, or a modified operations structure that improves efficiency.

Creative problem-solving is traditionally based on the following key principles :

1. Balance Divergent and Convergent Thinking

Creative problem-solving uses two primary tools to find solutions: divergence and convergence. Divergence generates ideas in response to a problem, while convergence narrows them down to a shortlist. It balances these two practices and turns ideas into concrete solutions.

2. Reframe Problems as Questions

By framing problems as questions, you shift from focusing on obstacles to solutions. This provides the freedom to brainstorm potential ideas.

3. Defer Judgment of Ideas

When brainstorming, it can be natural to reject or accept ideas right away. Yet, immediate judgments interfere with the idea generation process. Even ideas that seem implausible can turn into outstanding innovations upon further exploration and development.

4. Focus on "Yes, And" Instead of "No, But"

Using negative words like "no" discourages creative thinking. Instead, use positive language to build and maintain an environment that fosters the development of creative and innovative ideas.

Creative Problem-Solving and Design Thinking

Whereas creative problem-solving facilitates developing innovative ideas through a less structured workflow, design thinking takes a far more organized approach.

Design thinking is a human-centered, solutions-based process that fosters the ideation and development of solutions. In the online course Design Thinking and Innovation , Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar leverages a four-phase framework to explain design thinking.

The four stages are:

• Clarify: The clarification stage allows you to empathize with the user and identify problems. Observations and insights are informed by thorough research. Findings are then reframed as problem statements or questions.
• Ideate: Ideation is the process of coming up with innovative ideas. The divergence of ideas involved with creative problem-solving is a major focus.
• Develop: In the development stage, ideas evolve into experiments and tests. Ideas converge and are explored through prototyping and open critique.
• Implement: Implementation involves continuing to test and experiment to refine the solution and encourage its adoption.

Creative problem-solving primarily operates in the ideate phase of design thinking but can be applied to others. This is because design thinking is an iterative process that moves between the stages as ideas are generated and pursued. This is normal and encouraged, as innovation requires exploring multiple ideas.

Creative Problem-Solving Tools

While there are many useful tools in the creative problem-solving process, here are three you should know:

Creating a Problem Story

One way to innovate is by creating a story about a problem to understand how it affects users and what solutions best fit their needs. Here are the steps you need to take to use this tool properly.

1. Identify a UDP

Create a problem story to identify the undesired phenomena (UDP). For example, consider a company that produces printers that overheat. In this case, the UDP is "our printers overheat."

2. Move Forward in Time

To move forward in time, ask: “Why is this a problem?” For example, minor damage could be one result of the machines overheating. In more extreme cases, printers may catch fire. Don't be afraid to create multiple problem stories if you think of more than one UDP.

3. Move Backward in Time

To move backward in time, ask: “What caused this UDP?” If you can't identify the root problem, think about what typically causes the UDP to occur. For the overheating printers, overuse could be a cause.

Following the three-step framework above helps illustrate a clear problem story:

• The printer is overused.
• The printer overheats.
• The printer breaks down.

You can extend the problem story in either direction if you think of additional cause-and-effect relationships.

4. Break the Chains

By this point, you’ll have multiple UDP storylines. Take two that are similar and focus on breaking the chains connecting them. This can be accomplished through inversion or neutralization.

• Inversion: Inversion changes the relationship between two UDPs so the cause is the same but the effect is the opposite. For example, if the UDP is "the more X happens, the more likely Y is to happen," inversion changes the equation to "the more X happens, the less likely Y is to happen." Using the printer example, inversion would consider: "What if the more a printer is used, the less likely it’s going to overheat?" Innovation requires an open mind. Just because a solution initially seems unlikely doesn't mean it can't be pursued further or spark additional ideas.
• Neutralization: Neutralization completely eliminates the cause-and-effect relationship between X and Y. This changes the above equation to "the more or less X happens has no effect on Y." In the case of the printers, neutralization would rephrase the relationship to "the more or less a printer is used has no effect on whether it overheats."

Even if creating a problem story doesn't provide a solution, it can offer useful context to users’ problems and additional ideas to be explored. Given that divergence is one of the fundamental practices of creative problem-solving, it’s a good idea to incorporate it into each tool you use.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a tool that can be highly effective when guided by the iterative qualities of the design thinking process. It involves openly discussing and debating ideas and topics in a group setting. This facilitates idea generation and exploration as different team members consider the same concept from multiple perspectives.

Hosting brainstorming sessions can result in problems, such as groupthink or social loafing. To combat this, leverage a three-step brainstorming method involving divergence and convergence :

• Have each group member come up with as many ideas as possible and write them down to ensure the brainstorming session is productive.
• Continue the divergence of ideas by collectively sharing and exploring each idea as a group. The goal is to create a setting where new ideas are inspired by open discussion.
• Begin the convergence of ideas by narrowing them down to a few explorable options. There’s no "right number of ideas." Don't be afraid to consider exploring all of them, as long as you have the resources to do so.

Alternate Worlds

The alternate worlds tool is an empathetic approach to creative problem-solving. It encourages you to consider how someone in another world would approach your situation.

For example, if you’re concerned that the printers you produce overheat and catch fire, consider how a different industry would approach the problem. How would an automotive expert solve it? How would a firefighter?

Be creative as you consider and research alternate worlds. The purpose is not to nail down a solution right away but to continue the ideation process through diverging and exploring ideas.

Continue Developing Your Skills

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, marketer, or business leader, learning the ropes of design thinking can be an effective way to build your skills and foster creativity and innovation in any setting.

If you're ready to develop your design thinking and creative problem-solving skills, explore Design Thinking and Innovation , one of our online entrepreneurship and innovation courses. If you aren't sure which course is the right fit, download our free course flowchart to determine which best aligns with your goals.

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Brainstorming

Generating many radical, creative ideas.

How often have you used brainstorming to solve a problem? Chances are, you've used it at least once, even if you didn't realize it.

For decades, people have used brainstorming to generate ideas, and to come up with creative solutions to problems. However, you need to use brainstorming correctly for it to be fully effective.

In this article, we'll look at what brainstorming is, why it's useful, and how to get the best from it.

Learn how to host a group brainstorming session with our video. Click here   to view the transcript.

What Is Brainstorming?

Madison Avenue advertising executive Alex Osborn developed the original approach and published it in his 1953 book, "Applied Imagination." [1]

Since then, researchers have made many improvements to his original technique. The approach described here takes this research into account, so it's subtly different from Osborn's approach. [2]

Brainstorming combines a relaxed, informal approach to problem solving with lateral thinking. It encourages people to come up with thoughts and ideas that can, at first, seem a bit crazy. Some of these ideas can be crafted into original, creative solutions to a problem, while others can spark even more ideas. This helps to get people unstuck by "jolting" them out of their normal ways of thinking.

Therefore, during brainstorming sessions, people should avoid criticizing or rewarding ideas. You're trying to open up possibilities and break down incorrect assumptions about the problem's limits. Judgment and analysis at this stage stunts idea generation and limit creativity.

Evaluate ideas at the end of the session – this is the time to explore solutions further, using conventional approaches.

Why Use Brainstorming?

Conventional group problem solving can often be undermined by unhelpful group behavior   . And while it's important to start with a structured, analytical process when solving problems, this can lead a group to develop limited and unimaginative ideas.

By contrast, brainstorming provides a free and open environment that encourages everyone to participate. Quirky ideas are welcomed and built upon, and all participants are encouraged to contribute fully, helping them develop a rich array of creative solutions.

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When used during problem solving, brainstorming brings team members' diverse experience into play. It increases the richness of ideas explored, which means that you can often find better solutions to the problems that you face.

It can also help you get buy-in from team members for the solution chosen – after all, they're likely to be more committed to an approach if they were involved in developing it. What's more, because brainstorming is fun, it helps team members bond, as they solve problems in a positive, rewarding environment.

While brainstorming can be effective, it's important to approach it with an open mind and a spirit of non-judgment. If you don't do this, people "clam up," the number and quality of ideas plummets, and morale can suffer.

How to Use the Tool

You often get the best results by combining individual and group brainstorming, which we explain below, and by managing the process according to the "rules" below. By doing this, you can get people to focus on the issue without interruption, you maximize the number of ideas that you can generate, and you get that great feeling of team bonding that comes with a well-run brainstorming session!

To run a group brainstorming session effectively, follow these steps.

Step 1: Prepare the Group

How much information or preparation does your team need in order to brainstorm solutions to your problem? Remember that prep is important, but too much can limit – or even destroy – the freewheeling nature of a brainstorming session.

First, choose an appropriate and comfortable meeting space. This can be in the office, or virtual. Consider what would work best for your team. Make sure you have the right resources beforehand; you can use virtual brainstorming tools like Miro or LucidSpark, and you'll need pens and Post-Its for an in-person session.

Now consider who will attend the meeting. A brainstorming session full of like-minded people   won't generate as many creative ideas as a diverse group   , so try to include people from a wide range of disciplines, and include people who have a variety of different thinking styles.

When everyone is gathered, appoint one person to record the ideas that come from the session. This person shouldn't necessarily be the team manager – it's hard to record and contribute at the same time. Post notes where everyone can see them, such as on flip charts or whiteboards; or use a computer with a data projector.

If people aren't used to working together, consider using an appropriate warm-up exercise, or an icebreaker   .

Step 2: Present the Problem

Clearly define the problem that you want to solve, and lay out any criteria that you must meet. Make it clear that that the meeting's objective is to generate as many ideas as possible.

Give people plenty of quiet time at the start of the session to generate as many of their own ideas as they can. Then, ask them to share or present their ideas, while giving everyone a fair opportunity to contribute.

Step 3: Guide the Discussion

Once everyone has shared their ideas, start a group discussion to develop other people's ideas, and use them to create new ideas. Building on others' ideas is one of the most valuable aspects of group brainstorming.

Encourage everyone to contribute and to develop ideas, including the quietest people, and discourage anyone from criticizing ideas.

As the group facilitator, you should share ideas if you have them, but spend your time and energy supporting your team and guiding the discussion. Stick to one conversation at a time, and refocus the group if people become sidetracked.

Although you're guiding the discussion, remember to let everyone have fun while brainstorming. Welcome creativity, and encourage your team to come up with as many ideas as possible, regardless of whether they're practical or impractical. Use thought experiments such as Provocation   or Random Input   to generate some unexpected ideas.

Don't follow one train of thought for too long. Make sure that you generate a good number of different ideas, and explore individual ideas in detail. If a team member needs to "tune out" to explore an idea alone, allow them the freedom to do this.

Also, if the brainstorming session is lengthy, take plenty of breaks so that people can continue to concentrate.

Individual Brainstorming

While group brainstorming is often more effective at generating ideas than normal group problem solving, several studies have shown that individual brainstorming produces more – and often better – ideas than group brainstorming. [3]

This can occur because groups aren't always strict in following the rules of brainstorming, and bad behaviors creep in. Mostly, though, this happens because people pay so much attention to other people that they don't generate ideas of their own – or they forget these ideas while they wait for their turn to speak. This is called "blocking."

When you brainstorm on your own, you don't have to worry about other people's egos or opinions, and you can be freer and more creative. For example, you might find that an idea you'd hesitate to bring up in a group develops into something special when you explore it on your own.

However, you may not develop ideas as fully when you're on your own, because you don't have the wider experience of other group members to draw on.

To get the most out of your individual brainstorming session, choose a comfortable place to sit and think. Minimize distractions   so that you can focus on the problem at hand, and consider using Mind Maps   to arrange and develop ideas.

Individual brainstorming is most effective when you need to solve a simple problem, generate a list of ideas, or focus on a broad issue. Group brainstorming is often more effective for solving complex problems.

Group Brainstorming

Here, you can take advantage of the full experience and creativity of all team members. When one member gets stuck with an idea, another member's creativity and experience can take the idea to the next stage. You can develop ideas in greater depth with group brainstorming than you can with individual brainstorming.

Another advantage of group brainstorming is that it helps everyone feel that they've contributed to the solution, and it reminds people that others have creative ideas to offer. It's also fun, so it can be great for team building!

Group brainstorming can be risky for individuals. Unusual suggestions may appear to lack value at first sight – this is where you need to chair sessions tightly, so that the group doesn't crush these ideas and stifle creativity.

Where possible, participants should come from a wide range of disciplines. This cross-section of experience can make the session more creative. However, don't make the group too big: as with other types of teamwork, groups of five to seven people are usually most effective.

Other Brainstorming Techniques

If you're not getting enough good quality ideas, try using the approaches below to increase the number of ideas that you generate:

• The Stepladder Technique   – This improves the contribution of quieter group members by introducing one person at a time.
• Brainwriting   – This is a written approach that you can use to encourage all individuals to generate and develop ideas.
• Online Brainstorming (also known as Brain-netting)   – An electronic method of brainstorming, this uses a document stored on a central server, or on a Cloud-based system.
• Crawford's Slip Writing Approach   – You can use this approach to get plenty of ideas from all participants, and to get a view of each idea's popularity.

These techniques help you in specific situations:

• Reverse Brainstorming   – This is used to improve a product or service.
• Starbursting   – Starbursting helps you develop questions that you need to ask to evaluate a proposal.
• Charette Procedure   – This helps you brainstorm with large groups of people. (Conventional brainstorming becomes increasingly ineffective when more than 10 or 12 people are involved.)
• Round-Robin Brainstorming   – You can use this approach to get people to contribute ideas without being influenced by others.
• Rolestorming   – This technique encourages group members to take on other people's identities while brainstorming, thereby reducing their inhibitions.

The Next Step – Taking Action

After your individual or group brainstorming session, you'll have a lot of ideas. Although it might seem hard to sort through these ideas to find the best ones, analyzing these ideas is an important next step, and you can use several tools to do this.

Use Affinity Diagrams   to organize ideas and find common themes.

Decision Matrix Analysis   and Paired Comparison Analysis   will help you choose between different options. You can also use the Six Thinking Hats   technique to look at ideas from different perspectives; and the Modified Borda Count   and Multi-Voting   can help you choose between options as a team, particularly where the differences between options are quite subjective.

When managed well, brainstorming can help you generate radical solutions to problems. It can also encourage people to commit to solutions, because they have provided input and played a role in developing them.

The best approach combines individual and group brainstorming. During the process, there should be no criticism of ideas, and creativity should be encouraged.

This site teaches you the skills you need for a happy and successful career; and this is just one of many tools and resources that you'll find here at Mind Tools. Subscribe to our free newsletter , or join the Mind Tools Club and really supercharge your career!

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Comments (51)

• Over a month ago BillT wrote Hi Lungelo, Our Permissions Help Desk will be able to help you with any information you would like to have on the article, and citation information. Thank you for your interest. BillT Mind Tools Team
• Over a month ago Lungelo wrote When was this article written?
• Over a month ago Midgie wrote Hi adkikani, Thanks for your question. What I have recommended in the past is to use the same techniques you might use within a group. For example, the Crawford Slip Writing technique where you pass a piece of paper around and everyone add their ideas. You could do this yourself and simply take a break between writing the ideas, do something else and then come back to it to see if you have any more ideas to add. This would be a great question to ask in the Forums to see what other members might have to offer. Would you like to start a new thread and ask? Midgie Mind Tools Team

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8 brainstorming techniques to harness the power of teamwork

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What is brainstorming?

4 benefits of brainstorming, what are the best brainstorming techniques, 5 steps for brainstorming, what could go wrong, brainstorm your way to team success, empower your team with brainstorming techniques.

Coming up with a   solution to a problem   always feels like a win. Especially when it’s   productive teamwork   that has helped you achieve your   team goals .

But sometimes, you hit a wall in the problem-solving process. It feels like your team is going around in circles, discussing the same thing. 

This kind of mental block isn’t uncommon. And it’s the kind of situation that calls for a group brainstorming session. 

Although simple, brainstorming can be a powerful tool for the   creation of new ideas . This is especially true when you and your team need to get your   creative juices flowing .

Ready to learn about some new and creative brainstorming techniques? Read on to discover how the right brainstorming session can boost your team’s   productivity .

Brainstorming is a model for extracting fresh ideas from a group of people. 

It’s a method used by everyone from school children to executives. It generates inspiration and   imagination   in the problem-solving process. 

During a brainstorming session, a group of team members comes together, either as equal co-contributors or under the supervision of a facilitator.

The fundamental principle behind different types of brainstorming techniques is that no idea is too wild or too unrealistic. This allows the team to think beyond the structured boundaries of the workplace and truly tap into   unique creative potential . 

Instead of coming up with a ready-made, perfectly thought-out plan from the get-go, team members are encouraged to think big and then tailor to fit. 

Removing conceptual boundaries opens up the potential for the team to be bold and innovative during their collaboration.

Brainstorming has numerous benefits for both individuals and the team. 

Let’s take a look at some of the many advantages you can expect from using brainstorming techniques.

1. Promotes teamwork

When left to their own devices, team members tend to become individualistic and wrapped up in their own preferred methods and ideas. They might also be   driven by ego . As any   effective leader   will know, this approach is not conducive to innovation.

It takes a team of dedicated minds to come up with truly unique solutions to problems. All of whom can contribute something slightly different to the process. 

The best brainstorming techniques get everyone together in a room with the sole purpose of collaborating.

2. Encourages creative ideas

When conceptualizing solutions to a specific problem, it is easy to get stuck in a mental rut that bears no creative fruit. 

The process of brainstorming seeks to actively remove the limitations and boundaries we set in our own minds.

This encourages team members to think outside the lines and put their creative thinking hats on. While not every idea conceived in this spirit will be feasible, there will undoubtedly be at least one or two that show promise. 

3. Provides different perspectives

No matter how diligent or accomplished you might be in your field, you need to draw on the experiences and viewpoints of those around you. This helps to get a holistic picture of the needs you are trying to meet. 

Bringing people together in the spirit of problem-solving   invites input from different walks of life . This ensures that your ideas hold strong from all angles. 

4. Generates many ideas in a short amount of time

Throwing creatives in a room together and removing conceptual boundaries might sound like a chaotic way to spend an afternoon. But by the end of it, you are guaranteed to have a whiteboard full of new ideas or directions to pursue.

Again, not all of them will be pure gold, but at least a few of them are bound to show promise. 

The number of brainstorming methods to choose from can seem overwhelming. Let’s look at some of the most effective brainstorming techniques for rapid ideation and creative solutions.

1. Mind mapping

Mind mapping is probably one of the most well-known brainstorming techniques. It helps teams visually represent a hierarchy of ideas and how they are interconnected. Generally, you start with a central ‘umbrella’ term and break it down into smaller components. 

If you’re unsure where to begin, use a mind map template to help your team visualize the process.

Drawing a mind map helps all team members keep track of the problem’s structure. It also helps them think coherently around a common thread and see theoretical connections in a concrete way. 

Studies have shown that   mind mapping helps people retain and work with information   more effectively.

2. Gap filling

Gap filling is a useful tool in product development. It involves using a timeline to plot past and future actions or realities in order to identify the best course of action for the present. Starting with the past refreshes the mind on how you got where you are and what needs you are trying to meet. 

Filling in the future helps you and your team decide on a common goal — what you want reality to look like after your intervention. This way, you can make logical and creative connections between the needs of the past and   the goals of the future . 

3. Brainwriting 

Brainwriting is an effective method for getting ideas out of all members of the group. 

Instead of everyone trying to shout over each other, team members have a few minutes to privately write down their ideas on a piece of paper or post-it.

When everyone is done, the group can discuss the raw ideas one by one. This   harnesses the potential of each individual   and encourages introverts to   speak up and contribute . 

4. SWOT analysis

‘SWOT’ stands for ‘strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.’ 

Each category is allocated one quadrant of a page. The team can then break down the elements of an idea into these categories and weigh the pros against the cons to see if it is worthwhile. 

5. Rolestorming

Rolestorming is a relatively unusual type of brainstorming technique. It combines role-playing and creative collaboration. 

The idea is to help team members overcome the shyness and sensitivity behind their contributions. This is done by presenting ideas from another’s perspective. It also forces the team to consider how important figures might respond to their ideas.

For instance, somebody could role-play a customer or client. This will help them understand their clients’ needs better by adopting their point of view.

6. Starbursting  

The structure of the starbursting technique is simple. It focuses on identifying the right questions before trying to come up with solutions. 

In this technique, a six-pointed star represents six root questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how? From there, more detailed questions are developed that guide the team in unique directions. 

7. The five whys  

Although it seems simple, this technique is surprisingly effective at locating the root of a problem. It draws on the power of   intellectual curiosity . The idea is to start with the most obvious, surface-level problem and ask why it is a problem. 

Establish a factual, robust answer to this, and then repeat the process with the secondary problem. This method helps burrow through the various layers of an issue and eventually reach the underlying root cause.

8. Stop-and-go-brainstorming

This method involves rapid switching between modes of thinking. For a select period of time (usually no longer than ten minutes), the team will focus on idea generation. 

After, they will evaluate those ideas and   give feedback   to determine their potential. Some teams find that this method helps avoid creative fatigue. It gives the brain a chance to exercise different cognitive skills instead of overusing one. 

Ready to come up with some great new ideas? Here are the steps to follow for a productive brainstorming session.

1. Prepare the group

The loose structure of most creative brainstorming techniques is essential to their success. However, it can lead to chaos   if the group isn’t managed properly . 

Take a few minutes to explain the workflow and purpose of the gathering. Outline exactly what you expect from the group for the duration of the exercise.

2. Present the problem or goal

The next step is to familiarize the team with the problem you’re trying to address or the   goal you’re trying to achieve . 

Give them a foundational understanding of the issue. Inform them of any past attempts to grapple with it and tell them why it’s important.

3. Capture all ideas

Depending on the technique you’ve chosen, make sure all necessary resources are provided for the team to record ideas.

The best brainstorming techniques are the ones that get ideas on paper, no matter how broad they are. Other tools to capture ideas are whiteboards, notepads, pens, markers, and sticky notes. 

Empower your team   by giving them the tools they need to get their thoughts down in print. 

4. Share and discuss ideas

All ideas should be given their time in the spotlight. Work through each one methodically. Give everyone a chance to speak and contribute.   Listen to everyone’s ideas   and record changes or revisions as they come up. Just like there are different ways to learn, there are also   different ways to listen .

Encourage   constructive criticism . Remind the team that 90% of raw ideas will be discarded or revised before they can be implemented. There is no need to feel defensive or spiteful if their ideas are dismissed or criticized. 

5. Make an action plan  

This is the final step. Once all your ideas have been explored and fleshed out, identify the strongest ones. Take all suggestions into account, and convert them into actionable tasks to be delegated to the right person.

The agile methodology is a great method to help teams stay on task and measure progress. Have a look at our agile methodology guide for more on this popular type of project management.

As with any collaborative effort, brainstorming sometimes doesn’t go according to plan. 

Here are some possible hiccups you could experience during the process and how to address them effectively.

1. Brainstorming session is dominated by one person

Sometimes, one or two people at work seem to always want to be the center of attention. Whenever the opportunity arises for them to take center stage, they do so, regardless of whether they are casting a shadow on someone else. This kind of   toxic trait   could be counterproductive for the brainstorming session.

This is where a skilled facilitator comes in handy. They know how to hold space gently and respectfully for everyone to contribute equally. This may involve asking someone to step back and stop talking over less   assertive members of the team . 

2. Ideas are criticized by others

Another common problem in brainstorming groups is the tendency of some people to be overly critical without suggesting alternative solutions. In some cases,   gaslighting at work   is used to belittle others and give them a constant negative narrative about their ideas.

It is important to clarify that constructive criticism and   feedback   need to be   communicated with respect . Encourage team members to come up with suggestions for improving the idea that’s being criticized.

3. Lots of ideas are generated, but no action comes of it

Without eventual action, no number of brilliant ideas is helpful. Including a senior supervisor in the brainstorming session is a good way to combat a lack of action.

Once all the raw ideas have been broken down into actionable tasks, they can   delegate responsibilities .

Here are six tips to help you facilitate a better brainstorming session with your team.

1. Encourage out-of-the-box thinking

This is the golden rule of all brainstorming techniques. Don’t limit the creativity of your team. In fact, encourage them to put concerns of practicality out of mind for the duration of the session. 

It only takes one idea to revolutionize the way we think about certain problems. 

2. Put a time limit on your session

Brainstorming involves dealing with loads of information on a surface level. This means it’s easy to get distracted by rabbit holes of conversation. 

Giving your team a set window will prevent time wastage and   keep them focused . If necessary, you can schedule a follow-up session to discuss important points that were missed. 

Time blocking   is an effective method to keep track of time during your brainstorming session. With this   time management technique , the team focuses on a single task or a group of similar tasks within a set time block.

3. Guide the discussion

A skilled facilitator knows when to let the   conversation flow and when to step in . If the discussion is drifting too far away from the task at hand, the facilitator must be able to bring the focus back gently but assertively. 

Experienced facilitators should use the right   management styles   to guide the brainstorming session. For example, a   democratic leadership style   will ensure the facilitator is working closely with all team members and building rapport.

4. Focus on quality over quantity

While brainstorming will inevitably give rise to many ideas, not all of them will show merit or warrant further discussion. The facilitator should be able to guide team members into discussions that focus on developing the ideas with more potential and fewer obstacles. 

5. Set ground rules

Even the best brainstorming techniques lead to sessions that get out of hand quickly without some basic guidelines.

The discussion should always be kept respectful and professional. Furthermore, irrelevant tangents and anecdotes should be avoided. 

6. Recognize and reward input

Putting yourself out there   by sharing an idea isn’t always easy, especially for more introverted members of the team. Basic psychology tells us that   people will be more willing to contribute   when their input is   recognized and rewarded . 

Acknowledge team members’ contributions   and thank them for their participation. This will   build confidence   quickly and get the conversational momentum going. 

Fostering effective collaboration and creativity in the workplace is no easy feat. But it's crucial for your business' success.

With more employees   working from home , the brainstorming process can seem even more daunting. But with the right technology and   remote working support , online brainstorming (or brain-netting) lets   virtual teams   brainstorm ideas in real-time.

There are plenty of group brainstorming techniques you and your team could try for your next session. It's just a matter of learning what works for you.

Get access to the most effective techniques by   getting in touch with a BetterUp coach . Our robust coaching experience guides teams down the path to a more productive tomorrow.

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Maggie Wooll, MBA

Maggie Wooll is a researcher, author, and speaker focused on the evolving future of work. Formerly the lead researcher at the Deloitte Center for the Edge, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. Maggie is passionate about creating better work and greater opportunities for all.

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17 Effective Brainstorming

Paul B. Paulus, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas

University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA

• Published: 09 May 2019
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This chapter reviews the extensive literature on brainstorming to determine potential best practices. It presents the major theoretical perspectives and highlights their relationship to the various factors that influence the effectiveness of brainstorming. It examines the utility of verbal brainstorming, electronic brainstorming, and brainwriting for generation of creative ideas. It evaluates the effects of instructions, breaks, facilitators, training, tapping semantic categories, turnover, and group size. It also notes the gaps that exist in the literature and future research directions. It is clear that there is now considerable evidence to guide effective brainstorming and produce performances in groups that exceed those of comparable sets of solitary brainstormers.

There is an extensive literature on brainstorming that provides a strong basis for prescribing the best ways to generate ideas in groups. Some of the chapters in this volume have provided detailed reviews of this literature and the implied practical implications. In this chapter, we provide practical guidance for practitioners based on the existing research and theory. Much practice in the field is not evidence-based, and there have been very few studies assessing the application of evidence-based approaches in real-world contexts (cf., Paulus, Dickson, Korde, Cohen-Meitar, & Carmeli, 2016 ; Paulus, Larey & Ortega, 1995 ). There are significant gaps between the science and practice, but there are also significant gaps in the scientific literature as to best practices in real-world settings. Many of our recommendations are based on laboratory research, so the applicability to real-world settings remains to be determined. However, access to organizations for the type of controlled research required is seldom available. We feel the best model for moving ahead in linking science and practice is for practitioners to do “informal” assessments of the effectiveness of various approaches. We outline such an approach toward the end of the chapter.

A frequently cited quote by Kurt Lewin is, “There is nothing as practical as a good theory” (Lewin, 1943 , p. 118). Indeed a theoretical model can provide a useful guide for application if it is an accurate representation of the relevant processes. Fortunately, in the area of brainstorming there is extensive support for two major cognitive models of brainstorming (Brown, Tumeo, Larey, & Paulus, 1998 ; Nijstad, Diehl & Stroebe, 2003 ; Nijstad & Stroebe, 2006 ; Paulus & Brown, 2003 , 2007 ). These models and related research provide the major basis for the recommendations made for practice in this chapter.

Theoretical Models

There are two major models that provide a basis for understanding brainstorming and the various related findings. We will discuss these and their predictions in some detail.

The Cognitive-Social-Motivational Model of Group Brainstorming

Paulus and colleagues have proposed that group creativity is influenced by various cognitive, social, and motivational and factors (see Paulus & Brown, 2003 ; Paulus, Dugosh, Dzindolet, Coskun, & Putman, 2002 ). Figure 17.1 provides a broad overview of this perspective adapted from Paulus et al. ( 2002 ). This model highlights key factors in low performance in groups and those related to high levels of performance. Research by Diehl and Stroebe ( 1987 , 1991 ) and others cited in this chapter has clearly demonstrated that apprehension about sharing one’s ideas in groups, low identifiability of one’s performance (anonymity) and production blocking (inability to express ideas because of competition for speaking time) can lower motivation to perform. Social comparison processes can lead to convergence in the rate of idea generation and the development of temporary performance norms (Paulus & Dzindolet, 1993 ). The inhibitory effects of evaluation apprehension, anonymity, and blocking will lead to convergence toward a rather low level. A tendency in such groups to move in the direction of the low performers (downward comparison) may result in low performance norms that transfer to subsequent sessions (Paulus & Dzindolet, 1993 ). Ironically, since the group members converge in their performance, social comparison processes will lead to the impression that they are doing relatively well. Group brainstormers tend to perceive their performance more favorably than do individual performers (Paulus, Dzindolet, Poletes, & Camacho, 1993 ; Stroebe, Diehl & Abakoumkin, 1992 ), and this should provide additional impetus for lower levels of effort. These intervening processes should lead to both low performance and low performance norms in groups.

The cognitive-social-motivational model of group creativity (adapted from Paulus, Dugosh, Dzindolet, Larey, Coskun & Putman, 2002 )

Although negative social forces may dominate in some group settings, social and cognitive factors can also lead to processes that yield positive group outcomes. Increasing accountability and inducing a sense of competition may increase motivation to perform and a motivation to move one’s performance in the direction of high performers in the group (upward comparison). Mere information about the performance levels of others can motivate individuals to increase their efforts (Paulus, Larey, Putman, Leggett, & Roland, 1996 ; Roy, Gauvin, & Limayem, 1996 ), especially if the reference person is perceived as being similar in their ability (Dugosh & Paulus, 2005 ). De Dreu, Nijstad, and van Knippenberg ( 2008 ) have also emphasized the importance of internal and external motivation in group processes. Exposure to the ideas of other group members should stimulate related associations and awareness of additional conceptual categories (Brown et al., 1998 ). Of course this can occur only if group members pay attention to each other’s ideas and can retain them in their working memory. Cognitive diversity in the groups in terms of knowledge and experience should increase the range of ideas and categories being shared. Benefits of exposure to ideas from others may be most evident during a period of solitary reflection or incubation that follows the group interaction process (Brown & Paulus, 2002 ). As a result of these positive factors, group members should converge to a similar high level of performance and develop high performance norms.

The late Vincent Brown, a cognitive psychologist, helped develop the cognitive component to our group creativity model, the associative memory model (AMM) (Brown & Paulus, 2002 ; Brown et al. 1998 ; Paulus & Brown, 2003 ). Figure 17.2 summarizes some of the key elements of this model. The output of shared ideas is affected by the group composition and motivational factors. Groups that are cognitively diverse have more group members, have high expectations or norms, and have challenging task goals are likely to generate a high number of ideas. The important mediating factors are the extent to which participants persist in the search, generation, and building process and how well they pay attention to the shared ideas. This in turn affects the details of the individual’s ideation process—the task focus, the retrieval of information from memory, and integration, combination, and elaboration processes.

The cognitive-social-motivational model of group creativity with details of the cognitive processes from the Associative Memory Model (adapted from Paulus & Brown, 2007 ).

Cognitive psychology provides a strong basis for expecting differences in accessibility of ideas or memories (Tulving & Pearlstone, 1966 ), and group interaction may provide cues that may bring some of the more inaccessible ideas to consciousness. Moreover, concepts are stored in long-term memory so that related concepts are more strongly connected and more likely to activate each other (Collins & Loftus, 1975 ). Thus a key factor in brainstorming is the extent to which shared ideas can stimulate retrieval of low-accessible ideas. Using the semantic network perspective as a basis, Paulus and Brown ( 2003 ) used a matrix format to represent the various probabilities of moving from one category to another at any particular stage of the process and computational simulations to assess potential outcomes. These simulations highlighted the importance of priming of ideas from low-accessible categories, the benefits of sequential priming of categories, of brief breaks during the brainstorming process, of attention to shared ideas, the benefits of having an alone session after group brainstorming, and of cognitively heterogeneous groups. They also demonstrated the negative effects of irrelevant ideas or extraneous information as found by Dugosh, Paulus, Roland, and Yang ( 2000 ).

The SIAM Model

Nijstad and Stroebe ( 2006 ) and Nijstad, Stroebe and Lodewijkx ( 2003 ) developed a cognitive model for brainstorming that focuses on retrieval of ideas from long-term memory (see also Nijstad, Bechtoldt, & Choi, this volume). Their search for ideas in associative memory (SIAM) model was based in part of the search of associative memory (SAM) model of Raaijmakers and Shiffrin ( 1981 ). When confronted with a brainstorming problem, a person needs to use search cues to tap long-term memory for relevant knowledge that can then be the basis for formulating ideas. These ideas can serve as cues in the search process and will likely be semantically related. However, when this train of thought no longer leads to additional ideas, new cues have to be used to tap other knowledge. Group interaction can both facilitate and interfere with this search process. When group interaction prevents a person from expressing ideas as they occur, the extra cognitive load involved may interfere with the idea generation process (Nijstad & Stroebe, 2006 ). A series of semantically related or homogeneous cues can activate ideas within a more limited domain and lead to a deeper exploration of that domain (Baruah & Paulus, 2011 ; Rietzschel, Nijstad, & Stroebe, 2007 ). In contrast, a more diverse set of cues will stimulate exploration of a broader semantic range. However, switching categories or semantic domains takes time and will slow down the idea generation process. When someone fails to come up with a new idea in the search process, it may be experienced as a failure. If this continues for a number of attempts, it will be perceived as an indication that it may be time to stop brainstorming. Since groups generate more ideas than one individual, it will take a bit longer for them to experience failure in coming up with new ideas. Therefore, groups may persist longer and be more satisfied with their performance than individuals (Nijstad, Stroebe, & Lodewijkx, 1999 , 2006 ). The two theoretical models presented clearly suggest that group collaboration can be an important way to increase the number, range, and quality of ideas generated. They also provide a basis for predicting procedures or contexts that influence the effectiveness of brainstorming. We highlight a number of these in this chapter.

Although verbal brainstorming groups have been found to have significant production losses relative to nominal groups (Diehl & Stroebe, 1987 ; Mullen, Johnson, & Salas, 1991 ), the previous models suggest the potential for groups to outperform same size nominal groups (the sum of nonoverlapping ideas of sets of individuals who generate ideas alone). The demonstration of such an outcome has been a focus of a large number of studies.

Modality: The Method of Brainstorming

There are a number of different methods for brainstorming. We will discuss four of these in detail.

Verbal Brainstorming

Probably the most common approach to brainstorming is to gather in face-to-face groups to share ideas verbally. Participants seem to enjoy this type of activity and perceive it as an effective approach (Paulus et al., 1993 ; Paulus et al., 1995 ; Stroebe et al., 1992 ). However, it has been clear from many studies that verbal brainstorming in groups is not particularly effective for generating ideas. Groups of four typically generate only about half as many ideas as nominal groups of four (Diehl & Stroebe, 1987 ; Mullen et al., 1991 ; Paulus & Dzindolet, 1993 ). This production deficit relative to nominal groups increases with group size (Bouchard & Hare, 1970 ; Mullen et al., 1991 ). One of the factors responsible for this is production blocking (Diehl & Stroebe, 1987 ; 1991 ). In groups people have to take turns to share their ideas. That is, they have to share the “talking time,” which of course is not the case for those generating ideas alone. Furthermore, while group members are waiting their turn they may forget ideas that came to mind, they may focus on remembering those ideas rather than listening, or they may decide that their ideas are no longer relevant. The competing demands of generating one’s own ideas and listening to the ideas of others make it difficult to build on the ideas of others. Nijstad et al. ( 2003 ) have clearly demonstrated that the inability to express one’s ideas as they occur in a group setting is a critical factor in the low performance of groups.

In addition to production blocking, a number of other factors may contribute to the production losses in verbal interacting groups. As the size of groups increases and participants feel less personally accountable or identifiable, there may be a reduced level of motivation, or social loafing (cf., Karau & Williams, 1993 ). Diehl and Stroebe ( 1987 ) found that the degree of individual accountability influenced brainstorming performance, but it accounted only for a small percentage of the variance compared to the alone/group variation. It is also possible that group members are inhibited in groups because of concerns about the evaluation of their ideas by others (Paulus & Murdoch, 1971 ). Diehl and Stroebe ( 1987 ) found that external evaluation of ideas by judges and the use of a controversial topic did reduce performance for individual brainstormers. However, in an experiment with both nominal and interactive groups a similar negative effect of evaluation apprehension was found. However, the alone/group factor accounted for 70% of the variance. It appears that production blocking is the most important factor in the negative outcomes of verbal group brainstorming.

Electronic Brainstorming

The focus of many studies has been to find ways to overcome the blocking effect. There are a number of possible solutions. One is to simply allow groups more time to generate their ideas. It appears that with additional time groups can eventually come up to the level of similar size nominal groups (Nijstad et al., 1999 ). The most frequently suggested alternative is to use a more efficient method for sharing ideas. One approach is electronic brainstorming using various computer programs or group support systems for decision-making. These allow participants to submit ideas as they arise and to monitor the ideas shared by others at any time during the process (Dennis & Williams, 2003 ). Studies have found that electronic brainstorming leads to more ideas than verbal brainstorming (DeRosa, Smith & Hantula, 2007 ), apparently because of the reduction in production blocking (Gallupe, Bastianutti, & Cooper, 1991 ). This advantage increases as group size increases. With verbal groups the larger the group the fewer are the ideas that are generated per person (Bouchard & Hare, 1970 ). With electronic groups the larger the group the more ideas are generated per person (Dennis & Williams, 2003 ; DeRosa et al., 2007 ). It appears that the increase in the number of ideas shared with larger electronic groups increases the degree of cognitive stimulation (Paulus, Kohn, Arditti, & Korde, 2013 ). However, the benefit of increased group size in electronic brainstorming is quite limited since large groups (nine or more) generate on the average only one more idea per person than smaller groups (DeRosa et al., 2007 ; Paulus et al., 2013 ).

Electronic brainstorming also allows for anonymity as group members exchange ideas, which can reduce evaluation apprehension. However, there is not clear evidence for the benefit of anonymity in electronic brainstorming (DeRosa et al., 2007 ). This may be in part due to the fact that benefits of anonymity on reduced evaluation apprehension may be counteracted by the inclination to loaf under such conditions.

One problem with the electronic brainstorming format is that there is typically no way to ensure that participants are attending to the shared ideas as they generate their own. There may be little exposure to the shared ideas and little additional stimulation from the shared ideas. Of course, programs could be designed that would require participants to repeat or quote ideas from others to demonstrate that they are attending to the shared ideas. However, this might impede their ability and motivation to generate their own ideas. We have been using electronic idea exchange platforms in our current studies. This type of platform allows for generating, replying, voting, and elaboration. This should increase the degree of collaborative integration in the idea generation process. However, we have not yet examined the extent to which this system enhances group performance relative to individual performance.

Brainwriting

Another approach to idea generation that helps minimize the production blocking problem is brainwriting, which involves sharing of ideas on pieces of paper. Some version of this technique has been popular for a number of years (Geschka, 1993 ; Goodman, 1995 ; VanGundy, 1981 , 1995 ). The use of a writing modality in sharing ideas enables one to overcome the problems of verbal brainstorming. Participants are able to generate ideas as they occur and then share them. A critical factor in brainwriting is the balancing of generating time versus reading time. Depending on the procedure, it is possible for someone to just generate ideas or to just read ideas, as in the case of posting written notes on a wall. However, typically participants are involved in both aspects of the process.

The nominal group technique also includes a writing component (van de Ven & Delbecq, 1974 ). This is a highly structured approach of generating ideas, commenting on them, and eventually voting. Group members begin a session with writing ideas individually and share them in round-robin fashion with the group. This approach yields more ideas than unstructured group discussion. In a similar study participants exchanged ideas in the middle of an independent writing session (Madsen & Finger, 1978 ). This process led to the generation of more ideas for groups of four in comparison to a verbal brainstorming procedure for one problem but not another one. Similarly, VanGundy ( 1995 ) found that brainwriting groups generated more ideas than verbal brainstorming groups.

There are a number of studies that have examined a “round-robin” version of brainwriting. This involves a small group seated at the same table, generating ideas on slips of paper and passing them along to the other members to read. For example, in the Paulus and Yang ( 2000 ) study groups of four wrote ideas on slips of paper and passed them on to the person on the right. Participants were instructed to read the ideas as they were shared, add their idea, and then pass them on. When the ideas came back to the originator they were placed in the center of the table. This procedure has a number of advantages. It allows participants to generate ideas at will and look at ideas of others during pauses in that process. It also ensures that the ideas that are generated will be read by all of the participants, increasing the potential for cognitive stimulation. The continual process of generating and sharing as a group may also provide some motivation to keep up with the idea generation pace of other group members, consistent with the social influence component of the cognitive-social-motivational model of brainstorming (Paulus & Dzindolet, 1993 ; 2008 ). Social loafing should not be a problem in this paradigm (Karau & Williams, 1993 ). The sharing of ideas in written form may also reduce evaluation apprehension. In sum there are many reasons to expect this procedure to be an effective means of generating ideas as a group.

Paulus and Yang ( 2000 ) conducted the first systematic study to evaluate the efficacy of brainwriting groups and nominals. They also assessed the extent to which the idea sharing process had a positive “carryover” effect to a second solitary writing session. The AMM model suggests that associations generated during idea exchange sessions may continue to be a basis for new ideas after such a session. In the first 15-minute session, a group of four brainwriters generated 40% more ideas than did the nominal groups. In the second session, in which all participants generated ideas individually, those who had shared ideas as a group in the first session generated 90% more ideas than did those in the nominal condition. This study demonstrated the synergistic effect of group brainstorming, likely from the joint impact of a number of the factors mentioned previously. The continued superior performance of the group condition in the second solitary ideation phase suggests a carryover of cognitive stimulation from the first group session. Similar findings of the superiority of group brainwriting in comparison to nominal brainwriting have been obtained in several studies using dyads (Coskun, 2005 ; Coskun & Yilmaz, 2009 ), in a series of studies using managers (Gryskiewicz, 1988 ), and in a study in a high technology company (Paulus, Korde, Dickson, Carmeli, & Cohen-Meitar, 2015 ).

One potential limitation of the Paulus and Yang ( 2000 ) study is that the nominal groups generated ideas on a single slip of paper while they were seated in different corners of the room. This was designed to limit social cues about the rate of idea generation that would be possible if participants saw how many slips others were generating. This could induce some sense of competition, as in the case of the group condition. The studies by Coskun used the same procedure with nominal groups. The procedures used by Gryskiewicz ( 1988 ) were not clearly specified. However, Goldenberg, Larson, and Wiley ( 2013 ) suggested that this procedure may have inhibited the performance of the nominal participants. Generating ideas on one sheet of paper may lead to enhanced perceptions of performance and a reduction in the effort to generate a large number of ideas. Alternatively, listing ideas on a single sheet of paper may increase fixation on a limited number of ideas. A comparison of group brainwriting with nominal groups that wrote ideas on papers slips or a single sheet of paper indicated that the superiority of the group brainwriting was only evident when nominal groups wrote on single sheets of paper. Coskun ( 2005 ) and Korde and Paulus ( 2017 ) also found no difference between interactive and nominal brainwriting when slips were used in both conditions. It appears that the exact procedure of writing ideas is important. However, in the study with employees of a technology company we were able to replicate the benefit of group writing when both the nominal and interactive groups generated ideas on slips of paper (Paulus et al., 2015 ). Thus he effects may also depend on the context or population. These employees were quite familiar with each other and may have found the group brainwriting procedure more comfortable than groups of unacquainted students.

There are a number of factors that may influence whether interactive group brainwriting will be superior to individual brainwriting. According to the AMM model a critical factor in the impact of shared ideas is the extent to which participants attend to those ideas. One advantage of the brainwriting procedure is that it ensures attention to the shared ideas and may be more beneficial than electronic exchange systems that do not have a means of ensuring such attention. In fact, Paulus and Yang ( 2000 ) found that memory for shared ideas mediated the beneficial impact of ideas shared in the first session on those generated in the second solitary session. However, too much attention to the shared ideas may reduce the extent to which participants generate their own ideas. Instructing group members that they would be assessed on their memory for the shared ideas in the first session inhibited the generation of ideas so that this group’s performance was similar to that of the nominal condition (Paulus & Yang, 2000 ). Porterfield ( 2000 ) similarly found that memory instructions inhibited the performance of verbal brainstorming groups. However, memory instructions enhanced the number of ideas generated in subsequent solitary ideation session, similar to the positive carryover of memory in the Paulus and Yang ( 2000 ) study. Both the AMM and SIAM models emphasize the importance of the process of searching one’s knowledge base and the stimulation value of the cues that can be provided by exposure to ideas from others. The models hey imply that there must be an appropriate balance between these two processes. The external cues should become more important as participants find it increasingly difficult to come up with their own ideas.

The fact that no studies have found that group brainwriting leads to worse performance than comparable nominal groups can be seen as important in itself, since individuals writing ideas without sharing them do not have to spend time reading others’ ideas. In short sessions with topics that have a considerable pool of potential ideas, one would expect the “blocking effect” of reading to lead to inferior performance for group brainwriting. Apparently the cognitive and social stimulation of the group session is able to overcome the potential negative impact of the time taken to read ideas on the pace of idea generation.

The length of time for brainstorming may also be important. Nominal groups should run out of ideas more quickly than real groups, since they do not have the benefit of stimulation by the shared ideas. The longer the session, the greater is the likelihood of superiority of group brainwriting. Another possible factor that has not been examined systematically is the extent to which participants respond to the shared ideas by writing on the shared slips. The specific instructions in the Paulus and Yang ( 2000 ) study were for participants to “Read the idea(s) on the slip of paper, add your own idea, and pass it on. If you finish before receiving your next slip, you may use a blank slip until it is passed to you.” That is, they were encouraged to add their ideas to those of others and to start new slips if they had not received a slip at any point in time. Goldenberg et al. ( 2013 ) used similar instructions. In our subsequent studies we have instructed participants to write each idea on a separate slip of paper (Korde & Paulus, 2017 ; Paulus et al., 2015 ). The impact of this variation in instructions has not been systematically examined. However, adding ideas to shared slips even with the latter set of instructions is a common occurrence. It appears to be a natural tendency in this paradigm. It seems likely that adding ideas to shared slips would increase the extent to which participants attend to and build on one another’s ideas. We have found that the process of replying and building on ideas of others is an important factor in enhancing the novelty of ideas in an electronic paradigm (Coursey, Williams, Kenworthy, Paulus, & Doboli, 2018 ; Coursey et al., 8). However, it may limit the degree of divergent thinking (cf., Goldenberg et al., 2013 ).

Although several studies have now demonstrated the creative potential of brainwriting for groups, there is obviously a need to examine the various boundary conditions for its effectiveness and its potential applicability in organizations (Heslin, 2009 ). Heslin noted a number of issues such as the extent to which brainwriting will lead to high-quality ideas (both useful and novel). This technique may be especially useful for people who are somewhat inhibited socially, as suggested by research indicating that interaction-anxious individuals perform more poorly in verbal groups (Camacho & Paulus, 1995 ). It may not be as suitable for those who enjoy social interaction or for building social cohesion. However, this could be addressed in a version of brainwriting that allows talking while writing ideas. It remains to be determined how well brainwriting facilitates the impact of group member diversity. The lower level of evaluation apprehension in this paradigm may make it easier for participants to share diverse perspectives.

Brainwriting requires a very structured approach to sharing ideas, which may lead to some resistance to its implementation. If an approach that involves both writing and verbal commentary turns out to be effective, this might be a more acceptable alternative in organizations. It may also be more effective in cultures that are more individualistic, since the social interaction component may not be as important. VanGundy ( 1983 ) discussed various different approaches to brainwriting and their potential advantages/disadvantages. However, there have not been any systematic studies evaluating the effectiveness of these different variations. In particular, there is a need for some theory-based studies on ways to optimize the brainwriting process. One drawback of brainwriting is that the ideas need to be summarized in some form for further evaluation and action. Electronic brainstorming allows for the automatic summation of the shared ideas. An electronic exchange process that incorporates some of the brainwriting features (attention, building on ideas, etc.) might be an alternative. Alternatively, each brainwriting group can evaluate its own ideas and present only their top ideas for further action. These and other issues deserve further exploration so that it can be determined how useful brainwriting can be in organizational settings.

Although both brainwriting and electronic brainstorming have been found to be superior to verbal brainstorming, there is only one study that has examined their relative effectiveness (Michinov, 2012 ). Michinov used pooled brainwriting, which involves the placing of the written ideas in the center of table as they are being generated. Participants can tap these ideas at any time to see what others have generated, however there is no requirement that they do so. In one experiment he examined groups of four that either shared ideas using brainwriting or electronic brainstorming in which they had visual access of up to 10 shared ideas at one time. The electronic brainstorming condition was superior in the generation of nonredundant ideas. This was attributed to the fact that the pooled procedure in brainwriting led to less attention to the shared ideas. In a second experiment this difference in performance was eliminated when the electronically shared ideas were presented on a separate page in order to more closely approximate the pooling procedure in brainwriting. In both cases the electronic procedure led to more satisfaction than the brainwriting one. However, other research has also shown that favorable perceptions of one’s performance or that of the group do not necessary match the performance outcomes (Paulus et al., 1993 ; Paulus et al., 1995 ; Stroebe et al., 1992 ).

Alternating Group and Individual Ideation

We have thus far mostly focused on ways to enhance group brainstorming and have found that under some conditions group brainstorming can lead to better outcomes than individual brainstorming. However, in real-world contexts there is likely to be a mix of individual and group brainstorming. People may think about a problem and generate their own ideas prior to coming to a group brainstorming session. The prior solitary ideation can occur without the blocking effects of competing brainstormers, and having a number of ideas in mind prior to the session can ensure that there will be a significant number of ideas exchanged. Moreover, ideas encountered in the group that had not occurred to their members may have a high stimulation value. Of course, after group brainstorming, the group members may continue to think about the shared ideas, build on them, and come up with additional novel ideas. A number of studies have examined the impact of the sequencing of alone and group brainstorming sessions. Some studies find that the alone-to-group sequence is most beneficial (e.g., Baruah & Paulus, 2008 ), some find that the group-to-alone sequence is best (e.g., Dunnette, Campbell, & Jaastad, 1963 ; Paulus et al., 2015 ), and others find no difference (Rotter & Portugal, 1969 ; Taylor, Berry, & Block, 1958 ).

Since both sequences have demonstrated some benefits, it seems reasonable to expect that simply alternating group and individual brainstorming may be the best option, as suggested by Osborn ( 1953 ). Although this may be a natural sequence in real-world settings, the benefit of such alternation would be most evident if the sequences came close in time to minimize decay of memory for one’s own and the shared ideas. Korde and Paulus ( 2017 ) examined the benefit of multiple individual-group alternations (which they termed “hybrid brainstorming”) relative to individual and group brainstorming conditions using a brainwriting paradigm in a series of experiments. The hybrid process led to the best outcome in terms of number of ideas, number of categories, and category depth (the number of ideas within categories). This effect was primarily due to the performance in the alone sessions that followed the group sessions. These alone sessions demonstrated the benefit of the carryover of cognitive stimulation from the group sessions, consistent with predictions from the cognitive models (Paulus & Brown, 2003 ; Nijstad & Stroebe, 2006 ). The hybrid procedure was also beneficial in our study with the high technology company (Paulus et al., 2015 ). Of course, it may not always be possible to orchestrate a hybrid ideation session in real-world contexts. We have used the brainwriting paradigm for this, since this seems an ideal paradigm for this type of alternation process. However, one could also structure electronic brainstorming sessions so that individual ideation sessions are mixed with group exchange sessions. With verbal brainstorming, it might be best if the brainstormers also write their ideas as they are shared or generated. That would facilitate the collection of ideas after the session and provide a natural way for individuals to write ideas individually during some of the sessions.

In the Korde and Paulus ( 2017 ) study we mixed 3-minute alone sessions with 8-minute group sessions based on some preliminary research (Korde, 2012 ). However, at present we do not have clear guidelines about the distribution of time across the different sessions. We have observed positive carryover effects of 15-minute group brainstorming to 15-minute solitary brainstorming (Paulus & Yang, 2000 ). However, having sessions much longer than 15 minutes may not be optimal. Shorter sessions may optimize the memory for the ideas shared in the group session, and long sessions may not be ideal for individual brainstorming, as participants may run out of ideas before the end of the session. The other key consideration is to have the alone sessions occur immediately after the group session to limit the decay of memory for the shared ideas.

Methods to Enhance Brainstorming Performance

We have discussed how the different paradigms used for brainstorming can influence the effectiveness of this process. Even though one method might be generally better than others, situational constraints and personal preferences may dictate the use of a particular paradigm for a specific brainstorming session. No matter which approach is used, research has provided much information on how to maximize performance. Interestingly, many of these studies have found that approaches that increase the performance of groups have a similar positive impact on individuals (Paulus & Coskun, 2013 ). For example, when group and individual brainstormers are given a challenging goal they increase their performance to a similar extent (Paulus & Dzindolet, 1993 ). Similarly, training in more effective brainstorming has the same benefit for both individuals and groups (Baruah & Paulus, 2008 ). Even though there is improved performance for groups, a productivity gap between interactive and nominal groups may still exist. Yet for the application of effective brainstorming in real-world settings where group interaction is required, the results of these studies provide valuable suggestions as to how to improve both group and individual brainstorming.

Brainstorming Instructions

One of the primary characteristics of formal brainstorming is that it involves following four rules that were developed by the originator of brainstorming, Alex Osborn ( 1953 ). These rules were apparently based on his experience working with groups and his theoretical perspective and have been employed in most controlled brainstorming studies. The rules are: Don’t criticize ideas as they are being generated and say everything you think of; freewheeling is welcome—the wilder the idea the better, and say anything that comes to mind; focus on quantity—more ideas will increase the likelihood of good ideas; combination and improvement are sought—join ideas to make even better ones. Several studies have demonstrated that following these rules does increase the number of ideas generated relative to instructions to generate good ideas (Meadow, Parnes, & Reese, 1959 ; Parnes & Meadow, 1959 ). However, studies comparing a brainstorming instructions condition with a “no instruction” condition have found no difference in performance (Nemeth, Personnaz, Personnaz, & Goncalo, 2004 ; Puccio et al., in press ). Thus there is still some uncertainty about the benefit of the brainstorming rules.

We also do not know the relative importance of the four rules for brainstorming importance. The first two rules actually emphasize the same theme: Don’t worry about the quality of what you and others are generating—just let it all come out! That is probably difficult to do for most people, since we have been socialized to be sensitive to the reactions of others and to avoid saying things that might reflect badly on us or offend someone. Most of us have some type of censoring system (Paulus, Levine, Brown, Minai, & Doboli, 2010 ) in group contexts, and these instructions may not fully “release” us from these inhibitions. Furthermore, research by Nemeth et al. ( 2004 ) has found that instructions to provide critical feedback or debate ideas leads to similar performance or slightly better performance compared to a brainstorming condition with the typical Osborn rules. Thus, the utility of the “do not criticize” rule is still in doubt. However, research has found that evaluative contexts (Diehl & Stroebe, 1987 ) and having social interaction anxiety (Camacho & Paulus, 1995 ) can reduce the number of ideas generated in groups. It may be important to make sure the social context makes participants feel “safe” in expressing all ideas that come to mind. This type of psychological safety has been found to be important for innovation in organizational contexts (Edmondson & Lei, 2014 ; West, 2003 ). The “don’t criticize” instructions should increase this feeling of safety, especially in newly formed groups. In groups that have some history and have learned that critical feedback is not meant personally, the emotional reactions to such feedback may be mitigated. Moreover, active debate about the merits of ideas should be most useful once a set of ideas has been generated. The best practice may be to limit criticism in the early idea generation phase but allow for it when group members need to select a small number for further evaluation and development. However, even in this phase, participants probably need to be careful in making sure that evaluation of shared ideas is not taken personally.

The clearest evidence exists for the quantity rule. A study by Paulus, Kohn, and Arditti ( 2011 ) compared participants who performed individually on computers with four different types of instructions: No specific focus, a quantity goal, a quality goal, or a joint quantity and quality goal. The quantity goal condition led to more ideas and more good ideas (above average in novelty and utility) than the other three conditions. Adánez ( 2005 ) also found that increases in quantity were related in increased quality (novel and useful) of ideas. The quantity rule may be the most important of the four rules in terms of its impact on the generation of number of ideas in groups (see also Runco, Illies, & Eisenman, 2005 ). One reason for its importance is that generation of large numbers of ideas will increase the overall amount of mutual stimulation, increase related associations, and provide cues for the cognitive search process.

Litchfield ( 2008 ) has proposed that the brainstorming rules can be viewed as vague goals in that they do not specify a specific outcome. In one experiment with individuals he found that specific high-quantity goals enhanced the number of ideas generated. In a second experiment he compared the regular brainstorming instructions with a vague quantity goal, a specific difficult quantity goal, and this goal combined with the brainstorming instructions. The most ideas were generated by the combined condition, followed by the difficult quantity goal. The regular brainstorming instructions and vague quantity instructions did not differ in terms of number of ideas generated. Litchfield, Fan, and Brown ( 2011 ) suggest that specific difficult novelty goals can be more effective in enhancing the generation of creative ideas. They compared the effect of three conditions on individual brainstorming—Osborn rules, a novelty goal of generating 90% highly novel ideas, and Osborn rules that incorporate the 90% novelty goal. The three conditions did not influence overall performance in terms of number of ideas and quality of ideas. However, the students who indicated a high level of commitment to the novelty goal generated ideas of higher average novelty in the two conditions that emphasized the novelty goal.

Goldenberg et al. ( 2013 ) examined the impact of the freewheeling and building on others’ ideas rules. They noted that these two rules suggest different goals. The freewheeling rule would encourage divergent thinking and result in ideas across a wide range of semantic categories. The building rule suggests a more convergent orientation, with participants generating ideas across a smaller range of categories because there is a focus on ideas already generated. However, these ideas might be more practical. They compared performance of three different conditions—all four rules, omitting the build-on rule and emphasizing freewheeling, and omitting the freewheeling rule and emphasizing building on ideas of others. Using a brainwriting paradigm in which ideas were shared on pieces of paper, they found support for their predictions about the emphasis on either freewheeling or building for both interactive and nominal groups. However, when all four rules were employed, the interactive group performed similarly to the build-on condition and the nominal group to the freewheeling condition. Building on ideas may be more natural for groups and freewheeling for individuals (see also Larey & Paulus, 1999 ). Results consistent with this finding have been found by Kohn, Paulus, and Choi ( 2011 ). They provided participants a set of unique or common ideas on which to build additional ideas using brainwriting either alone or as a group. Only in the group condition were participants able to use the unique ideas to generate both more novel and feasible ideas than the nominal groups. Emphasizing combining ideas appears to be a potentially important part of the positive impact of the Osborn rules.

Some additional rules may also be helpful. In our research we have noted that groups often get “off task” and take up valuable time by telling stories rather than simply presenting ideas. The sharing of this type of extraneous material can interfere with memory, search, and building processes, and it has been found to reduce the number of relevant ideas generated (Dugosh et al., 2000 ). Furthermore, individuals and groups often stop their idea generation prematurely. In several studies some additional rules were added to counteract these tendencies (Paulus, Nakui, Putman, & Brown, 2006 ; Putman & Paulus, 2009 ) based on some prior research on their use by facilitators by Oxley, Dzindolet, and Paulus ( 1996 ). These rules were: Stay focused on the task; do not tell stories or explain ideas; when no one is talking, restate the problem; and when the talking slows down go back to prior categories of ideas and build on them. These additional rules significantly increased the number of ideas generated by both individuals and groups by increasing the efficiency of the generation process and thereby reducing the demands on working memory. Although the interaction of type of group and rule condition was not significant in either study, it should be noted that the additional rules enhanced the number of ideas more for groups than for nominals in both studies (Paulus et al., 2006 , 55% improvement vs. 28%; Putman & Paulus, 2009 , 79% vs. 27%). From a practical standpoint the rules did reduce the performance gap between interactive and nominal groups.

In general it appears that providing specific instructions and goals enhances the brainstorming process. Although the impact of the quantity goal is quite clear, the evidence for the benefits of the other goals is not as clear. It is possible that the goals should be adjusted during the course of a brainstorming session. It may best to start with a clear quantity and freewheeling goal to “prime the pump” and generate a large pool of ideas. Once a fairly large number have been generated, the group could move to more of a building and evaluation phase. Groups appear to be effective in building on ideas (Kohn et al., 2011 ), and new ideas may continue to be generated during the evaluation process (cf., Putman & Paulus, 2009 ).

Brief Breaks

We have noted that individual and group brainstormers often stop their brainstorming process while there are still many more potential ideas to generate (often after 15 or 20 minutes). We have discovered that reinstructing them to continue brainstorming after a brief break of 2–5 minutes can lead to many more ideas in oral brainstorming (Horn, 1993 ; Mitchell, 1998 ; Paulus & Brown, 2003 ). In another study we found that brief breaks totaling 6 minutes increased idea generation when writing ideas on pieces of paper but not with the computer modality (Paulus et al., 2006 ). There are a number of reasons why breaks may be beneficial. Groups typically slow down the idea generation process over time, and this may be seen as a cue that they are running out of ideas and should stop (Nijstad et al., 1999 ). Providing a break and suggesting continuation of brainstorming may motivate renewed efforts to generate additional ideas. Also, as one generates ideas one may get fixated on the categories of ideas already generated. A break or change in context may help overcome that fixation (Smith, 2003 ). Breaks may allow for incubation-type processes that can lead to increased salience of new categories. There is some evidence that exposure to natural environments during breaks can increase creativity by its restorative effects on the fatigue that results from the involuntary attention required of demanding tasks such as creativity (Berman, Jonides, & Kaplan, 2008 ; Kaplan, 1995 ). In one of their experiments, Berman et al. ( 2008 ) demonstrated that exposure to nature slides (compared to slides of urban scenes) had positive effects on students in a demanding digit span task. However, in unpublished research with Runa Korde in our laboratory, we were not able to demonstrate a benefit of exposure to these same nature slides on several creativity tasks. Research in our lab actually suggests that it might be best to stay focused on the task during breaks. Mitchell ( 1998 ) found that participants in verbal brainstorming who were allowed to write down ideas that came to mind during the break or were reinstructed about the task benefited more from the break than were those asked to perform a verbal fluency task. That study suggests that changing task focus may not be beneficial during the break.

We have not systematically varied the length of the breaks, although in one study we found that having two breaks was not more beneficial than one break (Paulus et al., 2006 ). In the one-break condition a 6-minute break was given after 15 minutes of a 36-minute session. In the two-breaks condition, 3-minute breaks were provided after 10 and 23 minutes. Short breaks of 3–6 minutes seem to be beneficial. Longer sessions may not increase the benefit of the breaks, since the basic relevant processes (undoing of fixation, incubation, rejuvenation of involuntary attention) may have their impact rather quickly. Furthermore, longer breaks may be uncomfortable and perhaps imply that a high level of productivity may not be that important. They may also lead to the decay of the “spreading activation” that was derived from the associative stimulation of the preceding idea generation session (Collins & Loftus, 1975 ). Obviously, there remains much to learn about the impact of various kinds of breaks in brainstorming, the length and number of breaks, and the basis for the effects.

Facilitators and Training

Since group brainstormers face a number of challenges in coordinating the collaborative ideation process, they are likely to benefit from facilitator support or training in effective group processes. A number of studies have demonstrated that the use of facilitators who provide corrective feedback/interventions for groups leads to enhanced performance in groups (Kramer, Fleming, & Mannis, 2001 ; Offner, Kramer, & Winter, 1996 ; Oxley et al., 1996 ). These studies used facilitators who discouraged irrelevant discussions, encouraged persistence when the brainstorming process slowed down, and encouraged increased participation by less active group members. Facilitated groups in these studies performed as well as nominal groups. The study by Paulus et al. ( 2006 ), which provided participants with additional rules similar to the guidelines used by the facilitators, found that these increase the performance of group and individual brainstormers, but that having a facilitator enforce these rules had no additional positive impact. It is possible that simply specifying the importance of effective group processes can be sufficient to enhance group performance. Although the facilitator studies showed that facilitators help groups match the performance of nominal groups, the nominal groups did not get the benefit of facilitator interventions. Such interventions might also have been beneficial for nominal groups, as in the case of the benefit of additional rules for such groups.

Some degree of facilitative intervention and/or provision of explicit rules and guidelines can be beneficial, but it may be even more useful to train groups to be effective brainstormers so that they will not need the continued intervention and the presence of a facilitator. Some studies have found that training can enhance group creativity (e.g., Firestien, 1990 ; Fontenot, 1993 ; Parnes & Meadow, 1959 ), but these studies did not use trained nominal groups as a comparison. This was done in the study by Baruah and Paulus ( 2008 ). They developed a training module based on the cognitive models of brainstorming, which focused on increasing the efficiency of the brainstorming process (avoidance of extraneous discussions) and the importance of attending to shared ideas. At various stages during the 75-minute training session, the importance of various processes were emphasized and interspersed with a practice session for each of the training foci. These sessions focused on the importance of attending to the shared ideas, building on unique ideas, and how to tap the diversity present in the group. They were also instructed on the use of brainstorming rules, and provided feedback on their performance with the use of a video of the performance session. In a control condition, participants were provided with the brainstorming rules, shown a video of their performance without feedback, and provided practice sessions as part of a 75-minute session. After the training, participants brainstormed both as a group and alone (in two different orders). The training enhanced the performance of both interactive and alone performance in terms of number of ideas and average novelty of ideas. Thus there was no special benefit for groups of the training process. Moreover, since the training involved multiple components we do not know the relative importance of the various components of the training protocol. It would be useful to have some more systematic studies on the effects of different types of training protocols that can delineate more clearly which factors are most important. It is likely that approaches focusing on enhancing motivation and more effective group processes in line with the major models of group creativity will demonstrate positive effects. It would also be of value to determine whether such training procedures can “entrain” the effective processes in the group so that the group members will continue to use the appropriate strategies in future efforts (Kelly & Karau, 1993 ). This would require groups that are relatively stable so that the “entrained” processes become normative and are passed on to any new members of the group. Of course this would only happen if group members recognize the benefit of the strategies and are motivated to maintain a high level of creativity in the group.

Tapping Semantic Categories

Both the AMM and SIAM models focus on the process of tapping knowledge or ideas within specific categories or domains. It is presumed that people will search a particular category or domain for ideas relevant to the problem. Some ideas are easily accessible and probably will have a high degree of overlap with the ideas generated by other group members. However, as individuals dig deeper into a specific category there will be an increased chance of coming up with more novel ideas (Brown et al., 1998 ; Nijstad & Stroebe, 2006 ; Rietzschel et al., 2007 ). It is also important for groups to generate ideas across as many relevant categories as possible. They will need to switch to a new category at some point in the search process. This is most likely to occur along dimensions of semantic similarity. However, it is also important to tap categories that are very different semantically. This may be difficult unless there is some external cue that reminds the individuals of more semantically remote categories, potentially from ideas shared by other group members.

The previous theoretical perspective suggests that it may be best if individuals focus on one category at a time rather than “jumping” from one category to another. This may ensure that individuals tap a category deeply before moving on to other categories. If participants move quickly from one category to another they may not come back to a prior category or tap individual categories sufficiently deeply. Several studies have shown that presenting participants with one category at a time for idea generation yields more ideas than presenting all of the categories at once (Coskun, Paulus, Brown, & Sherwood, 2000 ; Dennis, Valacich, Connolly, & Wynne, 1996 ). In addition, Rietzschel et al. ( 2007 ) and Rietzschel, Nijstad, and Stroebe ( 2014 ) have found that focusing on a limited set of categories also increases the novelty of the ideas generated.

It appears to be beneficial to focus on one category at a time or on a limited set of categories, for divergent thinking, but it is also important to tap a broad range of categories. There may be some benefit to asking groups prior to brainstorming to generate a broad range of possible categories they might consider in the brainstorming session. This approach was examined in several experiments by Deuja, Kohn, Paulus, and Korde ( 2014 ). In one prior categorization condition participants were provided with 10 of the categories they had generated in a category listing phase to use in a 20-minute brainstorming session. In a prior categorization sequential condition participants were cued to consider one of 10 categories from their list every 2 minutes. In a control condition, participants simply generated ideas without a prior categorization process. The prior categorization sequential condition led to generation of more ideas, greater category depth (number of ideas in a category) and a higher degree of semantic clustering (ideas generated sequentially in the same category).

It also appears to be beneficial for group members to be “on the same page” in jointly focusing on a subset of categories at the beginning of the brainstorming session rather than each person initially focusing on a different category (Baruah & Paulus, 2011 ). The joint focus led to generation of more ideas, a greater number of categories surveyed, and a higher degree of clustering. Baruah and Paulus ( 2011 ) also varied whether the assigned categories were highly related conceptually or unrelated. When the categories were highly related there was a high degree of within-category fluency or depth, but when they were highly unrelated, group members generated a broader range of categories. Having a joint focus appears to generally facilitate the collaborative idea generation process (see also Baruah & Paulus, 2016 ). If the categories assigned are highly related, group members tap fewer categories more deeply. If one wants to “jump-start” a group to a high level of productivity one should suggest a joint focus on a limited set of highly related categories. However, eventually having participants focus on more diverse/unrelated categories will increase the extent to which the group’s ideas tap a broader range of the problem categories. In a similar vein this research suggests that diverse teams might first focus on areas of commonality to generate creative flow and positive group feelings. Once they have developed cohesion, trust, and a sense of efficacy, they may be able to more effectively build on highly unrelated and distinct information (Paulus & van der Zee, 2015 ).

Group Size and Idea Selection

One of the most influential factors in brainstorming is the size of the group. When people are asked about the ideal size of groups for brainstorming they will often suggest sizes of seven or more. Larger groups do provide more potential for exchange of a large number of ideas from a diverse group of individuals. However, the problem of production blocking increases with group size, especially in groups that share ideas verbally. Thus the larger the group, the lower will be the number of ideas per person. The optimal group size is two. We also noted that in the case of electronic brainstorming increases in group size are associated with increased numbers of ideas generated per person, possibly due to increased cognitive stimulation (see chapter by Dennis, Minas, & Williams, this volume).

The group size issue has not been examined for brainwriting. Having more group members can increase the total number of ideas generated, but it also requires more effort on the part of group members to read the shared ideas. From our experience small groups seem to be ideal for this procedure, since participants of such groups quickly generate a reasonable number of ideas for processing by the group. Smaller groups will also make the process of evaluating the shared ideas more feasible, since the number generated in larger groups may make such a process difficult. Alternatively, groups could have a series of short idea sharing sessions, each followed by an evaluation of the ideas generated in that session. This mixture of divergent and convergent processes has not been examined. It might be best if the divergent process conclude before the commencement of the convergent process, since these require radically different orientations. However, a study by Rietzschel, Nijstad, and Stroebe ( 2006 ) suggests that this may not be the case. Groups in one condition were asked to brainstorm for 30 minutes and then evaluate the ideas for 30 minutes. In a second condition they were given 60 minutes to generate ideas and evaluate them. They found no difference in the number and quality of the ideas generated between these two conditions. Similarly, Harvey and Khou ( 2013 ) in a qualitative study found that mixing evaluation and idea generation did not impede the creative output of groups. They suggest that mixing evaluation and idea generation can in fact enhance group creativity because of the reframing and building processes and the positive motivational effects of such activities. Obviously, more systematic studies of this issue are required.

Another approach would be to have a number of small groups generate ideas and then pick the best ones (novel and feasible). These sets could then be shared with the other groups for further elaboration and development. The sharing of these ideas with other groups may stimulate additional ideas and allow for building on the shared ideas. It would also be of interest to mix the various modalities, possibly starting with brainwriting or electronic brainstorming for the divergent phase and moving to face-to-face sessions in small groups to verbally discuss the best ideas.

Turnover in Groups

Stability in groups can be beneficial for brainstorming in that as groups become more familiar and cohesive, there may be less evaluation apprehension and increased feelings of psychological safety. Stability can also increase transactive memory—knowing who knows what in groups (Moreland, Argote, & Krishnan, 1996 ), and group members may be better able to tap each other’s expertise. Therefore it is not surprising that experience as a team is an important factor in its creative accomplishments (Cummings & Kiesler, 2008 ). However, some degree of turnover may be beneficial for group creativity. New members may bring fresh perspectives and a renewed motivation to share each other’s perspectives about a problem. Several studies have in fact demonstrated that turnover in brainstorming groups enhance the number of ideas generated, the number of different types of ideas, and their creativity (Choi & Thompson, 2005 ; Nemeth & Ormiston, 2007 ). Choi and Thompson ( 2005 ) also found that the effect was related to the productivity level of the newcomer in the group. The more productive the newcomer had been in the prior group, the more positive the impact of the change in membership. Apparently, this type of newcomer was more likely to stimulate continued idea generation in the new group.

Although newcomers can be beneficial for creativity (see chapter by Levine, Choi, & Moreland, this volume), it may also depend on the type of newcomer. Someone of lower status in a work setting, or with minority status (the only female or ethnic minority member), or considerably younger, may feel somewhat apprehensive in the new group. It may take some time before the person feels comfortable sharing their unique ideas. Another potential problem with turnover in groups is that the new member is not aware of all of the ideas that have already been expressed. So the group may have to take time to reiterate those ideas or the new member may discover that many of his/her ideas have already been shared in the group. This may quickly reduce the motivation to share ideas by the newcomer. Also, if groups are designed to have a certain composition to represent different areas of expertise, it will be important that the newcomer be selected to represent the specific area of expertise of the departed member.

In most typical brainstorming sessions, the drawbacks of changing group composition may outweigh the benefits. In workshops where the first author changed group membership at some point in the brainstorming session (e.g., exchanging two members among groups of four), the change often disrupted the flow of ideas in the group because the group members had to spend time repeating what had already been shared in a prior session. Membership change is probably most beneficial when groups appear to have run out of ideas. At that point changing group membership and sharing past ideas may help motivate additional efforts to build on each other’s shared ideas (Kohn et al., 2011 ).

Recommendations and Future Research Needs

We have summarized the theoretical and empirical basis for effective brainstorming. These provide a solid basis for tapping the creative potential of short-term group sessions but may also provide a basis for structuring problem solving meetings to ensure an effective exchange process.

Based on our review we make the following recommendations:

There is some evidence that the Osborn rules enhance brainstorming. The strongest evidence exists for the quantity rule. The freewheeling and quantity rules may be most pertinent to the divergent phase of the creative process and the building rule for the more convergent phases of selecting the best ideas and developing them.

Brief breaks during brainstorming sessions appear to enhance the number of ideas generated. Breaks may be most beneficial when groups start having significant pauses in their idea generation process and should be kept relatively brief so as not to lose the “cognitive momentum” and task focus attained during the prior session.

It is useful to structure sessions so that groups focus on one aspect of the problem at a time. Groups might come up with a list of different topics to address prior to the brainstorming session and then move sequentially through them. They should be encouraged to dig deeply into each of these topics prior to switching to a new topic.

Use brainwriting or electronic brainstorming if you want to maximize the number of ideas generated. Design the process so that participants will carefully process the shared ideas as they generate their own.

Keep groups relatively small, especially for verbal and brainwriting groups. If diversity is important, structure groups to be as small as feasible and still cover the required areas of expertise or diversity.

Alternate group and individual brainstorming to tap most effectively the benefit of group stimulation. These alternating sessions can be relatively short and obviously work best with the electronic or writing modalities since these provide a means for individuals and groups to provide the actual output of their ideas without having to audio- or videotape the process. However, if verbal brainstorming is preferred, group members could be asked to write their ideas as they are shared verbally and during their alone sessions.

When groups think they have run out of ideas, it may helpful to rotate group members. This may provide some new motivation to persist and the sharing of ideas not encountered before in the group may help stimulate additional ideas.

Groups may benefit from some degree of monitoring or facilitation to ensure that they all are participating, avoiding irrelevant discussions, and generating ideas without evaluation. Some degree of training or facilitated practice prior to brainstorming on the topic of interest should also be helpful.

Our review also highlighted some significant gaps in our knowledge for practice. Among these are the following:

The importance of the “do not criticize rule” needs further evaluation. Its impact may depend on the phase of the group process (divergent/convergent; early/late) and the group characteristics (e.g., cohesion, trust).

There is insufficient data to guide the effective implementation of breaks. Research is needed concerning the timing, length, number, and types of breaks.

Focusing on one aspect or category of a problem at a time can facilitate the number and novelty of ideas generated, but the best way to come up with such categories is not clear. Should they be generated by the group prior to the brainstorming session or provided to the group based on prior discussions of the issues by other groups?

Although brainwriting appears to be an effective technique, research is needed to examine different variations of this procedure, the boundary conditions for demonstrating superiority of brainwriting over nominal groups, and the potential of mixing verbal and nonverbal brainstorming (writing or electronic). These studies should assess quality of ideas as well as quantity.

There appears to be a benefit of alternating group and individual brainstorming, but how such a session is to be partitioned in terms of time allotted to different phases is unclear.

Although rotation of group members may be beneficial, we need research to determine the most beneficial time for such rotation and how extreme such rotation should be (e.g., exchanging just one member or forming totally new groups).

More research is required to determine what features of a training protocol are the most important for enhancing group creativity.

Keeping groups small is suggested by the research, especially for verbal groups. It remains to be determined what the optimum size is for brainwriting groups both in reference to the number of ideas generated and the effectiveness of the collaborative evaluation process that can follow the idea generation phase.

The literature suggests that groups may not be particularly good at selecting the best ideas (see chapter by Rietzschel, Nijstad & Stroebe, this volume) More research is needed to determine the best process for moving from divergent to convergent processes. Should short divergent and convergent sessions alternate to allow for the processing of smaller subsets of ideas as they are generated, or should groups complete the divergent phase before beginning the convergent evaluation stage?

Filling the knowledge gaps for practice will be a challenging task for researchers. Researchers in psychology are “rewarded” most for research that has strong theoretical implications. Research that is focused on finding the best practice for a particular technique is not as highly valued. Furthermore, there are so many variations in process that merit evaluation, that it is not likely that these gaps will be filled for some time. Our recommendation is that practitioners “experiment” with various different approaches to see if they make a strong difference. It would of course be most beneficial if this research were also theory-guided. If promising outcomes can be replicated in subsequent experiences, the practitioner will have made a significant discovery to enhance the practice that could be shared with the practice community. For example, if 90 people are available for brainstorming, one could have 10 groups of size three in each of three different brainstorming conditions. In one condition groups could write using a pooling procedure, in another they could use a round-robin process in which slips are passed without adding ideas to them, and in a third participants could be encouraged to add their ideas to slips as they are passed as well as generating their own individual slips. If one of the three conditions leads to the best performance (in terms of number of ideas and/or number of high-quality ideas), this can be the basis for further exploration about effects of other factors such as length and types of breaks, the sets for rules provided, variation of idea generation and evaluation processes, and the extent to which there is an exchange of membership among the groups during the process. This type of informal evaluation by practitioners and communication of findings as case studies would be a very valuable contribution to the field.

Acknowledgment

The preparation of this chapter was supported by collaborative grant INSPIRE BCS 1247971 to the authors from the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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When inspiration strikes: 12 effective brainstorming techniques

Lucid Content

Reading time: about 9 min

Are you an effective brainstormer? Does the process of brainstorming feel like an opportunity or more like a chore? Chances are if you don’t enjoy the process of brainstorming, you’ve probably been using the wrong brainstorming technique. 

That’s right—there are distinct brainstorming methods. 

Just as there are different learning styles and different workflow preferences, each of us has a method of brainstorming that works best for us. Whether or not you’re a veteran brainstormer, this article will help you unpack different brainstorming tools, learn the advantages and shortcomings of each, and select a technique for yourself and your team.

12 popular brainstorming methods

Need to take a step back? Learn how to set up a brainstorming session with your team.

Brainwriting

When brainwriting, each group member is told to anonymously write down several ideas on post-it notes or index cards. Keeping ideas anonymous serves two important purposes: First, it prevents idea anchoring and any personality bias that may arise. Second, it provides a way for more introverted teammates to still contribute to ideation. 

The result is a broader range of ideas that may not have surfaced if teammates were to brainstorm collectively. Ideas are then shared at random with the rest of the group, who offer feedback and critique each idea. As an alternative, ideas can also be collected and sorted by a team leader or management team. The overlying goal of brainwriting is to separate idea generation from discussion. 

5 Whys analysis

If you’ve ever been interrogated by a toddler, you know what the 5 Whys might sound like. You give an answer to a question, only for it to be followed by an increasingly urgent series of “Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?”

Truth be told, that toddler is onto something. Created by Taiichi Ohno, the 5 Whys analysis was made popular at Toyota as a standard process for root cause analysis—getting to the heart of a problem.

Less structured than other more traditional problem-solving methods, the 5 Whys is simply what it sounds like: asking why over and over to get to the root of an obstacle or setback. This technique encourages an open dialogue that can trigger new ideas about a problem, whether done individually or with a group. Each why piggybacks off the answer to the previous why.

Both flowcharts and  fishbone diagrams  can help you track your answers to the 5 Whys. 

Starbursting

Like a reporter trying to discover the pivotal information to a story, the starbursting method of brainstorming requires you to think about the who, what, where, when, why, and how for any new idea.

Place your main idea at the center of a star diagram, labeling each point of the star with those 5WH questions.

Next, develop a series of questions about your idea for each point. Starbursting is popular among brainstorming methods because of its exploratory nature: One question triggers another question, and before you know it, you have the beginnings of a solid strategy within the answers to those questions.

Mind mapping

Part of the challenge of brainstorming is trying to catch every idea swirling through the air. Mind maps are a creative, non-linear diagram used to capture that influx of ideas so you don’t miss anything. Start with a topic or question in the center of the mind map, and branch off to include every participant’s thoughts.

To create your own mind map online, open the template below or browse through our gallery of additional  mind map templates .

Rolestorming/figure storming

Sometimes it’s best to consider someone else’s point of view. Considering how someone else might approach a challenge is the central concept behind rolestorming. A related practice, figure storming asks you to put yourself in the shoes of a famous historical figure.

For example, a legal advocacy group might have teammates ask “How would Mahatma Gandhi solve this problem?” Rolestorming has even made its way into pop culture: Anyone who has ever purchased or even seen the popular rubber WWJD (what would Jesus do?) bracelets has witnessed rolestorming in daily life. Rolestorming or figure storming works best for teams who find themselves coming up with the same ideas for repeating projects. 

Gap filling

Gap filling, also known as gap analysis , requires you to identify your current state and your end goal and then find gaps between the two states. It asks the question, “How do we get from here to there?” Gap analysis is especially helpful when it comes to problem solving because it requires you to find workable solutions.

Flowcharts or mind maps can help you grid out your gap analysis. Mark the current state on one end and the ideal state on the other. Then team members will understand what they're working toward and start contributing ideas in the middle to fill the gap.

Brain-netting

Brain-netting has become a popular brainstorming technique in the modern workspace, where virtual collaboration and remote teams are much more common. Email communication can be effective but can take too much time and can be more formal than needed. 

With brain-netting, participants use virtual collaboration software to share ideas in real time and can save ideas to a cloud-based storage platform or within the collaboration software itself. The way teams go about virtual collaboration can vary—team leaders may ask a general question like “What do we want our customers to experience?” and have teammates contribute their responses, or teams may engage in other techniques mentioned in this piece including rolestorming, reverse brainstorming, and rapid ideation. 

Round robin brainstorming

To engage in this brainstorming technique, begin with having everyone sit in a circle. A team leader or facilitator will then pose a question or offer a request for ideas and have everyone in the circle contribute one by one. 

This strategy is great for middle- to large-sized teams who may have quieter team members or for any team with noticeable imbalance in creative contribution. The most important rule for this technique is to treat all ideas with equal weight—give each teammate the same time and attention as they share, and avoid developing any ideas until everyone has had a chance to contribute. If and when a team member says that “Person X already said my idea,” offer them time to come up with a new idea while completing the round robin. 

Rapid ideation

Operating within a time limitation can often produce higher quality work. Indeed, Parkinson’s Law teaches us that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” Rapid ideation uses this phenomenon to its advantage: By setting a time limit on team members to contribute as many ideas or solutions as possible, team managers can maximize productivity and results. 

Rapid ideation works well for a few different types of workers—for teams who dislike meetings, or who tend to get sidetracked, rapid ideation is a great way to approach the brainstorming stage of project execution. 

A helpful tip to remember: Get silly! Research shows that teams who share funny or embarrassing stories about themselves reported 26% more ideas shared across 15% more categories over teams who kept meetings more formal. Having the space to let down certain social barriers reduces overthinking and produces a greater flow of ideas.

Reverse brainstorming

Most brainstorming techniques ask participants to solve a problem. Reverse brainstorming has participants cause a problem. Rather than forming solutions to a problem, reverse brainstorming has a facilitator ask a question like “How can we cause this problem?” Responses are then recorded and used as springboards to ideate a solution by working through the responses backwards. 

Reverse brainstorming is a powerful way to open up new solutions to recurring problems: By challenging participants to work backwards, certain insights that may have been hard to imagine normally become crystal clear from a new perspective. 

Stepladder brainstorming

This interesting style of brainstorming was developed in 1992 and involves teammates sharing their ideas individually before being influenced by the group. 

The process starts with a facilitator posing a question or problem to the entire group and then having almost every group member exit the room, leaving two members present. These remaining two members share their ideas together while the rest of the team waits outside, until the facilitator directs an outside teammate to join the two inside. 

The third and new teammate then shares their idea first, followed by the other two teammates. A fourth group member then enters the room and shares his or her idea first, followed by the other teammates present. The process continues this way until all group members have joined the room and shared their ideas. 

Stepladder brainstorming is noted for solving the problem of groupthink by having participants share ideas individually and without influence from the group. It also allows the more shy group members to contribute without being intimidated by a room full of people.

SWOT analysis

SWOT analysis isn't exclusively a brainstorming technique: It's a strategic planning exercise that you can use to evaluate a product, project, person, or business. However, it may be valuable to focus your brainstorm with this mindset. SWOT stands for:

• Strengths:  How does the product, project, or business dominate and stand out from its competitors?
• Weaknesses:  What are the flaws that can hurt or put the product, project, or business in jeopardy?
• Opportunities:  What opportunities could the business capitalize on?
• Threats:  What are the possible downfalls lurking for the product, project, or business?

Spend some time in each category and add your teammates' thoughts onto a SWOT matrix.

Choose a brainstorm method and get started

Once you’ve selected your brainstorming technique or techniques, it’s time to get to work. Remember: The first rule of brainstorming is quantity over quality. Encouraging teammates to have the bravery to risk imperfection and contribute ideas is the best way to guide your team toward new ways to approach problems—and often leads to powerful insights. 

All these methods can be combined with others, giving you an endless arsenal of brainstorming techniques to continue ideating efficiently. 

See our 7 tips for starting a brainstorming meeting with your team.

Lucidchart, a cloud-based intelligent diagramming application, is a core component of Lucid Software's Visual Collaboration Suite. This intuitive, cloud-based solution empowers teams to collaborate in real-time to build flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, customer journey maps, and more. Lucidchart propels teams forward to build the future faster. Lucid is proud to serve top businesses around the world, including customers such as Google, GE, and NBC Universal, and 99% of the Fortune 500. Lucid partners with industry leaders, including Google, Atlassian, and Microsoft. Since its founding, Lucid has received numerous awards for its products, business, and workplace culture. For more information, visit lucidchart.com.

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Brainstorming techniques

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What are brainstorming techniques? Brainstorming techniques are best practices for getting the highest-quality ideas out of a brainstorming session. You’ve put a brainstorming session on the calendar and you’re ready for the brilliant ideas to start rolling in. 

But here’s the thing: you can’t assume that you’ll simply gather everybody in a room and watch the magic happen. 

An effective brainstorming session needs more than just a bunch of brains — it needs structure. That means you should come prepared with some prompts and exercises to kick off the idea generation process. 

Below are a variety of brainstorming techniques in four different categories, so you can help everybody pull out their best ideas and make the most of your time together.

Visual brainstorming techniques

You don’t need to be an artist to pull this off. Whipping out some markers and doodling away with these visual brainstorming exercises can help you get out of your own head and come up with some creative ideas.

1. Mind mapping

You can do this : Alone or with a team

What you’ll need:

• Whiteboard or paper

How it works : Mindmapping forces you to explore different facets of a problem and organize your ideas for possible solutions. You’ll need to start with the central question you’re trying to answer or problem you’re trying to solve, which should be put at the center of your paper or whiteboard. 

Make this specific enough to provide direction without boxing people into one way of thinking. For example, ask, “How can we improve our customer response times?” rather than something general like, “How can we provide better customer service?” 

From there, write down different thoughts that are related to that question and jot them in separate bubbles around the core question. Then, use those ideas to spark even more ideas that you can connect using circles, lines, and arrows.

End up with a mess? That’s exactly the point. But now you can comb through all of those ideas and pull out the best ones.

2. Storyboarding

• Sticky notes
• A blank wall

How it works : You’ve probably heard of storyboarding in the context of planning out a movie plot or a script. And that makes sense because this technique is especially helpful for brainstorming and designing a series or a process.

For example, imagine that you and the rest of your team are trying to design a new employee onboarding process. Using this type of brainstorming technique, everybody gets some sticky notes and writes down the different elements they think belong in your onboarding process (i.e., a welcome lunch, an office tour, and a one-on-one meeting with the team manager).

After that, you can collect the sticky notes, remove any duplicates, and place and move the notes around on a blank wall to find the best order for your onboarding process. Once everyone agrees, document that order so everyone has it for reference. 

3. Group sketching

You can do this : With a team

• Pieces of paper

How it works : Science says that doodling can improve our focus, enhance our creativity, and give our problem-solving skills a boost. It’s time to pull out some pencils, channel your inner artist, and do some group sketching.

It’s simple: each team member gets a sheet of paper and sketches something related to the core concept you’re brainstorming, for example, activities for your next team outing.

When those first rounds of sketches are finished, papers get passed to the next person who sketches another related image. Maybe the first drawer sketched a pizza, while the next person sketched a wine bottle. Continue passing those papers. Once they’ve made it all the way through the group, collect and discuss the sketches.

It’s a fun activity that can help your team identify new connections and generate more innovative ideas. 

Starbursting

• Paper or whiteboard

How it works : On your paper or whiteboard, draw a six-pointed star and write the challenge, problem, or opportunity you’re brainstorming at the center. For example, imagine that your team wants to put together a new webinar but you haven’t ironed out any other details yet.

Within each point of the star, write the following terms: who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Now, jot down questions that start with each of those terms. Maybe it’s, “Who will host our webinar?” or “Who is the intended audience for this webinar?” Think of as many questions – both obvious and non-obvious – for each term as possible.

Starbursting enables you and your team to explore all possibilities and thoroughly think through all elements of an idea or project.

Analytical brainstorming techniques

1. customer journey mapping.

How it works : This technique helps you visualize how customers experience your product or service, as well as how they feel along the way.

What does this have to do with brainstorming? Well, sometimes all you need is to get outside of your own head and explore different perspectives on a problem or question. 

Customer journey mapping puts you in the shoes of your customer so that you can potentially identify solutions or ideas that you wouldn’t have thought of on your own. There’s a detailed breakdown of how to use customer journey mapping in this playbook . 

2. Dependency mapping

You can do this: With a team

What you’ll need :

• Large display screen
• Whiteboard or shared digital document

How it works : Brainstorming doesn’t have to be all about coming up with innovative new ideas. It can be just as helpful for proactively addressing any project problems before they throw you off track.

That’s where dependency mapping comes into play. It helps you spot any potential sticking points and manage them ahead of time. Through dependency mapping, you and your team will identify:

• Systems affected : What teams and processes will your work affect and how?
• Risks and mitigations : What are the worst fears about this project? To what degree will each influence the project?

Once that’s done, you and the team should look back at the risks and dependencies you’ve identified, and come up with a plan for managing them all. Make sure to name a stakeholder for each, so you know who should be actively managing each risk throughout the project.

Want to learn more? A full description of how to use dependency mapping can be found in this playbook.

3. Premortem

• Whiteboard or butcher’s paper

How it works : A premortem is all about picturing the glass half full – and then the glass half empty. You’ll divide your team into two groups: the failure team and the success team. 

The failure team will brainstorm all of the potential reasons your project could take a major nosedive, while the success team thinks about all of the ways your project could be worthy of your best victory dance. From there, you’ll cross-examine those hypothetical successes and pitfalls and narrow them down to the top three risks and opportunities.

That gives you a chance to see into the future and steer clear of any roadblocks. Learn more about how to conduct a premortem in this playbook.

4. S.W.O.T. Analysis

You can do this: Alone or with a team

How it works : S.W.O.T. stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and those four things are exactly what you’ll be identifying to better plan your project. 

On a piece of paper, label four columns with S, W, O, and T (one for each letter of the acronym) and then begin jotting things down within each column. 

As just one of many brainstorming examples, maybe that new app idea will separate you from your competitors (strength) and could be promoted at your upcoming user conference (opportunity). However, you haven’t seen huge demand for that type of app yet (weakness) and more and more of your competitors are moving toward a similar product (threat). 

S.W.O.T. analysis helps you thoroughly think through that product, anticipate any potential problems, and really get it into tip-top shape before pitching it elsewhere. Here’s more information about how to turn your S.W.O.T. findings into actionable strategies.

Creative and game-like brainstorming techniques

While brainstorming is an organized effort to get your team coloring outside the lines, it should also be a good time. Throw in a couple of creative techniques to gamify the process a little bit. Here are a few ideas.

1. Disruptive brainstorming

• Disrupt cards

How it works : Disruptive brainstorming is a great tool for generating as many ideas as possible and then finding the best ones within a certain set of constraints.

There’s quite a bit to it (and you can get the full rundown in this playbook ), but the gist is that you should have your team break into groups, and have each group brainstorm as many ideas within a theme as possible. For example, how can we increase signups to our newsletter list? Groups will write their ideas on sticky notes and hang them on their whiteboard.

Then, each person walks around the room, going to each group’s board and removing the ideas they don’t support. They’ll throw these ideas to the floor – literally. 

From there, you’ll move into disruptive brainstorm loops that last 10 minutes each. You’ll add new disrupt cards , move team members between different groups, and come up with as many ideas as possible within the constraints dictated by the disrupt card. For instance, if you pull the “limited access” disrupt card (which pushes the idea that people love exclusivity), how can you make your newsletter more selective? Should it be a paid membership? Should it offer discounts or content that nobody else gets? 

After doing that, you weed through all of the ideas again. It’s fun, it’s team-focused, and it gets people moving around, so they aren’t falling asleep at the conference room table.

How it works : One of the characteristics of brainstorming is that it gives you a chance to think beyond limitations and come up with your most dream-worthy solutions to problems – you know, if resources and budget weren’t an issue.

That’s what the wishing technique is all about: reaching for the stars. For example, if you’re planning your annual client lunch, what’s your dream venue? (top of the Empire State Building) Who would you love to have speak? (Michelle Obama) What would you serve as the meal? (Kobe beef steak) Go ahead and dream big. 

When you all have your wishes, share them with the group and talk about how your ideas might not be that far-fetched. How could you actually make them a reality? You might be surprised by what you come up with.

3. Forced connections

• Random objects

How it works : Sometimes you just need to get your team’s neurons firing – even if it has nothing to do with your end goal or project.

Try this: bring a bag of random objects to your next brainstorming session. Pull out two or more items and challenge the team to come up with all the ways those things could be related to each other.

It may not have anything to do with, well, anything. But, figuring out how an umbrella could possibly be related to catnip is bound to awaken your team’s inventive side.

4. Team brainwriting

How it works: You can think of this brainstorming technique sort of like a big game of Telephone. Each team member writes a few ideas on a piece of paper.

Pass those papers around and have each person add their own ideas, using the original idea as their inspiration. Once each slip of paper has gone around once, it’s time to discuss.

Not only is it fun to see what everybody comes up with and how ideas build upon each other, but this type of brainstorming format gives everyone a chance to actively participate – whether they’re introverts or extroverts.

5. Role playing

• Bag or a hat
• Slips of paper

How it works : It’s human nature to get stuck in our own perspectives, but role playing can help you think about things in new ways by putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.

Bring a hat or bag filled with slips of paper into your next brainstorming session. On each slip, write somebody’s name. It could be the names of customers, board members, celebrities, historical figures, etc.

Have people pull out a slip of paper one at a time and try to come up with ideas as if you’re the person named on the paper. How would Abraham Lincoln increase paid app downloads? What about Oprah? It’s a great way to step away from your own biases and shake things up!

6. “What if” brainstorming

• A vivid imagination

How it works: Sometimes you just need a breather, a moment to think about a situation in an entirely different way. 

That’s when it’s time to ask a lot of hypothetical questions in the form of “what if?” For example, what if the problem were worse? Or, what if it was happening to a different team? Or at a totally different time? What if it wasn’t happening at all?

Having an open conversation about these sorts of questions can encourage some serious out-of-the-box solutions and keep your team from getting too stuck in their own opinions. 

7. Improv games

• Depends on your chosen game

How it works: Maybe you just need to get your team’s brains warmed up, ready to work, and used to thinking on their feet. Improv games are a lighthearted and often hilarious way to get your team to open up. 

Try these ideas: Tell a story a word at a time by going around in a circle. Or play “family portrait” where groups have 10 seconds to pose for a family portrait based on a prompt, for example, “like a family of gymnasts” or something equally silly. Or assign people characters to act out a scene and then require them to switch characters whenever someone yells, “Switch!” 

Check out more improv games to try out with your team. 

Even something as simple as having team members start your session with an embarrassing story can put your team in the right headspace to start openly sharing some fresh ideas. 

Brainstorming techniques to focus and refine your ideas

Your brainstorming session was a smash hit, and now you have billions of ideas that you want to pursue. That’s awesome! But also too much of a good thing. It might be worth it to pull your team together one more time to refine some of those suggestions and zero in on your best bets. Try these approaches.

1. Elevator pitch

• Whiteboard or blank wall

How it works: You’ve settled on one idea that you love from your brainstorming session. But now you’re facing another hurdle: getting buy-in from other departments or stakeholders.

Don’t go sharing your idea until you and your team have worked through this elevator pitch exercise. Have the team create a bunch of different two- to three-line statements that really sell your idea and then vote on the best one. Find more details about how to run an elevator pitch session in this playbook . 

After you’re done, you should have zoned in on the best aspects and top benefits of your idea.

2. Sparring

• Print-outs of your ideas or work
• Pens or markers

How it works: Maybe you’re stuck between several ideas or are unsure about which one you can actually get done. Sparring is a useful way to get peer feedback and land on the winning idea.

Sparring is more about bettering ideas than coming up with them. Share the work or ideas you need feedback on and then invite team members to smash it: mark it up, pose questions, and offer criticisms, etc.

Resist the urge to fix the work or ideas right now. This is simply all about raising questions and collecting valuable feedback. Intrigued? See if sparring can help flush out your ideas in this playbook.

3. S.C.A.M.P.E.R.

How it works : S.C.A.M.P.E.R stands for substitute, combine, adapt, modify, eliminate, and reverse, and you follow each letter of the acronym to really noodle on your ideas. 

For example, what would happen to the project if we substituted this for that? Or, what would happen if we eliminated this whole feature? 

This will help you think through all aspects of your idea and make sure that you truly are on the right path.

• Laptop or pencils and paper
• DACI framework template  

How it works: You have an idea or a solution, but you’re feeling stuck about how to move forward. What happens now?

DACI streamlines decision-making, so you always know how much say people have and who has to sign off on the end result. Using this system, you assign the driver, approver, contributors, and informed to make roles and responsibilities clear.

Learn more about the DACI framework in this playbook. 

5. Problem framing

How it works : Unlike the others, this technique is best used ahead of your brainstorming session so that you can set your team up for success.

Problem-framing challenges you to pinpoint the core problem that you’re solving for (for example, improving collaboration between your marketing and sales teams) and then draft a problem statement. That way, you can come prepared with brainstorming questions that make your goal clear – without boxing people in.

Check out this playbook see how you can use problem framing to your advantage.

Here come the lightbulb moments…

There are tons of advantages of brainstorming – as long as you do it right. Remember that a meeting of the minds won’t do you much good if you aren’t prepared to lead the discussion with some thoughtful exercises, tools, and prompts.

So, the next time you’re feeling stumped about how to brainstorm effectively, return to this guide to pull out some activities that will help your team come up with their best ideas and have a great time doing it.

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• Guide: Brainstorming

Daniel Croft

Daniel Croft is an experienced continuous improvement manager with a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and a Bachelor's degree in Business Management. With more than ten years of experience applying his skills across various industries, Daniel specializes in optimizing processes and improving efficiency. His approach combines practical experience with a deep understanding of business fundamentals to drive meaningful change.

• Last Updated: June 10, 2023
• Learn Lean Sigma

Brainstorming is a key method for creative problem-solving in the modern workplace. This collaborative technique harnesses the collective intellect of a group to spawn innovative solutions and ideas through free-flowing, open discussions.

Central to brainstorming is the leveraging of diverse perspectives and experiences, encouraging participants to contribute a wealth of ideas, irrespective of their conventional merit. With an emphasis on quantity over quality, brainstorming prioritizes the exploration of a vast range of concepts, allowing for the free reign of creativity that often leads to groundbreaking and unconventional solutions.

Table of Contents

What is brainstorming.

Brainstorming is fundamentally a group exercise used to leverage the collective thinking of participants. The process of a brainstorming session is centred around a specific topic or problem to generate as many ideas as possible. Brainstorming is different from other methods of brainstorming as it does not prioritize finding an immediate, perfect solution. Rather, it values the exploration of a wide range of ideas, no matter how unconventional, with a focus on quantity over quality. This exploration phase is crucial, as it allows for the free flow of creativity, often leading to innovative and out-of-the-box solutions.

Key Characteristics of Brainstorming

• Collaborative Nature: Brainstorming relies on the synergy of the group. The combined experience, knowledge, and creativity of participants enrich the process.
• Idea Generation Focus: The primary goal is to come up with numerous ideas. Solutions and refinements are secondary at this stage.
• Creative Freedom: Participants are encouraged to think without constraints, fostering a more creative and open idea-generation process.

Principles of Effective Brainstorming

Brainstorming can be a highly effective process if managed and facilitated well. If you are looking to conduct a brainstorming session, ensure you follow these principles to get the most out of the session.

Openness and Non-judgment

A key principle for achieving an effective brainstorming session is creating an environment where all ideas are accepted without criticism. This principle encourages those participating to contribute unconventional, out-of-the-box ideas without concern for being judged. By creating such an open environment, creativity will thrive as people feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts.

Quantity Over Quality

A good brainstorming session should focus on the output, which should be the quantity of ideas over the quality of ideas. By focusing on the need to generate a large number of ideas, participants are encouraged to think more freely and broadly. 

This approach should result in a valuable range of concepts, including some that may seem impractical or irrelevant at first but may lead to more innovative solutions when further explored with the power of group thinking within the brainstorming session.

Building on Ideas

A huge benefit of brainstorming is the ability to compound ideas. Brainstorming is not just about coming up with new ideas; it’s also about expanding and refining existing ones. Encouraging participants to build on each other’s ideas can lead to more developed, complete solutions. This collaborative aspect of brainstorming helps in enhancing and evolving ideas, often leading to more robust and well-rounded solutions.

Diverse Participation

When running a brainstorming session, it is important to have a diverse, cross-functional team to generate a wide range of ideas. You should aim to include individuals from different backgrounds, disciplines, and areas of expertise. This will bring a variety of perspectives to the group rather than ideas all generated from one perspective, which will limit the range of outputs. This diversity enriches the brainstorming process, as different viewpoints can challenge conventional thinking and lead to more innovative solutions.

Methods and Techniques for Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a flexible tool with a range of methods and techniques that can be used; each one is suited to different scenarios and group dynamics. Consider the below options to understand which method may be most suited to your brainstorming needs.

Traditional Brainstorming

This method’s success is based on the group dynamics and the facilitator’s skill in managing the flow of ideas. The facilitator plays a crucial role in maintaining a positive, open environment and ensuring that all participants have the opportunity to contribute.

Key Characteristics:

• Spontaneity: Ideas are shared as they come to mind, fostering a rapid and dynamic flow of thoughts.
• Group Dynamics: The energy and interaction of the group can significantly influence the quantity and quality of ideas generated.
• Facilitator’s Role: The facilitator guides the session, encourages participation, and keeps the conversation on track.

Silent Brainstorming

If you have a group with strong voices that can often dominate meetings, consider silent brainstorming. This method is designed to counteract the dominance of more vocal participants in traditional brainstorming sessions. In this method, individuals write down their ideas independently before sharing them with the group. This ensures that introverted participants or those hesitant to speak up in a group setting have their ideas heard and considered. This method is ideal for creating equal opportunities for everyone to input their ideas.

Key Benefits:

• Inclusivity: Allows for the participation of all group members, regardless of their communication style.
• Thoughtfulness: Ideas are often more considered and refined as participants have time to think them through before sharing.

Round Robin Brainstorming

Another approach to brainstorming is the structured method of round-robin brainstorming. In this method, participants take turns sharing ideas, one at a time, around the room. This method continues to go around the room until everyone has run out of ideas.  This structure ensures that each member has an equal opportunity to share their ideas and thoughts.

Key Advantages:

• Equal Participation: Prevents domination by more outspoken members.
• Organized Flow:  This helps in managing larger groups by providing a clear structure for idea sharing.

Brainwriting

Key Elements:

• Collaboration: Encourages building upon others’ ideas, leading to more comprehensive solutions.
• Variety of Perspectives: Each participant adds their unique perspective to the ideas, enriching them.

Mind mapping

Mind mapping is a visual brainstorming technique. It starts with a central idea, and related ideas are added in a branching structure around it. This method is particularly effective for visualizing the connections between different ideas and is beneficial for individuals who think more visually.

Key Features:

• Visual Organization: Helps in structurally organizing thoughts.
• Idea Connections: Facilitates the understanding of how ideas interrelate.

Online Brainstorming

With the rise of remote work, online brainstorming has become increasingly important. Digital tools have been developed to facilitate brainstorming sessions, allowing participants to contribute either in real-time or asynchronously. Online platforms can incorporate elements of traditional brainstorming, brainwriting, and even mind mapping, often enhanced with multimedia capabilities.

Key Aspects:

• Accessibility: Enables participation regardless of geographical location.
• Diverse Tools: Utilizes various digital tools for idea generation and organization.

Each of these brainstorming methods and techniques has its unique strengths and can be chosen based on the specific needs of the group or the nature of the problem being addressed. Beyond this list there is a wide range of other methods for brainstorming that can be used, such as the SCAMPER method , however, these are the main ones.

The key is to create an environment that encourages creativity and leverages the collective intelligence of the group.

Getting the Best Results from Brainstorming Sessions

Having led and participated in countless brainstorming sessions over the years, I’ve picked up a few tricks that can really help you make a difference.

Here’s my personal take on getting the most out of your brainstorming efforts. First and foremost, clarity of the goal is key . Before getting started, make sure everyone understands the problem you’re tackling. It’s like setting the destination for your journey; without it, you’re just wandering. Where possible write it on a whiteboard or paper and stick it on the wall visible for everyone in the session and refer back to it if the session goes off topic.

I cannot stress enough the importance of creating a judgment-free zone . It’s amazing what ideas can surface when people don’t fear being shot down by others. Remember, brainstorming is about volume and variety ; evaluation comes later. And here’s a tip: encourage wild ideas. Sometimes, the most out-of-the-box suggestion can spark the solution you need.

Diversity in your team is your best friend. Different perspectives can challenge and inspire, leading to more innovative solutions. It’s like adding more colors to your palette; the result is often more vibrant and surprising.

Now, managing the session itself can be a bit of an art. Keep things moving with time limits for each phase but be flexible enough to dive deeper when you’re onto something good. Visual aids, whether sticky notes or digital boards, can be incredibly helpful . They make abstract ideas tangible and can reveal connections you might miss otherwise.

Lastly, what you do after the session is just as important. Summarize the ideas, assign ownership, and set timelines. This follow-through turns great ideas into tangible outcomes.

In conclusion, brainstorming is a vital tool for innovation and problem-solving in collaborative environments. By adhering to key principles like openness, non-judgment, and diversity, and employing various methods tailored to the group’s dynamics, brainstorming transforms into an effective conduit for collective creativity.

The real power of brainstorming lies in its ability to amalgamate a multitude of perspectives into a cohesive, creative force. With proper management, facilitation, and follow-up, brainstorming sessions can transcend mere idea generation, culminating in actionable, innovative solutions that are pivotal to organizational and team success.

• Paulus, P.B. and Kenworthy, J.B., 2019. Effective brainstorming .  The Oxford handbook of group creativity and innovation , pp.287-386.
• Putman, V.L. and Paulus, P.B., 2009. Brainstorming, brainstorming rules and decision making.   The Journal of creative behavior ,  43 (1), pp.29-40.

Q: What is brainstorming?

A: Brainstorming is a creative problem-solving technique that involves generating a large number of ideas in a group or individual setting. It is a process of free thinking and idea generation without judgment or criticism.

Q: How does brainstorming work?

A: Brainstorming typically involves a group of people who come together to generate ideas on a specific topic or problem. The participants share their ideas, build upon each other’s suggestions, and explore different perspectives. The goal is to generate a wide range of ideas, encourage creativity, and identify innovative solutions.

Q: What are the benefits of brainstorming?

A: Brainstorming offers several benefits, such as stimulating creativity, fostering collaboration, encouraging diverse perspectives, and generating a large pool of ideas. It can lead to innovative solutions, help overcome obstacles, and inspire new ways of thinking.

Q: How can I make a brainstorming session more effective?

A: To make a brainstorming session more effective, it is important to define a clear objective, create a supportive environment, encourage active listening, and follow established brainstorming rules. Diversity in participants, utilizing creativity-enhancing techniques, and facilitating open and respectful communication can also contribute to the effectiveness of a session.

Q: Are there different types of brainstorming?

A: Yes, there are different types of brainstorming techniques. Traditional brainstorming involves a free-flowing exchange of ideas. Other techniques include brainwriting (where ideas are written down individually), mind mapping (creating visual representations of ideas), and reverse brainstorming (identifying potential problems or obstacles).

Daniel Croft is a seasoned continuous improvement manager with a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma. With over 10 years of real-world application experience across diverse sectors, Daniel has a passion for optimizing processes and fostering a culture of efficiency. He's not just a practitioner but also an avid learner, constantly seeking to expand his knowledge. Outside of his professional life, Daniel has a keen Investing, statistics and knowledge-sharing, which led him to create the website learnleansigma.com, a platform dedicated to Lean Six Sigma and process improvement insights.

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Brainstorming: 24 Techniques for Effective Brainstorming [+ How-to]

Home » Brainstorming   | 🕑 

Gust de Backer

November 11, 2023.

Every company does brainstorming , but some companies are better at it than others….

So why is that?

I’m going to show you:

• What different brainstorming techniques there are.
• How to prioritize brainstorm ideas.
• And how to be creative during your brainstorming sessions.

Let’s start..

Table of Contents

What is brainstorming?

Brainstorming is a technique for working with a group to find creative ideas for a specific problem.

In short, brainstorming is a method to creatively solve a problem . In this, it is important that everyone has a good understanding of what the problem is in order for people to brainstorm accurate solutions.

Do’s and don’ts

Why is brainstorming important.

Creative thinking shows us that there are multiple solutions to a problem and multiple ways to look at a problem.

People are often stuck in their ways of thinking because of the patterns they see, which is extremely bad for innovation.

Creative thinking helps to challenge our assumptions, discover new things, see from new perspectives and keep us mentally sharp.

24 brainstorming techniques

Brainstorming is not about the quality, but about the quantity of ideas.

You’re going to come up with as many ideas for a problem as possible, possibly with a group of people, for a set amount of time.

There are 24 methods you can use to make brainstorming more effective:

1. Brainwriting / Purge

Each member of the group has a certain amount of time to write down all his/her ideas. This has two main advantages:

• Introverts get a chance to share their ideas.
• It ensures that no one or two ideas dominate the brainstorming.

The result is a wide range of ideas that would not have surfaced if a few ideas had been discussed from the beginning.

2. The 5 Why’s Analysis

The 5 why’s analysis has become popular because Toyota used it as a standard process for root-cause analysis.

By asking “why?” 5 times in response to an answer you will get to the root of the problem or solution which allows for a broader perspective and better dialogue.

3. Starbursting

The starbursting technique pushes you to think about the who, what, where, when, why and how of an idea. Place your idea or problem in the center of the star diagram and at the ends put the questions:

4. Mind mapping

You place your problem or idea in the center of the board and start adding to it with new parts:

This also directly ensures that there is structure and that everything is broken down into certain topics.

5. Rolestorming

Try to imagine yourself as another person, it may be someone familiar or someone you know from your immediate environment.

If you can imagine yourself to be another person, ask yourself again how that would solve your problem?

6. Gap filling

See what situation you are in now (ready state) and see where you want to go (target state). Then ask yourself the question, how do we go from the ready state to the target state? What is needed for that?

The gap filling way is a good brainstorming technique to get from A to B.

7. Brain-netting

Using online software, write down ideas that belong to a particular problem or issue.

This is especially useful in preparation for a brainstorm so that people have enough time in advance to think about possible solutions without a lot of email traffic.

8. Round robin brainstorming

In round robin brainstorming, there is one person responsible for bringing up a question or several questions…

In this process, everyone must answer one at a time. In doing so, no feedback may be given or a second idea shared until everyone has shared his or her idea.

This brainstorming technique is ideal for medium to large teams where there are introverted team members or where there is a poor balance of creative input.

Tip : If someone shares an idea that has already been, give that person time to come up with a new idea.

9. Rapid ideation

Parkinson’s law shows us that we spend as much time on our work as we have available

Putting a time limit on brainstorming can increase the quality of the brainstorm. This allows team managers to maximize productivity and results.

Especially for teams with little time, who have little desire for meetings, or who are easily distracted, Rapid Ideation can be a good brainstorming technique.

10. Reverse brainstorming

Brainstorming sessions are often aimed at solving a problem. Reverse brainstorming sessions are aimed at causing problems.

Instead of asking “how can we solve this problem?” you ask “how can we make [problem] happen? From the answers you get, you can start to find solutions to possible problems that a concept or idea might pose.

Thinking of problems first ensures that the team then has a better perspective in solving the problems.

11. Stepladder brainstorming

In stepladder brainstorming, a problem is presented to the group where all but one or two people must leave the room….

The one or two people must then share their ideas after which a third person may enter the room to share his or her ideas, then a fourth, then a fifth and that until everyone has been.

The advantage to this brainstorming technique is that it does not involve thinking as a group, but allows everyone to share their own individual unique ideas without being influenced by the group.

12. SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis is not directly a brainstorming technique, but it can provide additional perspective during brainstorming.

SWOT stands for:

• Strengths : what are the strengths?
• Weaknesses : what are the weaknesses?
• Opportunities : where do the opportunities lie?
• Threats : what are the threats?

The SWOT analysis can also be the basis of brainstorming on how to assess a concept.

13. Eidetic image method

In the Eidetic image method, the group starts by closing their eyes to illustrate the current product in their minds…

Then they can start discussing what it looks like, close their eyes again and start visualizing what an improved version would look like, what features it would contain, what color it is, how big it is, etc.

This brainstorming technique works best when improving an existing product or solution.

14. Change of scenery

If you are constantly brainstorming with the same people in the same space, it can feel like repetition, which is obviously not good for inspiration.

By regularly changing the scenery or space and perhaps also the team composition, it is possible to tap into new sources of inspiration.

15. Drivers analysis

In the drivers analysis brainstorming technique, you focus on the causes of a problem.

Ask yourself or your team of brainstormers, “What causes [problem]?” and then “What causes [answer previous question]?

The deeper you can go the more likely you are to find the root of a problem.

16. Collaborative brainwriting

With this method of brainstorming, there is no need to dedicate a specific session to it….

For example, a facilitator hangs up a large sheet in an office with a problem-statement and possibly already some brainstorming ideas and everyone can contribute ideas in his or her own time.

This way everyone can contribute anonymously, just make sure it is clear to everyone when the deadline is to contribute.

17.  SCAMPER

The SCAMPER brainstorming technique helps brainstormers look at a problem from multiple perspectives, SCAMPER is an acronym that stands for:

• Substitute : evaluate what would happen if you swapped one facet or solution for another.
• Combine : evaluate what would happen if you combined one facet or solution with another.
• Adapt : assess what would happen if you placed one idea or solution in a different context.
• Modify : think about how you could change an idea or solution to make even more impact.
• Put to another use : think about how you could still use your idea in other ways.
• Eliminate : assess what can be removed from your idea or solution to make it simpler.
• Reverse effective : finally, you can look at how you can reorganize an idea to make it more effective.

During a brainstorm, it is helpful to use a SCAMPER template:

18. The idea napkin

The Idea Napkin brainstorming technique allows a broad topic to be broken down into tangible solutions.

Each brainstormer has an ‘Idea Napkin’, on which they write one idea and an elevator pitch of that idea. They also write down who they are trying to solve a problem for and what problem they are solving.

When everything is written down, the idea is for everyone to present their ‘Idea Napkin’ to the others, then all ideas are prioritized on an impact and effort matrix to determine which ideas are worthwhile:

19. 6 thinking hats

In the 6 thinking hats brainstorming technique, you need at least 6 people who are going to wear thinking hats. These different ‘thinking hats’ are going to allow them to look at a problem or idea from one specific angle.

There are 6 different thinking hats:

• Blue hat (Conductor’s hat) : manage the decision process, ask for summaries and come to conclusions.
• Green hat (Creative hat) : the green hat comes up with creative ideas and thinks in terms of possibilities.
• Red hat (Hat for the heart) : go out of your feeling and instinct, you don’t necessarily have to think logically.
• Yellow hat (Optimist’s hat) : with the yellow hat you look at problems with an optimistic view, you see advantages in everything.
• Black hat (Judge’s hat) : the black hat is very critical and sees problems in everything, it is important to see risks and dangers quickly.
• White hat (Fact hat) : neutral and objective, shares lots of statistics and facts.
• + Royal hat (Owner hat) : guides the brainstorm, is looking for the balance between subjectivity and objectivity.

This brainstorming technique is useful to get an overall picture of one or more ideas.

20. ‘What if’ brainstorming

The ‘What if’ brainstorming technique is a good technique to bring out all possible solutions to a problem.

By asking questions like “What if this problem occurred in the 1800s?” or “What if our president would have to solve this issue?”.

By approaching it this way you can look at the problem and the solutions from different angles.

21. Random word picker

You pick a random word or animal and start brainstorming about how the word or the characteristics of the animal can help you solve your problem.

This brainstorming technique is really about getting new ideas in a creative way.

22. Storyboarding

Storyboarding is a brainstorming technique where you start sketching the problem and possible solutions. In doing so, you are going to visualize different parts of the problem and the solution which works extremely well for physical challenges.

23. Wishing

You start by wishing for something ‘I wish our company would make 10 million euros in profit’ and then you start thinking about how you can achieve this.

Try to set really ambitious goals, this ensures that you start thinking bigger and you will encounter other problems and solutions.

24. Crazy eights

In the crazy eights brainstorming technique, each participant is given a template with 8 empty boxes. The timer is set for 8 minutes during which time each participant must fill the boxes with 8 sketches of possible ideas. Repeat this process so that they can build on each other’s ideas.

How do you prioritize ideas?

There are several ways to prioritize ideas:

1. Dotmocracy

To prioritize ideas, it is possible to give all participants X number of stickers that they can divide on the ideas they have.

You can be creative with this by handing out different colored stickers to also vote on ideas that absolutely should not be implemented or perhaps an order in the ideas based on the colors.

2. How Now Wow

The How Now Wow technique is more about categorizing ideas based on how unique they are and how easy they are to accomplish.

After a team has written down ideas, they can be prioritized in the How Now Wow matrix:

• How ideas : original but difficult to implement.
• Now ideas : unoriginal and easy to execute.
• Wow ideas : unique ideas that are easy to execute.

Obviously, you want to have as many “Wow” ideas as possible because they are unique from the competition.

3. Impact-Effort Matrix

The impact-effort matrix allows you to determine the ratio of effort to results and then prioritize the best ideas:

You can write down where an idea belongs on the matrix or you can give points to ideas and use those points to determine where an idea will be placed.

4. I.C.E. / P.I.E.

ICE and PIE are well-known prioritization frameworks; they are acronyms that stand for…

• Impact : what is the potential impact if the idea works?
• Confidence : how confident are we that the idea will work?
• Ease : how easy is it to set up this idea?
• Potential : how potential is this solution to our problem?
• Importance : how important do we think solving this problem is?
• Ease : how easy is it to implement this solution?

From these scores you can get an average, it is also possible to add a multiplier to certain parts of ICE or PIE that you think are important.

5. Feasibility, Desirability and Viability Scorecard

These 3 pillars are topics on which you can rank an idea:

• Feasibility : is it actually achievable?
• Desirability : how much would we like this solution?
• Viability : how confident are we that this will work?

This is very similar to the ICE / PIE framework, but the questioning changes a little bit.

MoSCoW is a very well known prioritization framework, it is widely used to set up requirements for a particular thing and prioritize them.

MoSCoW is an acronym that stands for:

• Must have : What really needs to be in it?
• Should have : what should actually be included?
• Could have : nice to have, is nice to add, but has no priority.
• Would have / Will not have : we’re not going to do anything with this for now.

7. Multi-criteria Decision Making

In multi-criteria decision making, you write down what you think is important about a solution and prioritize different ideas based on that:

8. The Value Matrix

Also called the Value and Effort matrix, this involves weighing the costs against the benefits:

How to brainstorm effectively?

How do you set up the brainstorm effectively?

The better the problem statement is the better the brainstorming will go. It is easier to focus ideas on a situation when that situation is enormously clear.

By just starting to do anything you will probably not find the desired solution. Make sure you have a clear agenda with times when you want to do something exactly. It is also important to make clear in advance what the desired end result of the brainstorm is.

Each brainstorming technique fits a different type of situation, evaluate which brainstorming techniques exist and choose some to come up with solutions from multiple angles.

By just talking and thinking about ideas a lot will be lost, document the ideas so they can be looked back at later.

Not every idea has the same potential to be used, therefore it is important to choose which ideas can be taken up, which ones will be interesting at a later date and which ones can be thrown in the garbage can.

Make sure you have time available in the coming period to start working on good ideas.

What is creativity in brainstorming?

Creativity is the ability to think outside of traditional ways and come up with new, original ideas, methods or objects.

It is often thought that the left part of the brain is for creativity and that the right part of the brain contains analytical ability:

In creativity, it is about the networks between the different parts in the brain. There are 3 types of networks that are important here:

• The executive attention network : allows you to maintain your attention and focus.
• The imagination network : allows you to daydream or imagine yourself in someone else’s shoes.
• The salience network : allows you to identify certain things based on old information stored in your brain.

A video that goes into some detail here:

What types of creative thinking are there?

At work, there are several types of creative thinking you may encounter:

• Divergent Thinking : a brainstorming session where you write down as many solutions as you can think of.
• Convergent Thinking : gathering facts and finding the most used and complete solution to the problem.
• Inspirational Thinking : focus on the best-case scenario to find a new solution to a problem.
• Lateral Thinking : reorganize information to come up with creative solutions to move from the ready state to the target state.
• Aesthetic Thinking : solutions that we actually like, with a focus on structure, knowledge, composition, color and shape.

What is critical thinking in brainstorming?

A critical thinker does not simply assume ideas and assumptions, but will always be looking for more ideas, arguments and insights to get the full picture.

Critical thinkers will identify, analyze and solve problems in a systematic way rather than thinking from intuition or instinct.

A critical thinker is able to:

• Make the connection between ideas and in them determine how important and relevant arguments and ideas are.
• Recognize, build and evaluate arguments.
• Find errors and inconsistencies in reasoning.
• To approach problems in a consistent and systematic way.
• Reflect on his own assumptions, beliefs and values.

Discover your creativity

You are now armed with knowledge to set up the best creative brainstorming sessions….

I’m curious, what do you think is the best brainstorming technique?

Let me know in a comment.

P.S. Want more help? Send an email to [email protected]

Frequently asked questions about brainstorming

A design sprint is a limited-time process that uses design thinking. The goal is to find an answer to a critical business question or a specific problem within that limited timeframe.

During a design sprint, design thinking is used.

To lead a brainstorm session it is important that you understand the problem, that you set a clear agenda, that you use the right brainstorm techniques and that you stimulate new ideas and don’t criticize ‘bad’ ideas.

First come up with a clear problem-statement, then choose matching brainstorm techniques, plan a clear agenda and at the end prioritize the outcomes of the brainstorm session.

There should be a purpose for the brainstorm, it should be with others, you should stimulate each other’s ideas, there should be no criticism of ideas, and make sure there is enough creativity.

Before brainstorming, the right questions should be asked, this can be done using Starbursting. Starbursting asks questions such as: how, what, where, when, who and why.

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13 Productive Brainstorming Techniques for All Teams

There are times even the typical brainstorming techniques with your team would hit a roadblock. Coming up with fresh new ideas isn’t always so easy.

That’s when you should try something new. Maybe go about brainstorming techniques in a whole new way.

We’ve got 13 effective brainstorming techniques you can use to quickly brainstorm and generate ideas through drawing, writing, and diagramming with your team productively.

13 Brainstorming Techniques to Generate Better Ideas Faster

Brainstorming techniques are structured methods used to generate creative and innovative ideas effectively. These techniques help individuals or teams think more broadly and collaboratively. Here are some common brainstorming techniques every team can use:

1. Brainwriting

2. 5 whys analysis, 3. starbursting, 4. mind mapping, 5. affinity diagram, 6. rolestorming, 7. gap filling, 8. brain-netting, 9. round robin brainstorming, 10. rapid ideation, 11. reverse brainstorming, 12. stepladder brainstorming, 13. swot analysis, what are your favorite brainstorming techniques.

Brainwriting is a collaborative idea-generation technique that is based on written contributions instead of spoken ones. In a brainwriting session, a group of participants is given a specific topic or problem to address. Instead of verbally sharing ideas, each participant writes down their thoughts on the given topic within a set time frame.

Afterward, they pass their written ideas to the person next to them, who then builds upon those ideas or offers new ones. This process continues for several rounds, letting all participants contribute to and expand upon multiple ideas. The collected ideas are later discussed and evaluated, potentially leading to innovative solutions or insights.

Brainwriting is effective because it encourages diverse participation, minimizes domination by a few individuals, and generates a rich pool of ideas. It can be used in both physical and virtual settings, making it a versatile tool.

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The 5 whys analysis is a problem-solving technique used to brainstorm the root causes of an issue by repeatedly asking “why” until the underlying cause is revealed. It’s a structured approach that helps teams dig deeper into a problem’s layers to understand not just the symptoms but the fundamental reasons behind them.

By continuously probing for deeper insights with each “why” question, teams can find the true origin of a problem and develop effective solutions to address it. This method encourages critical thinking and a holistic understanding of complex issues, making it a valuable tool for process improvement and troubleshooting in various industries and contexts.

Starbursting is a brainstorming technique used to generate comprehensive ideas about a specific topic, question, or concept. It involves creating a star-like diagram with the central question or topic at the center and spokes radiating outward, each representing a specific aspect or dimension of the topic. Participants then brainstorm questions related to each aspect, effectively “bursting” out from the central theme.

The purpose of starbursting is to explore a topic from multiple angles, consider various perspectives, and make sure that all relevant aspects are thoroughly examined. It gets participants to think critically, ask probing questions, and generate an array of ideas. Starbursting is often used in problem-solving, idea generation, and decision-making processes.

A mind map is a creative and versatile tool for visually representing ideas or information. It begins with a central idea, theme, or topic placed at the core of the map. From this central point, lines or branches extend outward in various directions. These branches represent related subtopics, concepts, or thoughts associated with the central idea.

It’s a graphic tool that helps individuals organize, explore, and communicate complex thoughts and their interconnections. Mind maps encourage nonlinear thinking and provide a structured way to depict relationships between ideas, making them valuable for brainstorming, planning, and understanding complex subjects.

An affinity diagram is a collaborative method for organizing a multitude of ideas, information, or data into meaningful categories or themes. This technique is particularly useful when faced with complex problems or diverse sets of information.

It involves a group of individuals who contribute their ideas or data, which are then visually grouped around common themes or connections. This process results in a clear, organized diagram that provides insights, reveals patterns, and helps with decision-making by structuring and categorizing the collected information. Affinity diagrams foster collaboration, enable better problem-solving, and offer a structured approach to handling complex data or ideas.

Rolestorming is a creative problem-solving technique that encourages participants to step into different roles or personas to brainstorm new ideas and perspectives. Unlike traditional brainstorming, where participants share ideas from their own viewpoints, rolestorming requires individuals to temporarily adopt a persona or occupation that is related or unrelated to the problem at hand.

By doing so, they can generate fresh ideas and viewpoints that they might not have considered otherwise. This technique leverages creativity and empathy to uncover innovative solutions by looking at the problem through different lenses, ultimately leading to more diverse and inventive ideas.

Gap filling is a problem-solving process that involves brainstorming missing or incomplete information or resources in a particular context or situation and taking steps to address those gaps. It is about recognizing what is needed to bridge the difference between the current state and the desired outcome.

Gap filling can occur in various contexts, such as in project management, education, or even personal development. It often involves a gap analysis of the existing situation, determining what elements are lacking, and then developing strategies or actions to fill those gaps and move closer to achieving a specific goal. It is a proactive approach to problem-solving that aims to optimize a situation by addressing deficiencies or shortcomings.

Brain-netting is an online brainstorming or collaborative thinking technique facilitated through digital tools and platforms. It allows individuals or teams to collectively generate, share, and develop ideas or solutions in a dematerialized, digital environment.

Brain-netting is particularly useful when physical presence is challenging or impossible due to geographical distances or other constraints. It leverages the convenience and accessibility of online communication and collaboration tools like Creately to facilitate productive brainstorming and group reflection sessions, enabling participants to work together effectively despite being in different locations.

Round robin brainstorming is a structured method for generating ideas within a group setting. In this approach, each participant takes turns offering one idea at a time in a predetermined order. The process typically starts with one person, and then moves clockwise or counterclockwise around the group, with each individual contributing their idea when it’s their turn.

This structured rotation gives everyone an equal opportunity to share their thoughts and prevents a few dominant voices from monopolizing the discussion. Round robin brainstorming encourages participation from all group members, promotes diverse idea generation, and can be an effective way to gather a wide range of ideas on a given topic.

Rapid ideation is a creative process in which individuals or teams generate a multitude of ideas quickly and without extensive analysis or evaluation. The goal is to encourage free-flowing, unfiltered idea generation.

During rapid ideation, participants focus on quantity over quality, aiming to generate as many ideas as possible within a short period. This approach often involves setting a time limit and encouraging participants to think creatively and spontaneously. Rapid ideation can be a valuable technique for brainstorming, problem-solving, or generating innovative solutions, as it allows for the exploration of a wide range of possibilities and can lead to unique insights.

Reverse brainstorming is a technique used to explore a problem or challenge by intentionally generating ideas that are the opposite or counter to the desired outcome. Instead of seeking solutions, participants in a reverse brainstorming session focus on identifying potential causes or factors that contribute to the problem.

This process involves encouraging participants to think creatively and even humorously about how to worsen the situation. By doing so, the group can gain a deeper understanding of the problem’s root causes and develop insights into what needs to be avoided or corrected to achieve the desired outcome. Reverse brainstorming can serve as a valuable tool for problem analysis and can lead to more effective problem-solving strategies.

Stepladder brainstorming is a structured approach to group idea generation. It encourages all team members to participate actively in the brainstorming process. In this method, a core group of team members starts by discussing the problem at hand. Afterward, one member, referred to as the “stepladder,” leaves the group temporarily and then returns to share their ideas. The key is that this returning member first discusses their ideas with the initial group members before rejoining the larger group. This process continues as additional team members step out, discuss ideas, and return to contribute their insights.

Stepladder brainstorming has several advantages. It ensures that all team members have a chance to participate and prevents one or two dominant voices from steering the discussion. It also encourages diverse thinking as individuals bring fresh perspectives and ideas back to the group. This structured approach can lead to more comprehensive idea generation and a richer exploration of the topic.

A SWOT analysis is a tool used to assess a situation or decision by examining its inherent strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It can be applied to various scenarios, such as personal decision-making, project planning, or evaluating a course of action.

Strengths: These are the inherent advantages or positive qualities of the situation being considered. They represent the aspects that are favorable, beneficial, or advantageous.

Weaknesses: These are the internal limitations, shortcomings, or drawbacks of the situation.

Opportunities: Opportunities are external factors or conditions that could be leveraged to benefit the situation. They represent chances for growth, improvement, or positive outcomes.

Threats: Threats are external factors or potential obstacles that may pose challenges or risks to the situation. They are factors to be aware of and mitigate if possible.

A SWOT analysis helps individuals or teams make more informed choices by systematically considering these four dimensions. It encourages critical thinking, thorough examination, and a balanced assessment of the situation at hand.

We’ve listed 13 brainstorming techniques that you can use to boost generating ideas with your team. Each of these brainstorming techniques has its unique characteristics and can be tailored to suit different scenarios and team dynamics. Choosing the right technique depends on the specific goals and constraints of the brainstorming session.

If you have any other brainstorming technique that is your favorite way of coming up with new ideas, do share them with us.

Join over thousands of organizations that use Creately to brainstorm, plan, analyze, and execute their projects successfully.

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Amanda Athuraliya is the communication specialist/content writer at Creately, online diagramming and collaboration tool. She is an avid reader, a budding writer and a passionate researcher who loves to write about all kinds of topics.

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Brainstorming Examples + Techniques For Problem Solving

By Krystle Wong , Sep 08, 2023

So — you’re faced with a complex problem that seems as daunting as a mountain. You’ve tried all the usual approaches, but the solution remains elusive. What do you do? That’s where a good brainstorming mind map maker comes into play. 

This article is your backstage pass to the world of brainstorming. I’m not just going to give you the playbook; I’m going to show you how it’s done with brainstorming examples that will have you saying, “Why didn’t I think of that?” 

So, no more beating around the brainstorming bush. Let’s roll up our sleeves and dive into the many effective techniques and examples that will turbocharge your problem-solving game. It’s time to unleash your inner brainstorming genius!

Click to jump ahead:

What are the 4 rules of brainstorming

12+ brainstorming mind map examples for problem solving, 10 effective brainstorming techniques that work, 5 common mistakes to avoid during brainstorming, brainstorming examples faq.

• 5 steps to create a brainstorming mind map with Venngage

The concept of brainstorming was introduced by Alex Osborn, an advertising executive and he outlined four key rules to facilitate effective brainstorming sessions. 

These rules are often referred to as the “Four Rules of Brainstorming” and are designed to encourage creativity and a free flow of ideas within a group. Here are the four rules:

No judgment: All ideas are welcomed and accepted without criticism or evaluation during a brainstorming session. This rule encourages participants to feel free to express even unconventional or seemingly impractical ideas.

Quantity over quality: Forget about perfection for now. In brainstorming, it’s like a numbers game – the more ideas, the merrier. Don’t get bogged down in refining each idea to perfection; just get them out there.

Build on the ideas of others: Teamwork makes the dream work. When someone throws out an idea, don’t just nod and move on. Add your spin, build on it or take it in a different direction. It’s all about collaboration and bouncing off each other’s creativity.

Encourage wild and creative ideas: Embrace the weird, the wild and the wacky. Sometimes the most outlandish ideas can be the seeds of genius solutions. So, don’t be shy – let your imagination run wild. 

So, the next time you’re in a brainstorming session, remember these rules. They’re not just guidelines; they’re the keys to unlocking your team’s creative potential. With these principles in play, you’ll find yourself reaching new heights of innovation and problem-solving.

Mind maps are a powerful tool for brainstorming, helping individuals and teams visualize ideas, make connections and unleash their creative potential. 

Whether you’re conducting a team retrospective or embarking on a corporate brainstorm, you can significantly enhance idea generation, boost efficient learning and note taking with mind maps . Get started with one of the brainstorming mind map examples below. 

1. Team retrospective board

When creating a mind map for a team retrospective, it’s essential to strike a balance between structure and flexibility. 

To achieve this, consider color-coding categories such as “What went well,” “What needs improvement,” and “Action items.” This visual differentiation helps participants quickly identify and prioritize discussion areas. 

Additionally, incorporating a timeline element within the mind map can provide a visual representation of the project’s progression, enabling the team to recall specific events and experiences. 

You can further enhance the visual appeal and emotional context by using icons or symbols to represent sentiments, such as happy faces for positive experiences and sad faces for challenges.

2. Business model brainstorm

Designing a mind map for brainstorming a business model necessitates a structured approach to represent various model elements coherently. 

Incorporate color to cover essential components like value proposition, customer segments, revenue streams and distribution channels. Color coding can help visually organize your ideas and make the map more visually appealing.

To make each component stand out and aid comprehension, incorporate icons or relevant images. For instance, use a dollar sign icon to represent revenue streams. Consistency in color schemes helps differentiate sections and highlights essential elements.

3. Collaborative brainstorm

Collaborative brainstorming often involves multiple participants contributing ideas simultaneously. 

To ensure efficient organization and clarity, assign specific branches within the mind map to individual participants. This approach helps maintain ownership of ideas and prevents overlap. 

Encourage participants to contribute further context by adding comments or annotations to each branch. Utilize mind mapping software that supports real-time collaboration if the brainstorming session involves remote teams, enabling seamless teamwork and idea exchange.

These collaborative brainstorming examples can be helpful in generating ideas during your next brainstorming process:

4. Product improvement brainstorm

Brainstorming product improvements requires an effective categorization and prioritization of ideas. Organize your mind map by creating branches for different areas of improvement, such as usability enhancements, additional features or performance optimization. 

Begin by sharing user feedback, reviews or customer pain points related to the product. This provides context and helps participants understand the existing challenges.

Then, organize your mind map into categories based on different aspects of the product, such as features, user experience, performance or customer support.

Product improvement is an ongoing process so make sure to not limit your brainstorming to a one-time event. Schedule regular sessions to continually enhance the product.

5. Corporate brainstorm

In a corporate brainstorming session, where diverse topics and ideas are on the agenda, systematic organization is crucial. 

Divide your mind map into sections and subsections to address various corporate aspects, such as HR, marketing, finance and operations. For example, this mind map on corporate initiative ideas divides the sections into different CSR programs and initiatives that the company can do to enhance public image:

To highlight potential synergies between related ideas from different sections, connect them with clear cross-references. Additionally, for practicality, include action items or tasks linked to specific ideas to facilitate a smooth implementation process within the corporate framework.

6. Creative brainstorm

Creative brainstorms thrive on spontaneity and inspiration — which is why your mind map design should encourage free-flowing ideas and unconventional thinking. 

Opt for a non-linear, organic structure within the mind map, avoiding rigid hierarchies that can stifle creativity. Embrace the use of visuals, such as images, sketches or mood boards, to stimulate creativity and inspiration. 

Here’s a brainstorming mind map example that teachers can use to generate exciting classroom activities and keep students engaged:

Allow branches to extend in unexpected directions, reflecting the dynamic and imaginative nature of creative brainstorming. This approach encourages participants to explore unconventional ideas and perspectives, fostering a truly creative atmosphere during the session.

Brainstorming aside, mind maps are versatile tools useful for organizing complex information, creating study aids, structuring project plans and facilitating communication and knowledge sharing in collaborative settings.

Browse our selection of mind map templates or learn about the best mind mapping software to help enhance creativity, solve problems and organize ideas.

Unleashing your team’s creativity through effective brainstorming techniques is a game-changer when it comes to generating new ideas and innovative solutions. Let’s delve into ten creative brainstorming techniques that can breathe life into your brainstorming sessions:

1. Mind mapping

Like concept maps , mind mapping is great for emphasizing the connections and relationships between ideas. You start with a central idea and then let your thoughts branch out like tree branches. Mind mapping is a great way to spot connections you might have missed.

2. Brainwriting

Forget talking — this one’s all about writing your ideas down. Brainwriting lets you pass your ideas around and let your team add their two cents. It’s a great brainstorming strategy for getting everyone involved especially if you’re brainstorming with a large group.

3. SCAMPER Method

SCAMPER stands for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate and Reverse. This technique encourages participants to explore these strategies for idea generation.

4. Storyboarding

Create a visual narrative or storyboard to explore ideas sequentially. This can help enhance understanding the flow and practicality of concepts, especially in product development or process improvement. Check out our gallery of storyboard templates you could use to generate new ideas.

5. Role storming

Ever tried brainstorming as someone else? In this technique, you put on different thinking caps, like playing pretend. It’s awesome for seeing things from fresh angles.

6. Worst possible idea

This one’s my favorite! Deliberately come up with the crummiest, silliest ideas you can think of. Oddly enough, they can spark some brilliant ones!

7. Round-robin brainstorming

One of my favorite group brainstorming techniques, everyone gets a turn to share their ideas with round-robin brainstorming — no interrupting or dominating the conversation. This technique ensures that everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute.

8. SWOT Analysis

Analyze the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats related to the problem or idea. This structured approach helps identify potential areas for improvement or innovation. Browse our SWOT analysis templates for more inspiration.

9. Random word or image association

Start with something random, like “banana” or “dolphin,” and brainstorm from there. It’s like mental gymnastics and it can lead to some seriously cool ideas.

10. Nominal group technique

For this brainstorming technique, Participants individually generate ideas, which are then anonymously shared and discussed as a group, ensuring balanced participation and minimizing the influence of dominant voices.

To further fuel your brainstorming sessions, you could always consider using a brainstorming tool to facilitate collaboration, structure ideas and provide visual frameworks. From virtual whiteboards to mind maps, here’s a list of brainstorming tools that can cater to various needs and preferences in brainstorming sessions.

Brainstorming sessions can be exhilarating bursts of creativity, but they can also veer off course if not handled with care. Here, we’ll explore five common missteps to steer clear of and conduct a successful brainstorming session.

1. Criticizing ideas too early

When participants criticize or judge ideas too soon in the brainstorming process, it can discourage creativity and stifle the generation of innovative solutions. To avoid this, it’s essential to foster an environment where all ideas are welcomed without immediate criticism.

Solution: Embrace the “No Judgment” rule we mentioned earlier. Encourage a judgment-free zone where all ideas are welcome to generate as many ideas, no matter how unusual or impractical they might seem initially. 

2. Groupthink

Ah, groupthink – the silent brainstorming killer. It’s when the desire for harmony within the group overrides critical thinking. Everyone nods along to ideas, not because they believe in them, but to avoid conflict.

Solution: Foster an atmosphere where dissenting opinions are not only tolerated but encouraged. Encourage team members to play devil’s advocate and don’t let conformity hold your brainstorming sessions hostage.

3. Ignoring introverted participants

In the whirlwind of brainstorming, extroverted voices can dominate the conversation, leaving introverts feeling like they’re stranded on the sidelines. Their valuable ideas may get lost in the noise.

Solution: Implement techniques like brainwriting or round-robin brainstorming, which give everyone an equal chance to contribute without the pressure of immediate verbal expression. 

4. Prioritizing quantity over quality

Yes, quantity matters in brainstorming, but swinging the pendulum too far toward generating sheer volume can leave you drowning in a sea of mediocre ideas.

Solution: Balance is key. Encourage the generation of many ideas, but once you’ve amassed a list, focus on quality. Sort through them, identify the most promising ones and build upon them collectively.

5. Neglecting follow-up and implementation

Brainstorming is exhilarating, but it’s just the first lap in the race. Failing to follow up on the ideas generated and implementing the best ones is like baking a cake and never eating it.

Solution: Assign responsibility for each idea’s follow-up and implementation. Establish clear timelines and action plans. Make sure the fruits of your brainstorming labor don’t gather dust on the shelf.

By sidestepping these brainstorming bloopers, you’ll be on your way to brilliant solutions and groundbreaking ideas, all while avoiding the pitfalls of the brainstorming jungle. 

Ready to kickstart your brainstorming session? These brainstorm presentation templates might come in handy to help spark creativity, ideation and foster collaborative problem-solving within a team. 

How does brainstorming help with the writing process

Brainstorming helps the writing process by generating a pool of diverse ideas, facilitating idea organization and overcoming writer’s block. It allows writers to explore different angles and perspectives for their content.

Are there any online tools or software for collaborative brainstorming?

Yes, there are several online tools and software for collaborative brainstorming, such as Miro, Stormboard and Google Jamboard. These platforms enable teams to brainstorm ideas in real-time, regardless of physical location.

What are some brainstorming activities for team building and creativity?

Brainstorming activities for team building and creativity include “Two Truths and a Lie,” “Role Reversal” and “The Six Thinking Hats.” These creative exercises promote trust, collaboration and out-of-the-box thinking among team members to generate creative ideas.

How do I encourage creative thinking during a brainstorming session?

To encourage creative thinking during a brainstorming session, create a non-judgmental environment, encourage wild ideas, use creative prompts and mix up the group dynamics. To facilitate productive brainstorming sessions, reward creativity and emphasize the importance of novelty and innovation.

What role does creativity play in effective brainstorming?

Creativity plays a central role in effective brainstorming as it drives the generation of innovative ideas and solutions. Without creativity, brainstorming sessions can become routine and fail to produce breakthrough concepts.

What are the benefits of using brainstorming examples in a business or creative context?

Using brainstorming examples in a business or creative context can provide tangible illustrations of successful brainstorming outcomes. They can inspire participants, provide a framework for idea generation and demonstrate the practical application of brainstorming techniques. Additionally, they can serve as a reference point for future brainstorming sessions.

5 steps to create a brainstorming mind map with Venngage 

In conclusion, mastering the art of brainstorming is like unlocking a treasure chest of solutions to your most challenging problems. By exploring a variety of brainstorming techniques and with the help of the above examples of brainstorming, you’ve gained valuable tools to tackle issues with confidence and creativity.

Now, to bring it all together, consider harnessing the power of visual thinking through a brainstorming mind map. Venngage offers a seamless solution that can transform your brainstorming ideas into organized, inspiring journeys using mind maps . To create a brainstorming mind map with Venngage:

• Sign in or create a free Venngage account.
• Pick a brainstorm mind map template to get started. 
• Add your central idea in the central node.
• Create branches and subtopics by clicking, dragging and labeling.
• Customize your mind map with colors, fonts, icons and connectors to make it visually appealing.

Remember, the beauty of brainstorming lies in its boundless potential, always ready to surprise you with fresh perspectives and creative solutions.

So, whether you’re tackling complex business dilemmas or personal puzzles, put your thinking hat on for a productive brainstorming session and let all the ideas roam free. 

Everything you need to know about brainstorming

Brainstorming is not just a ‘buzzword’. It’s an extremely useful technique that is employed in many businesses and can be used in all. As a creative, efficient, problem-solving method, it encourages free thinking in the search for innovative ideas.

With this working method, organizations can explore new possibilities, generate fresh concepts , and develop new solutions to problems or challenges. There is strong competition in today's rapidly evolving business landscape. Innovative ideas help businesses differentiate themselves from their competitors. Companies need to adapt quickly to change to take advantage of new circumstances and address challenges when they arise.

Brainstorming can help businesses to find new ideas and improve in many ways. It is an essential element of the tried, tested, and enduringly popular design thinking process . Maybe you are looking to enhance efficiency and productivity, meet new customer needs, drive business growth, or improve employee engagement. Brainstorming can give you many ways to create an environment that supports ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking, encourages the right type of risk-taking, and promotes experimentation.

What exactly is brainstorming?

Brainstorming helps you and your teams to generate a large number of ideas and solutions to a specific problem or question. It exists predominantly as a group activity but can be done individually too. During a brainstorming session, team members should be able to contribute their thoughts and suggestions in an open and non-judgmental environment. 

This is intended to encourage free thinking , enabling people to explore different perspectives and possibilities. Participants are encouraged to think laterally, share their ideas without criticism, and build upon the ideas put forward by others.

There are a few key principles to follow that should foster a productive and inclusive atmosphere :

1. Define your question or pretext 

You need to think carefully about the question you are asking people to brainstorm ideas about. It needs to be specific enough to generate the desired results , but not so specific that it becomes difficult to come up with possible solutions.

2. Generate as many ideas as possible 

In the initial phases you are looking for quantity, not quality . The aim is to encourage a free flow of ideas without any limitations.

3. Look for quickfire ideas in a limited amount of time 

If you have too long to think about things it is easy to end up telling yourself an idea is ridiculous and could never work. By making the process quickfire and time limited it is much easier to extract ideas as they come to mind , without overthinking how they might work in practice.

4. Suspend judgment 

It does not matter how ‘silly’ an idea might seem to start with: all ideas should be accepted and recorded without evaluation or criticism. This helps create a safe space where participants can feel comfortable expressing unconventional or seemingly impractical ideas.

5. Build upon ideas

You can add to or modify ideas proposed by others to refine and expand upon initial concepts . This should help promote a collaborative and iterative process.

6. Encourage diverse perspectives

Different backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints will enrich the brainstorming process. You will get unique perspectives and insights that can lead the way to innovation.

7. Encourage wild or unconventional ideas 

Brainstorming encourages thinking beyond the ordinary and exploring unconventional solutions. Sometimes the most innovative solutions can be based on ideas that initially seem outrageous.  

When your brainstorming session is complete you will have a bank of ideas. These ideas can then be evaluated, refined, and prioritized through more teamwork to identify the most feasible and promising solutions.

Why does brainstorming work so well?

Brainstorming can be highly effective for several reasons. This practice helps to overcome the mental blocks and biases that can hinder creativity. If you can suspend judgment and create a non-critical atmosphere, it will encourage participants to freely express ideas, even if they might seem unworkable. 

And while this may seem like the case at the outset, there may be something that sparks another idea, and so on. Brainstorming gives you the possibility of exploring different perspectives and this can lead to the creation of innovative solutions.

Research by Carnegie Mellon University has shown that the collective intelligence of a group is greater than the sum of its parts. Working as a group, team members can build upon each other's ideas, combining insights and perspectives. The collaborative nature of brainstorming sessions sparks creative thinking and helps people to come up with more imaginative ideas. And the greater the diversity within the group, the better. If you can bring individuals together with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and knowledge, you can put this together to create something unique.

The brainstorming process can also enhance engagement as participants can feel a sense of agency and ownership, which increases their motivation to contribute. When ideas are valued and respected, individuals are more likely to actively participate. 

Brainstorming supports iterative thinking , as ideas are built upon, refined, and developed over time. Because the process is collaborative it allows for feedback and discussion and a more positive and supportive environment. This is in contrast to a more hierarchical, traditional environment that many companies still operate.

Who introduced brainstorming into the world of work?

Alex F. Osborn was the first to invent the concept of brainstorming in the 1940s. He was an American advertising executive who was looking for better ways to come up with creative ideas. He found that people working as a group would come up with better ideas and published several books on the subject. 

In 1953 his book Applied Imagination introduced the concept properly, along with some examples of how brainstorming had been used to great effect by the advertising agency he co-founded: Batten, Barton, Durstine, and Osborn, or BBDO.

Since then, brainstorming has been used by organizations to help find creative ideas and solutions. Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, and Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, have both utilized brainstorming methods. 

Microsoft even had a dedicated policy of asking employees for ideas . ‘Ideas individually generated by the company’s employees were sent to Bill Gates. It was his tradition to take a week off about two times year, calling it the “Think Week” when he went through piles of paper and marked them individually to converge the best suggestions to create his own ideas’. This process has been fine tuned over the years at Microsoft.

When can brainstorming be useful?

There are many situations when brainstorming methods can be useful. If you want to generate creative ideas, solve problems, or stimulate innovation it can be used to great advantage. Here are some of the most useful ways in which you can harness the power of teamwork and use brainstorming methods to create better outcomes.

1. Problem-solving

If you have a complex problem or challenge it can be difficult to see a way forward. By breaking down the problem into smaller parts and formulating a question or statement relating to each specific outcome, you can use brainstorming techniques to help generate a wide range of potential solutions. Participants can explore different perspectives together, and the method allows them to think outside the box.

2. Idea generation 

Successful businesses need to be constantly innovating and improving . It is not always easy to come up with new ideas and concepts, but brainstorming can help your teams generate them. As it encourages free-flowing thinking it can spark innovative solutions or concepts that may not have been considered otherwise.

3. Project planning  

A project management mindset is an essential part of any efficient teamwork. Before you start a new project, it can be a good idea to hold some brainstorming sessions to gather input from team members. This can help to identify potential risks, define project goals, and outline strategies or approaches to achieve those goals. You want to get your project started on firm foundations.

4. Product development 

If you want to develop a new product or improve an existing one, it is not always obvious where to start. Brainstorming can help generate ideas for features, design elements, marketing strategies , and other aspects related to a product's creation, development, or launch.

5. Team building

Without strong teamwork and collaboration your teams will be less efficient and effective. Brainstorming sessions can foster collaboration and teamwork within a group. 

If you encourage individuals to contribute their ideas and actively listen to others , you can allow all members of your team, no matter how junior they are, to feel seen and important. This promotes a positive and inclusive team environment and is likely to lead to greater productivity and higher levels of engagement and satisfaction.

6. Marketing and advertising

Brainstorming originated in the advertising industry and is still commonly used in marketing and advertising. It can help with ideas for creative campaigns, slogans, taglines, and promotional strategies . Brainstorming methods enable marketers to explore different angles and messages that will more effectively reach their target audience.

7. Content creation

If you need to produce engaging and original content for things like articles, blog posts, artwork, or any other creative aspect in your business, you can use brainstorming techniques as a starting point.  

Although brainstorming is a valuable method for seeking solutions to problems, it is not always the ideal answer. If you have difficult team dynamics or a problem has certain time constraints, brainstorming might not be the place to start. 

If you are not entirely clear on the problem and what needs to be solved, brainstorming is unlikely to help you with the solution. The validity of the question or statement used as the starting point will also influence how useful your session is.

How does brainstorming fuel team efficiency and creativity?

We have looked at some of the ways in which brainstorming can be used for positive outcomes, and one of those is improving your teams’ efficiency and creativity. Used properly it can strengthen your team by making them feel more engaged and bonded.

Brainstorming allows for creative thinking but within a structured environment . The process begins with the introduction of a problem or topic and team members are urged to think of ideas quickly, without censoring the answers that come to mind. If you wait until the start of a session to inform the team of the subject, you are likely to get more spontaneous and creative answers . When individuals are given time to consider an issue in advance, they can dismiss their ideas as unfeasible or foolish.

Brainstorming sessions are, by definition, creative exercises. If you can encourage your team members to actively participate in a group brainstorming session you will be giving them opportunities to be more creative at work . This is likely to extend into other areas of their work.

Working together as a team can help people come up with solutions in less time than if they were to search for answers on their own. As we have seen, collective intelligence is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Teams that are more efficient and effective will produce more in less time. And what they produce should be of a higher quality .

Brainstorming methods and teamwork

One of the most effective ways to run a brainstorming session is with a whiteboard. Traditional whiteboards have limited functionalities, but online whiteboards offer many extra features to make your sessions even more productive. With endless scope and the option to use it and share it with remotely based teams , both at the time and after the event, a virtual whiteboard is the ideal collaborative tool.

There are various readymade brainstorming templates available to enable your teams get the most out of their meetings and improve their effectiveness. You can even set a timer to add a degree of urgency and make the session more efficient.

Whether your teams are old hands at brainstorming or just getting to grips with it, our collaborative tools will help them work better together. Why not check out our resources to see how we can help you?

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