Brainstorming

by Colin Bates

Introduction to Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a much talked about and much misunderstood technique for generating ideas. To get the best value from brainstorming it needs to be fully understood and carried out properly.

Let's define it first:

'Brainstorming is a means of getting a large number of ideas from a group of people in a short time'. 

Note the careful choice of words:

'A large number of ideas' makes no mention of quality - we are simply after quantity. We should get many ideas - we may get winners.

'A group of people' implies that everybody has an equal opportunity to contribute.

'In a short time' means exactly that - this is not a technique where ideas follow long periods of contemplation, it is a means of getting ideas fast�. there should be a storm of ideas!

To achieve this a free-wheeling atmosphere is critical:
� There should be no criticism
� No interpretation, evaluation or comment on the ideas at all. 

This is about divergent thinking, ideas sparking ideas and leading to still more ideas.

The problem is that people seize on this lack of discipline and either run with the apparent anarchy, or criticize it as frivolous. The reality is that the best brainstorming sessions are, in fact, something of a creative paradox: they are a tightly managed process, to facilitate free and divergent thinking.

The Eight Stages of Brainstorming

There are eight stages that should be followed to maximize productivity in brainstorming:

1. State the problem
2. Restate the problem
3. Select a restatement
4. Warm-up
5. Brainstorm ideas
6. Brainstorm the wildest idea
7. Thanks and next steps
8. Idea evaluation

1. State the problem: Everyone one needs to know what the problem is. However, the amount of information that is common to the group is the critical factor. In most corporate groups, there will be some who are the 'experts' and some who are on the fringes of the problem. This mixture, and the controlling of it, is critical to the success of the session. The common knowledge shared by the group should be sufficient to understand, but not so much that the group is inhibited in developing ideas. The expert is less likely to put forward 'silly' ideas: outsiders are more comfortable doing this, and it is in this synergy that the creative spark will be generated.

This section of the meeting should be no more than about 10 minutes, and should normally be conducted by the person who has asked for the session. At this point, all that is required is a statement of the problem, without detail, followed by sufficient discussion for the group to understand the problem.

2. Restate the problem: The key here is to start by asking the group to develop a number of restatements of the problem, starting with the words, 'how can we�..'. The danger here is that people want to start brainstorming on the problem as stated, whereas the key to plenty of ideas is having different ways of looking at the problem and restating it. For example:

Problem statement:
'How can we increase profits?'

Possible problem restatements:
'How can we �. make existing business more profitable?'
'How can we �. cut our overheads?'
'How can we �. get more business from existing clients?'
'How can we �. win new profitable business?'
'How can we �. develop new more profitable lines of business?'
etc.

The use of 'How can we �.' prevents the premature production of ideas. If it makes sense with the words 'How can we�.' in front of it, it is a restatement: if it doesn't, it is possibly a solution. This stage is crucial!

All restatements are written down and numbered. We should be looking for at least 20 restatements.

3. Select a restatement: One or two restatements should be selected by the group as a lead-in to the actual brainstorming session. This selection can be done either by vote, having the participants call out the numbers of the restatements that they favour, or autocratically, by the leader.

Too detailed discussion of the restatements should be avoided. The reason is that the restatement development session has helped to move the group into divergent, creative thinking. Too much discussion and defense of the merits of a particular restatement runs the considerable risk that the group will lapse back into analytical, 'convergent' thinking.

4. Warm up session: The purpose here is simply to get people free-wheeling. It may not be necessary with the rare group that is totally comfortable with each other and is familiar with the process. But for most groups there is benefit in spending a few minutes discussing ideas on some non-related subject.

'How many uses can we think of for an ashtray?' or 'What if we all woke up one morning and found that the whole world had overnight developed six fingers on each hand?' - anything to get the creative ball rolling.

5. Brainstorm ideas: The leader now writes down one of the selected restatements, and now the preface becomes, 'In how many ways can we�.'. It is important that the restatement is written down and kept in front of the group, because of the risk of losing track of the problem in the freewheeling discussion. He then asks for ideas.

As ideas are generated, they are written down on flipcharts by the leader and numbered. This display of ideas is important. The visibility of the ideas is a challenge to fill the room, and a spur to additional ideas. Concealing the ideas by any other method of recording - a secretary or a tape recorder - is counter productive.

When the first restatement appears to be exhausted, then the process is repeated for the second restatement, continue numbering in sequence, and so on, until all restatements have been used up.

Key to success is laughter and noise. If you are running the session, be prepared to repeat ideas back to people, ostensibly for clarification, laugh with them at the ideas - anything to keep the energy going in the room.

Inevitably the flow of ideas will fluctuate during the session. There are various ways of handling this: take an 'incubation break' of about one minute, move to the next restatement, or another warm-up session.

At some point there will be an apparent repetition of an earlier idea. Locate the original, and make sure it really is a straight repeat - the identical words. Any variation may be fertile ground.

If the words are the same, ask the idea generator if that is really what they meant, and then resume the session, unless there is still some mileage here.

When all the ideas on all the restatements have been exhausted, the leader ends the session with the 'wildest idea'. 

6. Wildest idea: Starting with a fresh sheet, ask the participants to select the 'wildest idea'. Now ask the group for ideas to turn the wildest idea into something useful and record them. Usually around 10 ideas will be produced, sometimes very good ones. Occasionally, no more ideas will be forthcoming, although the concept of taking the wildest idea will at least leave the group feeling good about the session's productivity.

7. Thanks and next steps: The issue here is to have the participants leave the meeting feeling that it has been time well spent.

Thank them for their contributions, and explain that there will be an evaluation of the ideas and the best one will be selected for further development.

8. Evaluation: The evaluation following a brainstorming session can be handled in one of two ways - either by the participants individually, or by a small team of participants. The team approach can be done by a review meeting, using the original written ideas, consisting of those from the group who are committed to implementing a solution.

The 'all participants' method is best handled by typing up all the ideas, still with their numbers, under each restatement and asking each of them to select the ideas that they consider to be worth pursuing (often about 10 or 15% of the total). They each simply return the numbers of the ideas, which are then allocated on a master sheet, and the 'winners' selected. This process itself may generate yet more ideas.

Neither the team or the single participant approach should involve long discussion. This is analytical, but more of a 'winnowing out' approach than a definitive selection. That is the next stage, and can be handled in a similar fashion - individual or team.

The objective is to select a few good ideas, and to demonstrate to the participants that action has been taken.

Maximizing the Results of Your Brainstorming Session

There are some more specific ways of enhancing the productivity of the session:

Make up of the group: the optimum number is about twelve, six is too small, twenty tends to start to inhibit people. You must have some outsiders to generate the offbeat, wild ideas. Breadth of knowledge and a range of age and experience is desirable, with one proviso. In a strongly hierarchical organization, the levels should be restricted to one or two, otherwise the unease between levels will almost certainly prove to be counter-productive.

Give them the problem beforehand: the purpose here is not to have them working out the ideas beforehand, but to have the problem seep into their subconscious. This should be no more than a very brief description of the problem.

Explain how to works: if the group, or some of its members, have not done any brainstorming before (or not done it right!) then a brief explanation of the procedure is helpful. In particular, understanding the emphasis on free-wheeling and suspension of judgment is critical. These guidelines should be displayed during the sessions.

Don't ask specific people for ideas: never favor anybody, nor pick on someone who has not contributed. If you have someone who is dominating the session, hope that they will exhaust themselves, but, if necessary, step in and (politely) ask them to let someone else have a try.

Location: neutral room, no telephones, no interruptions. No people coming and going - that is death to the session! Tables are not required, since no notes are taken. A 'U' shaped arrangement of chairs is best with the leader/scribe at the open end of the 'U'.

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