THE PRINCIPLE

Brainstorming is more productive when you follow four simple guidelines

It may seem a paradox to set rules for thinking out of the box, but if you follow the four simple guidelines below, you’ll find that your brainstorming sessions are more productive.

1. Quantity counts. During a session come up with as many ideas as you can, as quickly as you can. Nobel prizewinner Linus Pauling revealed the secret of his prodigious ability to generate breakthroughs: ‘I have lots and lots and lots of ideas, and then I throw away the bad ones.’ The key in that statement is ‘lots and lots and lots of ideas’.
2. No judging! There will be a time to evaluate your ideas and throw away the bad ones, but the brainstorming session is not it. This is the hardest part of the process. We seem to be wired to respond critically as soon as a new idea appears. You need to make sure that you (or others, if you’re doing this in a group) don’t judge ideas as they come up. Judging includes not only critical comments, but also eye-rolling, tsking and shaking your head. Even if your immediate response to an idea is that it’s impractical, too expensive or just plain stupid, hold off. If you’re brainstorming in a group and there’s judging going on, fine the offender a pound every time it happens. The proceeds can be used to buy snacks for the next session.
3. Write down every idea. Writing down some ideas and not others is a form of judging. If you’re brainstorming in a group, it can be useful to have two scribes, each one writing down alternate ideas. Often the ideas fly too fast and furious for just one person to keep up. If you have that problem when brainstorming alone, then instead of writing down your ideas, use a tape recorder.
4. Don’t be afraid to build on other ideas – yours or someone else’s. Sometimes a small addition to or variation of an existing idea is what turns it into a real breakthrough.

If you keep these four guidelines in mind, your brainstorming sessions will be more likely to provide you with a full flow of ideas.

Website bonus

At www.CreativityNowOnline.com, click on the ‘Creativity Now!’ button. Bonus 10 is a downloadable poster featuring the four guidelines for effective brainstorming. You can print one out and put it on the wall of the room where you do your brainstorming.