Brainstorming or How to Make Something Out of Nothing

By Lynn Grasberg,

Brainstorming is a way to use the creativity of a group of people to solve ANYTHING. It’s exciting to generate solutions to “impossible” problems, seemingly out of thin air. Part of its beauty is that it breaks down the isolation (inertia, despair) that can set in when we feel all alone with a particular problem. You can apply it to any kind of problem and come up with inspired possibilities.

Here are the steps of the brainstorming process:

1. Collect a group of people to think about a problem. More brains equals more ideas and more possible solutions.
2. Designate a facilitator (to direct the verbal traffic) and a scribe (to write down the ideas).
3. Name the issue you want to generate ideas or solutions for.
4. Have the scribe write down all the ideas where everyone can see them on a flip chart or blackboard.
5. Call out every idea that comes to mind.
6. Don’t be a polite participant (i.e., don’t wait to speak). Let the ideas come fast and furious. (That’s why they call it brain “storming”.) If there are too many ideas for one person to write down, get an extra scribe.
7. If you like an idea, let it inspire you to add to it or come up with a variation. This is called “piggy backing”.
8. If you don’t like an idea, DON’T criticize it. Just keep coming up with new ones. Otherwise, you’ll put a damper on the group’s creativity.
9. After all the ideas are up on the paper, take time to evaluate them.

You may have one or more workable solutions at this point.

If you don’t, or if you just want to generate more ideas, do a new brainstorm based on the WORST idea from the first brainstorm.

How? First, pick the worst idea.

Then, analyze what’s good about it and what’s bad.

Finally, brainstorm solutions for each “bad” element.

This technique generates even more possibilities because it frees you to think beyond previous limitations.

Example:

Brainstorming question -- How can we package our new gizmo?

Worst answer: Wrap it in toilet paper.

Explore this possibility with two questions:

            What’s good about this idea?

            What new problems does it create?

What’s good:

            It’s cheap.

            Plentiful

            Flexible

            Etc.

Problems:

            It rips easily

            Provides almost no insulation

            Looks tacky

            Etc.

Now, take the problems and use them as the starting points for new brainstorms.

For example, “It rips easily.”

Brainstormed solutions:         

            Reinforce it with glue.

            Wrap it with multiple layers of toilet paper.

            Attach it to something stronger.

            Add layers of duct tape (Isn’t this the solution to everything?)

            Etc., etc., etc.

Somewhere in all these possibilities, you will most likely come up with some excellent ideas you would never have considered if you hadn’t decided to analyze the worst answer from the first brainstorm.

Have fun! Apply brainstorming to solve practical problems, as well as to achieve your wildest dreams. Get rid of fleas! Get a new career! Visit a new planet! Or figure out how to wrap a gizmo.