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 The
HELP DESK
New Ways to Use an Old
Tool—Brainstorming
The Traditional Process
Brainstorming is one of the most frequently used
methods for generating a lot of ideas rapidly. The
process of brainstorming begins by identifying a
specific topic for consideration— usually a
problem, opportunity, or area of interest.
The people participating in the brainstorming
session often are asked to observe guidelines, such
as those listed below, as they come up with
ideas:
- Do not evaluate brainstormed ideas during the
session—either verbally or nonverbally.
- Propose ideas that seem wild or even
ridiculous.
- Focus on the quantity of ideas gathered, not
quality.
- Build on others’ suggestions, expanding
them or moving them in a different direction.
All of these behavioral norms are designed to
encourage a free flow of ideas without fear of
ridicule or dismissal. They are based on proven
methods of respectful idea generation, but do they
really work?
On the surface, most people would say they do, but
that may be a perception based on the wide acceptance
of these ground rules, rather than actual
brainstorming experiences or evaluation of the
outputs of the process. If viewed a bit more
critically, it seems that many brainstorming sessions
really don’t bring out breakthrough solutions;
they just give people a chance to express themselves
or “let off steam.” Let’s take a
look at some of the issues associated with the
traditional brainstorming process.
The “no evaluation”
rule
Clearly, people’s desire to brainstorm ideas
will be inhibited if others immediately debate or
challenge suggestions. Asking participants to
withhold judgment seems like a logical preventive
approach, but this guideline presumes that silence is
equivalent to a lack of evaluation. This is far from
true—particularly when you consider that the
brain works much faster than the mouth! Even if the
evaluations aren’t spoken right away, thoughts
on the ideas being presented are processed within 20
to 30 milliseconds of being heard, and everybody in
the group knows that’s the way it really
works!
In fact, evaluating the ideas as they’re
presented comes naturally to most of us. Telling us
to hold back creates an unnatural constraint on our
thinking, which may undermine our ability to be
creative.
Being wild and crazy
Thinking “out of the box” is an obviously
good approach for generating new ideas, but it can be
a scary situation for some people. Long after the
brainstorming session is over, you may be remembered
for the one truly oddball idea you shared. In some
cases, those ideas attach themselves to you and your
reputation permanently, taking on a life all their
own. Why would anyone want to risk that?
The more the merrier
For most groups, the step immediately following
brainstorming involves organizing, consolidating, and
eliminating ideas. It can be quite amazing to watch
groups—often at the direction of their
facilitators—combine ideas that have only a
minuscule connection. This stage of the process seems
to bring out an incredible urge to whittle the list
down to a manageable number, and those wild ideas
that you were encouraged to generate seem to be the
first ones eliminated by most groups. If that’s
the way your group operates, why would you want to
spend time suggesting ideas that will
disappear almost immediately?
More Effective Approaches
One of the primary purposes of brainstorming is to
generate new ideas, not retread the “tried and
true” ideas—the ones that already have
been proven ineffective. Yet our innate tendency to
judge other people’s ideas based on our own
perceptions and experiences, along with our need to
avoid appearing foolish in front of associates, can
undermine our ability to venture into new territory.
Does this mean that the typical brainstorming
guidelines should be abandoned in favor of
disrespectful free-for-alls? Of course not!
A few process changes can turn a traditional
brainstorming session into a collaboration session
that generates workable solutions that move beyond
previous boundaries. If you can find ways to
incorporate the following three elements into your
process, you can expect significantly better
results:
Change the participants’
perspective.
Instead of having the participants come up with
ideas that reflect their experiences and
perspectives, “push” their minds in a
new direction. Ask them to brainstorm from some
other perspective, such as coming up with ideas
that would represent another department or
organization’s views (this is called role
playing). This approach is sure to generate
different ideas that are based on
participants’ expanded thinking.
Focus your process on the last
ground rule.
The last of the common behavioral guidelines,
“Build on others’ suggestions,
expanding them or moving them in a different
direction,” can become the foundation of a
team-based approach to finding new solutions.
Don’t consolidate or eliminate
any of the ideas.
Set aside the belief that your group can only work
on the few best ideas. Our brains are capable of
far more than most of us realize or give them the
opportunity to try. Truly creative approaches often
don’t come out of the original brainstorming
but are the result of combining and “playing
with” those ideas and generating higher-order
solutions.
Here is one alternative process that can be used
to foster idea generation without the previously
mentioned pitfalls.
- Ask each participant to propose one
idea—the one he/she feels is the best
option. If a member’s idea gets
mentioned before he/she expresses it, two choices
are available: pass or pre-sent his/her second best
option.
- Conduct a subsidiary brainstorming session,
focusing on one of the proposed ideas at a
time. Instead of evaluating whether the idea
has merit, brainstorm ways that it could be put to
use. In other words, assume it is viable and
brainstorm how to make it succeed. This approach
forces every participant to tap into his/her
creativity to come up with ways to implement ideas
that he/she normally would dismiss. Repeat the
process until all the original ideas are flushed
out.
- Review the suggestions and combine those
that are identical, not similar. Unless the
originators agree that their ideas are identical,
the ideas should be retained. The output list from
this step should be far longer than the one that
comes from traditional consolidation
analysis.
- Create a comprehensive view of all the
ideas. The goal here is to see how all the
ideas could be made to work together effectively.
An affinity diagram, tree diagram, concept map, or
similar tool can be used to arrange all the ideas
in a way that makes them easier to see. This
diagram may be fairly complex depending on the
number of ideas that were brainstormed.
- Determine if there are stand-alone
solutions within the comprehensive view, and if
there are, narrow the field. In many cases,
all the brainstormed ideas actually will fit
together into one overall plan. In other cases,
there may be two or more emergent approaches in the
comprehensive view, and they should be identified.
Use criteria evaluation to select the approach that
will be pursued. Note that all of the emergent
approaches will contain bits and pieces of every
participant’s ideas, so ownership issues will
be greatly reduced.
- Refine the selected approach, focusing on
implementation. Conduct mini-brainstorming
sessions to eliminate any gaps in the plan and/or
to resolve potential implementation issues.
Numerous books, articles, and Web sites offer
suggestions on how to improve the outcomes of
brainstorming sessions. For instance, www.brainstorming.co.uk/contents.html
is an excellent resource. The key is to identify ways
to leverage our natural behaviors and abilities and
to increase collaboration. in the end, it’s not
quantity that counts but how well the group’s
divergent ideas can be combined to create a truly new
solution that addresses every aspect of the problem
or opportunity.
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