Creative brainstorming tool

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Question – is brainstorming simply a massive brain dump of ideas?

Answer – it can be, but it is more effective if there is a cyclical approach whereby ideas are first generated then evaluated, before using the prioritised idea as a springboard for the next stage in the process. This is one of the really useful refinements Synectics brought to idea generation processes

Key action points

This is a more-or-less standard brainstorming tool. You have probably done brainstorming many times before – eight people in a room, say the first thing that comes into your head, every thought is a good thought, no criticism or personal abuse etc..

This is similar to that except that it also incorporates elements of the classic ‘diamond process’ approach to creativity:

1. expand the idea as far as it will go

2. evaluate the ideas down to one preferred idea (which can be re-stated) in order to drive deeper

According to this approach, you are not simply trying to generate lots of ideas. What you are trying to do is to identify one starting idea (from, say, the first twenty-five) which you will then explore in greater depth. Then you choose one of those deeper ideas, and explore that idea in greater depth etc., combining ideas and rephrasing them as you go.

In more detail ….

In the 1st brainstorm you simply pour out as many ideas as you can think of.

In the 1st prioritisation session you score these ideas by giving each team member ten votes to allocate across the ideas as they wish (so they can give all 10 votes to one idea if they really like it). You may also find yourself wishing to amalgamate several ideas into one much better idea, or merely to re-phrase an idea. Feel free to do so.

The 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounds follow the same process exactly.

Finally, you may wish to restate and build on the winning idea under 'Summary'.

This tool can be bought here.

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