Brainstorming
Brainstorming can be an effective
way to generate lots of ideas and then determine which idea(s) best
solves the problem. Brainstorming is most effective with larger groups
of people and should be performed in a relaxed environment. If participants
feel free to be silly, they'll stretch their minds more and therefore
produce more creative ideas.
To brainstorm, you will need either a chalkboard (if there are any still left
in the world), or a white-board.
Steps:
- Define your problem (please note that the word "problem" is not
necessarily negative - your problem could be "We need a new product for
the Christmas season" or "How can we effectively use our
departmental budget surplus for this year?").
 Write
out your problem concisely and make sure that everyone understands the
problem and is in agreement with the way it is worded. There is no need to
put a lot of restrictions on your problem at this time.
- Give yourselves a time limit - around 25 minutes is recommended, but
experience will show how much time is required. Larger groups may need more
time to get everyone's ideas out.
- Everyone must shout out solutions to the problem while one person writes
them out. There must be ABSOLUTELY NO CRITICIZING OF IDEAS. No matter how
daft, how impossible or how silly an idea is, it must be written down.
Laughing is to be encouraged. Criticism is not. Why? Because you want to
encourage the free flow of ideas and as soon as participants of the
brainstorming session begin to fear criticism of their ideas, they'll stop
generating ideas. Moreover, ideas that first seem silly may prove to be very
good or may lead to ideas that are very good.
- Once your time is up, select the five ideas you like best. Make sure
everyone involved in the brainstorming session is in agreement.
- Write down about five criteria for judging which ideas would best solve
your problem. Criteria should start with the word "should", for
example, "it should be cost effective", "it should be
legal", "it should be possible to finish before July 15",
etc.
- Give each idea a score of 0 to 5 points depending on how well it meets
each criterion. Once all of the ideas have been scored for each criterion,
add up the scores.
- The idea with the highest score could best solve your problem. But you
should keep a record of all of your best ideas and their scores in case your
best idea turns out to be not workable.
Source: http://www.jpb.com/creative/brainstorming.html
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