Brainstorming techniques

Brainstorming is probably the most widely used creative thinking technique in business. For over 60 years, brainstorming has been a key part of the business culture. But what is it?

Basically a brainstorm is a ‘brain jam’ in which a group of individuals discuss ideas, as they come to them, in a non-judgmental environment.

After 60 years of brainstorming the concept has not change very much. However, here are some useful techniques which you could try out to push your idea generation to a whole new level:

The Art of Looking Sideways
So, you have your problem and you are itching to get started on coming up with the answers. But before you do, take a leaf out of Alan Fletcher’s book ‘The Art of Looking Sideways’ and try and see the question in a different way.

When you are meeting a creative challenge the question you ask has a massive impact on the answer you get. If you ask a slightly different question, you will end up with a slightly different answer. By exhausting the different ways you could actually ask the question before you try to answer it, you will give yourself a really good foundation on which to build on.

Bite sized brainstorms
Imagine your manager has given you a creative project to work on. Once the initial gratitude has worn off, and you settle down for the brainstorm, take five minutes before diving in. At this stage it is easy to be keen to get stuck in. However, it is important to remember that all projects are made up of many parts, its just we typically brainstorm about them from the big picture. In order to deal with this, try turning the project into small ‘bite sized’ chunks instead. This will allow brainstorming to go ahead on a smaller more streamlined and focused basis.

This in-depth brainstorming will allow you to systematically cover every part of the project and will also provide deeper answers to questions – giving you a more in-depth understanding of what you are dealing with.

Live creative
In today’s busy business environment it is not always easy to make time to hold regular brainstorming sessions. Weeks can go by without a single brainstorming session taking place but creatives are still expected to come up with solutions for projects. For a creative this is like a prisoner who is kept locked in a darkened cell for a month and then led outside and expected to win a marathon. In order for brainstorming sessions to be most successful they have to occur regularly, perhaps only for 15 minutes a day, maybe only an hour every other day but regularly enough to keep all the participants brains ticking over.