Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a structured method for generating a broad set of ideas before evaluating them. It can be used by an individual or a group.

When to use it

• Use it to generate scenarios for Profiling the ideal player: how might the market and key success factors change, what could a competitor do and how would the firm respond?
• Use it to create options for Strategic repositioning and shaping profit growth options. Involving managers at different levels can improve both the range of ideas and commitment to execution.

Origins

Advertising executive Alex F. Osborn developed group brainstorming at BBDO, described it in How to Think Up (nineteen forty-two) and popularised it through Your Creative Power (nineteen forty-eight) and Applied Imagination (nineteen fifty-three). His method separated idea generation from evaluation and established four core rules.

What it is

The method creates a protected divergent phase in which participants seek quantity, defer judgement, welcome unusual contributions and combine ideas. Only after that phase does the group converge by organising and evaluating the options.

How to use it

For individual brainstorming, choose a setting that loosens habitual thought. Walking, yoga, quiet reflection or another change of context may help, but the useful environment is the one that reliably produces and captures ideas for that person.

For a corporate group, working away from routine interruptions can create attention and psychological distance. A structured day might alternate morning ideation, an unrelated collaborative activity and an afternoon return to generation and synthesis.

The objective is to interrupt habitual assumptions and expand the range of possibilities. Use visuals, projectors, flipcharts and sticky notes to make contributions visible and combinable. Creativity is not confined to the brain’s right hemisphere; it depends on distributed networks and can be supported through varied prompts and representations.

Apply Osborn’s four rules:

Focus on quantity: generate as many relevant possibilities as possible.

Defer judgement: postpone criticism until generation has finished so ideas are not extinguished prematurely.

Welcome unusual ideas: encourage divergent options that challenge ordinary assumptions.

Build on ideas: combine, extend and improve earlier contributions.

After the divergent phase, group related ideas, define evaluation criteria and examine the most promising options.

Figure G.1 Brainstorming output

Top practical tip

Ask participants to generate ideas independently before the group discussion, then share them in rounds. This reduces production blocking and gives quieter contributors an equal starting point.

Top pitfall

Brainstorming is not a complete innovation process. Group dynamics can reduce idea quality, and a long list creates no value until options are tested, developed and implemented.

Further reading

• Osborn, A.F. (nineteen fifty-three). Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of Creative Problem-Solving. Charles Scribner’s Sons.
• Paulus, P.B. and Nijstad, B.A., eds. (two thousand and three). Group Creativity: Innovation Through Collaboration. Oxford University Press.