Brainstorming involves thinking aloud and suggesting as many ideas as possible, without criticising or analysing them. This method aims to generate creative ideas and solutions.
The term ‘brainstorming’ was first coined by the American advertising executive Alex Faickney Osborn. He introduced this concept in his book "How to Think Up," published in 1942, where he described brainstorming as a method for generating ideas and solving problems through group discussion and free thinking.
Commonly used as a group problem solving method, brainstorming is primarily used to generate idea’s quickly, promote collaboration and innovative thinking approaches. Though this can also be used by individuals to explore a variety of outcomes to a topic that they are approaching within their work.
To effectively Brainstorm within a group, this structure can be followed to ensure a productive session:
Set clear goals: Define the topic that you want to brainstorm about, for this example we shall create a brainstorm surrounding the graffiti artist 'Banksy.’ Ensure that the group are aware of the topic or question to keep the group focused, you may also find it useful to set a timer to manage your time effectively.
Your group: Within your peer group, you will have a diverse range of perspectives and expertise to the topic which shall lead to the production of creative ideas. As a part of this as a group, you should set some basic guidelines such as encouraging all opinions, deferring judgment, and expanding upon each other’s ideas.
Roles within the group: A facilitator should be assigned to keep the discussion on track, manage time and to ensure that everyone has equal opportunities to contribute to the brainstorm as well as a scribe that can write down ideas during the group discussion phase of the brainstorming session.
Generate Ideas Independently: Members of the group should generate their own ideas for 5-10 minutes and write them down independently. The reason for adopting independent thinking first is that this avoids group thinking [mode of thinking in which individual members of small cohesive groups tend to accept a viewpoint or conclusion that represents a perceived group consensus, whether or not the group members believe it to be valid, correct, or optimal. Groupthink reduces the efficiency of collective problem solving within such groups. https://www.britannica.com/science/groupthink] and provokes diverse perspectives on the topic.
Share & Record Ideas: Once the independent session is completed, each person should be encouraged to share their ideas and the scribe should record all ideas visibly (on a whiteboard, flipchart, etc) so that everyone can see them.
Encourage Discussion and Build on Ideas: Once all ideas have been shared between the group, encourage discussion and reflection upon the additions to the brainstorm. You should aim to group similar ideas together and look for avenues to refine your brainstorm.
Evaluate: The next step is to discuss the idea’s and connect evidence where appropriate.
Plan Next Steps: As a collective, the group should decide upon the next actions or follow-up steps based on the brainstorming during the session. Assign responsibilities and set deadlines if required.
Overall, the outcome of the brainstorming session is to produce a vast variety of ideas upon topics, and to encourage creative approaches to provoke solutions.
Faickney Osborn, A. (1942). How to Think Up. New York London Mcgraw-Hill Book Co.
