Brainstorming technique

Abstract

Brainstorming is a creativity exercise where individuals or groups of people generate ideas impulsively with the goal of finding solutions to a specific problem. It is a simple, yet powerful tool used in virtually all industries. The term was originally introduced in the year 1953 by Alex Oxford in his book “Applied Imagination” and has now become one of best known idea generation method in the world. Brainstorming combines a relaxed, informal approach to problem solving providing an open environment that encourages everyone involved to participate. No idea is a bad idea no matter how wild they are and people are given the freedom of mind and action to spark off and reveal new ideas. Therefore, people should avoid criticizing or rewarding ideas during the brainstorming session as it limits the idea generation and creativity .

When looking into the job of a project manager, creative thinking is required every day to solve problems. Through effective brainstorming, out-of-the-box solutions can be generated. In fact, in the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK) brainstorming is specified as a recommended tool and technique in some knowledge areas, such as Scope Management and Risk Management . Since brainstorming usually requires multiple participants, the project manager functions as a facilitator of the session. It is therefore critical for the project manager to follow some basic rules in order to get the best results.

In the following article the overall idea of the brainstorming technique will be discussed; the origin and when, how and why it should be used. General guidelines for project managers and rules will be outlined, that are recommended to follow in order to run an effective brainstorming session. Furthermore, other brainstorming variations and extensions of the tool will be introduced following with limitations of the technique and its strengths. Finally, references relevant to the article will be listed for further reading.

Overview of brainstorming

Origin

In the year 1942, the advertising executive and one of the founders of BBDO, Alex Osborn, published a book titled “How to Think Up” in which he presented the technique of brainstorming. Osborn originally used the term to “think up” to describe the process developed – something that was being used at BBDO as part of their ideation process. At that time he found that the atmosphere in business meetings was inhibiting the development of new solutions and proposed basic rules to change that. The term brainstorming became popularized in 1953 by Osborn in his book “Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of Creative Problem Solving”. Since then brainstorming has become one of the most widely used creative thinking techniques done in virtually all industries .

What is brainstorming?

Alex Osborn described brainstorming as “a conference technique by which a group attempts to find a solution for a specific problem by amassing all the ideas spontaneously by its members” *REF to his book*. Brainstorming is often used in the early stages of product development, but it is in fact applicable through the whole life cycle of a project or program; at any time that new ideas or solutions to problems are required. It plays a big role in Risk Management for example, when identifying risks, assessing the situation and developing ideas. Brainstorming can be done individually or within the project team and there are many variations or extensions from the initial idea. The bottom line is that you need to be able to generate ideas and allow them to grow into something viable .

Application

For the project manager, it's important to be able to recognize the benefit of brainstorming to the success of the project and provide an outlet for its occurrence. With that being said, the key attributes to an effective brainstorming session is to plan ahead and follow four ground rules:

1. No criticism of ideas. The project team will feel free in generating new ideas when judgment is suspended. In addition to that, another more subtle rule is to avoid praise.
2. Welcome unusual ideas. To get a good list of suggestions, unusual ideas are encouraged.
3. Go for large quantities of ideas. Quantity over quality. The assumption is that the more ideas generated, the more likely it is to produce a radical and effective solution.
4. Combine and improve ideas. Encourages building on previously generated ideas.

If these rules are followed, a lot more ideas can be created *REF ALex*. After the brainstorming session, the team can criticize, rate, rank, or vote on good ideas, but during the brainstorm the focus should be on getting as many ideas as possible.

In addition to the four rules, there are few steps to guarantee an effective brainstorming session:

• Keep a relaxed and inspiring atmosphere. Meetings should be disciplined but informal. People usually feel more inspired when they feel comfortable. Try to avoid any interruption from computers and phones.
• Define the problem or topic clearly. That prevents the brainstorming session going out of hand.
• Choose a process leader/facilitator. The project manager usually is the facilitator managing the process and reminding the team of the ground rules.
• Keep track of time. Brainstorming takes energy and if the session is too long, the more likely it is that participants lose focus and therefor waste time. The time can range from 15 minutes to several hours, depending on the project.
• Record everything. Write down all thoughts, statements and ideas. It's a good way to have an oversight over the ideas.
• There are no bad ideas during brainstorming. It's important to keep the ideas flowing whether they are good or bad. The goal is to produce as many ideas as possible. The analysing will take place later.
• REF*

After brainstorming

After the brainstorming session there will be a lot of ideas. Analysing the ideas is therefore an important next step. While there are many tools available to do so, only few will be mentioned here.

Affinity Diagram

Affinity diagramming is a method for organising qualitative data into related groups for review and further analysis. Project Managers can use the affinity diagram to help team members see the the pattern of what's being discussed and help identify potential solutions to problems.

The affinity diagram organises ideas with following steps:

• Ideas are gathered together.
• Ideas are sorted into logical groups. If applicable, the ideas can be sorted into subgroups (and sub-subgroups if the amount of data is large).
• Header for the groups.
• The final affinity diagram is drawn formed by the groups and subgroups.

Finally, the results can be used for further analysis.

• Figure will be presented here*

Criteria-based Evaluation

Decision Matrix Analysis

6 thinking hats

Multi-Voting

Variations and extensions of brainstorming

This section will cover briefly what different types of brainstorming there are and how they work.

Braindrawing

Brainwriting

Silent brainstorming

The Nominal Group Technique

Delphi Method

Remote brainstorming

Benefits & Limitations

Limitations of Brainstorming and advantages + disadvantages