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Brainstorming

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Brainstorming is one of the most creative ways of problem-solving in which we work on ideas. We can either come up with a new idea or build on an existing idea as well. Since there is no rule of thumb in brainstorming, it can be applied individually or in a group.

  • Firstly, a goal is defined to understand what the main purpose of brainstorming is.
  • Once we have an end-goal to achieve or a problem to solve, various challenges that come along are explored.
  • Furthermore, different aspects of the problem or situation are explored and we list down ways to overcome the challenges.
  • There is no structure in brainstorming, and no idea is considered wrong. All ideas are noted during the brainstorming sessions, and some can even be clubbed together.

Let’s consider that you need to work on a marketing plan for your brand. Firstly, you will define its objective and the vision of the brand. Subsequently, you will work on other things like the promotional strategy, what the customers think, the pricing, and what your competitors are doing. After considering all these things in mind, you can come up with a new and exciting marketing plan.[1]


Marketing Plan Brainstorming.jpg
source: Mindmaster



Origin of Brainstorming

Advertising executive Alex F. Osborn began developing methods for creative problem-solving in 1939. He was frustrated by employees’ inability to develop creative ideas individually for ad campaigns. In response, he began hosting group-thinking sessions and discovered a significant improvement in the quality and quantity of ideas produced by employees. He first termed the process as organized ideation and was later dubbed by participants as "brainstorm sessions", taking the concept after the use of "the brain to storm a problem." During the period when Osborn made his concept, he started writing on creative thinking, and the first notable book where he mentioned the term brainstorming is "How to Think Up" in 1942. Osborn outlined his method in the 1948 book Your Creative Power in chapter 33, "How to Organize a Squad to Create Ideas".

One of Osborn's key recommendations was for all the members of the brainstorming group to be provided with a clear statement of the problem to be addressed prior to the actual brainstorming session. He also explained that the guiding principle is that the problem should be simple and narrowed down to a single target. Here, brainstorming is not believed to be effective in complex problems because of a change in opinion over the desirability of restructuring such problems. While the process can address the problems in such a situation, tackling all of them may not be feasible.


The Principles of Brainstorming[2]

While brainstorming has evolved over the years, Osborne’s four underlying principles are a great set of guidelines when running your own sessions. These principles include:

  • Quantity over quality. The idea is that quantity will eventually breed quality as ideas are refined, merged, and developed further.
  • Withhold criticism. Team members should be free to introduce any and all ideas that come into their heads. Save feedback until after the idea collection phase so that “blocking” does not occur.
  • Welcome the crazy ideas. Encouraging your team members to think outside of the box, and introduce pie in the sky ideas opens the door to new and innovative techniques that may be your ticket for success.
  • Combine, refine, and improve ideas. Build on ideas, and draw connections between different suggestions to further the problem solving process.


Brainstorming Considerations[3]

  • When possible, have a separate facilitator and recorder. The facilitator should act as a buffer between the group and the recorder(s), keeping the flow of ideas going and ensuring that no ideas get lost before being recorded. The recorder should focus on capturing the ideas.
  • The recorder should try not to rephrase ideas. If an idea is not clear, ask for a rephrasing that everyone can understand. If the idea is too long to record, work with the person who suggested the idea to come up with a concise rephrasing. The person suggesting the idea must always approve what is recorded.
  • Keep all ideas visible. When ideas overflow to additional flipchart pages, post previous pages around the room so all ideas are still visible to everyone.
  • The more ideas the better. Studies have shown that there is a direct relationship between the total number of ideas and the number of beneficial, creative ideas.
  • Allow for and encourage creative, unconventional and out-of-the-box ideas.
  • Don’t be afraid to piggyback or build on someone else’s idea.


Individual Brainstorming Vs. Group Brainstorming[4]

Individual Brainstorming
While group brainstorming is often more effective at generating ideas than normal group problem solving, several studies have shown that individual brainstorming produces more – and often better – ideas than group brainstorming.

This can occur because groups aren't always strict in following the rules of brainstorming, and bad behaviors creep in. Mostly, though, this happens because people pay so much attention to other people that they don't generate ideas of their own – or they forget these ideas while they wait for their turn to speak. This is called "blocking."

When you brainstorm on your own, you don't have to worry about other people's egos or opinions, and you can be freer and more creative. For example, you might find that an idea you'd hesitate to bring up in a group develops into something special when you explore it on your own.

However, you may not develop ideas as fully when you're on your own, because you don't have the wider experience of other group members to draw on.

Individual brainstorming is most effective when you need to solve a simple problem, generate a list of ideas, or focus on a broad issue. Group brainstorming is often more effective for solving complex problems.

Some of the key benefits of individual brainstorming are as follows –

  • Ultimate freedom. Even when all members of a group are instructed to be as supportive as possible, there is still bound to be some judgment and criticism within the process. That won’t be a problem with individual brainstorming, however, as you will be free to record any and all ideas that come to mind.
  • Rather than being distracted by the conversation and activity of the group as a whole, you can focus in on the task at hand when you brainstorm on an individual basis.
  • Leverage your experience. If you have detailed experience with a specific problem that needs to be solved, it may be best to brainstorm solutions to that problem all on your own. After all, you have the experience and knowledge necessary, so it should be just a matter of time until you find a proper solution.


Brainstorming Benefits
source: Free Management e-Books


Group Brainstorming
Here, you can take advantage of the full experience and creativity of all team members. When one member gets stuck with an idea, another member's creativity and experience can take the idea to the next stage. You can develop ideas in greater depth with group brainstorming than you can with individual brainstorming.

Another advantage of group brainstorming is that it helps everyone feel that they've contributed to the solution, and it reminds people that others have creative ideas to offer. It's also fun, so it can be great for team building!

Group brainstorming can be risky for individuals. Unusual suggestions may appear to lack value at first sight – this is where you need to chair sessions tightly, so that the group doesn't crush these ideas and stifle creativity.

Where possible, participants should come from a wide range of disciplines. This cross-section of experience can make the session more creative. However, don't make the group too big: as with other types of teamwork, groups of five to seven people are usually most effective.

Of course, there are plenty of benefits to be noted when talking about group brainstorming as well, such as the points on the list below –

  • Variety of backgrounds. When brainstorming as a group, you will have access to the various experiences of all members of the group, so you will be more likely to stumble on a quality idea or solution. An idea that may have been missed by an individual brainstorming just may be found by the group.
  • Promote teamwork. Every organization can benefit from bringing its team together to work toward a common goal. By having a productive team brainstorming session from time to time, you will be able to build morale and allow everyone to feel like they are having input in the process.
  • Deeper solutions. Once someone within the group brainstorming session comes across a good idea, others in the group may be able to expand on the idea in order to come up with a thorough, complex answer to the problem at hand.


Electronic Brainstorming[5]

Although the brainstorming can take place online through commonly available technologies such as email or interactive web sites, there have also been many efforts to develop customized computer software that can either replace or enhance one or more manual elements of the brainstorming process.

Early efforts, such as GroupSystems at University of Arizona or Software Aided Meeting Management (SAMM) system at the University of Minnesota, took advantage of then-new computer networking technology, which was installed in rooms dedicated to computer supported meetings. When using these electronic meeting systems (EMS, as they came to be called), group members simultaneously and independently entered ideas into a computer terminal. The software collected (or "pools") the ideas into a list, which could be displayed on a central projection screen (anonymized if desired). Other elements of these EMSs could support additional activities such as categorization of ideas, elimination of duplicates, assessment and discussion of prioritized or controversial ideas. Later EMSs capitalized on advances in computer networking and internet protocols to support asynchronous brainstorming sessions over extended periods of time and in multiple locations.

Introduced along with the EMS by Nunamaker and colleagues at University of Arizona was electronic brainstorming (EBS). By utilizing customized computer software for groups (group decision support systems or groupware), EBS can replace face-to-face brainstorming. An example of groupware is the GroupSystems, a software developed by University of Arizona. After an idea discussion has been posted on GroupSystems, it is displayed on each group member's computer. As group members simultaneously type their comments on separate computers, those comments are anonymously pooled and made available to all group members for evaluation and further elaboration.

Compared to face-to-face brainstorming, not only does EBS enhanced efficiency by eliminating travelling and turn-taking during group discussions, it also excluded several psychological constraints associated with face-to-face meetings. Identified by Gallupe and colleagues, both production blocking (reduced idea generation due to turn-taking and forgetting ideas in face-to-face brainstorming) and evaluation apprehension (a general concern experienced by individuals for how others in the presence are evaluating them) are reduced in EBS. These positive psychological effects increase with group size. A perceived advantage of EBS is that all ideas can be archived electronically in their original form, and then retrieved later for further thought and discussion. EBS also enables much larger groups to brainstorm on a topic than would normally be productive in a traditional brainstorming session.

Computer supported brainstorming may overcome some of the challenges faced by traditional brainstorming methods. For example, ideas might be "pooled" automatically, so that individuals do not need to wait to take a turn, as in verbal brainstorming. Some software programs show all ideas as they are generated (via chat room or e-mail). The display of ideas may cognitively stimulate brainstormers, as their attention is kept on the flow of ideas being generated without the potential distraction of social cues such as facial expressions and verbal language. EBS techniques have been shown to produce more ideas and help individuals focus their attention on the ideas of others better than a brainwriting technique (participants write individual written notes in silence and then subsequently communicate them with the group). The production of more ideas has been linked to the fact that paying attention to others' ideas leads to non-redundancy, as brainstormers try to avoid to replicate or repeat another participant's comment or idea. Conversely, the production gain associated with EBS was less found in situations where EBS group members focused too much on generating ideas that they ignored ideas expressed by others. The production gain associated with GroupSystem users' attentiveness to ideas expressed by others has been documented by Dugosh and colleagues. EBS group members who were instructed to attend to ideas generated by others outperformed those who were not in terms of creativity.

According to a meta-analysis comparing EBS to face-to-face brainstorming conducted by DeRosa and colleagues, EBS has been found to enhance both the production of non-redundant ideas and the quality of ideas produced. Despite the advantages demonstrated by EBS groups, EBS group members reported less satisfaction with the brainstorming process compared to face-to-face brainstorming group members.

Some web-based brainstorming techniques allow contributors to post their comments anonymously through the use of avatars. This technique also allows users to log on over an extended time period, typically one or two weeks, to allow participants some "soak time" before posting their ideas and feedback. This technique has been used particularly in the field of new product development, but can be applied in any number of areas requiring collection and evaluation of ideas.

Some limitations of EBS include the fact that it can flood people with too many ideas at one time that they have to attend to, and people may also compare their performance to others by analyzing how many ideas each individual produces (social matching).


The Pros and Cons of Brainstorming There are many advantages to brainstorming, and it can be used in any industry and to solve most problems where a solution may not always be obvious.

Pros
The main benefits include:

  • Discovering new perspectives: Brainstorming gives vision and perspective where these elements may not have existed before. It encourages free speech and creativity, helping to reveal new ideas and solutions.
  • Defining problems: Spontaneous thinking in a low-pressure environment can often help to define a problem to the point where new alternative
  • Equal participation: Brainstorming helps to avoid conflict and to give everybody a chance to air their views without immediate evaluation or judgment. In a brainstorming session, everybody should have an equal opportunity to participate in the discussion.

Cons
The main pitfalls include:

  • Time consumingL The brainstorming process can take time. It could be hours, or even days before a solution is reached.
  • Utopian Ideas: Sometimes the ideas suggested are unworkable.
  • Wiseacres: Colleagues may refuse to consider others' ideas or outvoice others.
  • Facilitator required: Brainstorming requires a leader or facilitator who will take control of the session and ensure it reaches a satisfactory conclusion.

Brainstorming needs to be approached in the right way in order to be effective. The good news, however, is that the advantages far outweigh any disadvantages.



See Also

Six Thinking Hats
Rätselvermehrung
Problem Analysis Tree
Metaplan Method
Mind Mapping
Bisociation
SHARP (Structured, Holistic Approach for a Research Proposal)


References

  1. Definition - What Does Brainstorming Mean? Mindmaster
  2. The four principles of brainstorming Mind Manager
  3. Brainstorming Considerations Asq.org
  4. Individual Brainstorming Vs. Group Brainstorming Mindtools
  5. Electronic Brainstorming Wikipedia