Brainstorming: the rules of collective idea generation
Perhaps the most popular technique for getting new ideas is brainstorming. However, few people know that this approach has a number of rules, compliance with which helps to get the desired result.
The concept of brainstorming was proposed by Alex Osborn. He ran an advertising agency and was often dissatisfied with the creative ideas of his employees. That’s when Osborn began looking for ways to improve the performance of specialists. The result was a book published in 1953 that described the benefits of brainstorming with all employees rather than having them generate ideas individually.
Osborn developed rules that helped get a high result in the search for fresh ideas:
– it is not allowed to criticize each other’s ideas, no matter how strange they may be;
– the more suggestions there are, the better; it is important to work on quantity, not quality.
According to the founder of the concept, these two rules are sufficient, but years of using brainstorming have shown that this approach is most effective if additional points are adhered to. For example, a typical starting point for generating new ideas is for all participants to gather together, where they must immediately propose their options. Often, however, people in groups tend to agree with the thoughts of leaders or simply active employees without showing themselves. Therefore, it is better for each of the participants to think through their ideas before the meeting, record their opinions, and then proceed to a general discussion afterward.
Another good rule of brainstorming is to allow everyone to speak. There is no need to interrupt or stop the speaker, and time should be allocated in advance so that there is enough time for all employees.
There are no good or bad ideas in brainstorming; each idea must be considered. It is important that each participant in the discussion makes at least one suggestion, in order to record all of them, and then discard the unsuccessful ones. In addition, it is necessary to support those employees who are afraid to speak up because they think their thoughts will not be useful.
In the process of brainstorming it is necessary to abstract from the desire to propose a quality idea – let there be as many as possible. It is a fact that among the variety of options, you can find solutions that initially seemed inappropriate. In this case, it is important to record all opinions, it is better to assign the responsibility to a certain employee who will keep detailed minutes of the meeting.
Brainstorming should be limited in time, but this does not mean that people cannot offer their ideas afterward. Often a good decision comes after a person has sat down and thought quietly about what they heard in the meeting.
