What is brain­storm­ing and how does it work?

Brain­storm­ing is a very common group method for finding new ideas, which is based on spon­tane­ity and un­fil­tered cre­ativ­i­ty. Training the human brain to trigger a “storm of ideas” and to sub­se­quent­ly put those ideas on paper is the fun­da­men­tal concept of brain­storm­ing, which was for­mu­lat­ed by the American author Alex F. Osborn in 1939 and further developed by man­age­ment the­o­reti­cian Charles Hutchison Clark. All brain­storm­ing methods aim to collect raw ideas in a quick fashion, whereby par­tic­i­pants are asked to simply express their ideas out loud.

As a dis­ci­pline, brain­storm­ing en­com­pass­es various different forms, stages, aspects, and dynamics. As soon as you learn more about brain­storm­ing tech­niques and their re­spec­tive ad­van­tages and dis­ad­van­tages, your next brain­storm­ing sessions will begin to have bigger and better effects. What makes the concept of brain­storm­ing so appealing is that it does not entail any com­pli­cat­ed rules. However, not all brain­storm­ing sessions au­to­mat­i­cal­ly end with all members col­lab­o­rat­ing suc­cess­ful­ly. Read on to find out what rules and aspects are connected to a good brain­storm, what tech­niques pay off, and how you can prepare yourself to carry out brain­storm­ing sessions in the best possible way.

1. Quantity over quality: Brain­storm­ing is all about col­lect­ing large amounts of ideas. One of the collected ideas should be then deemed as the most ap­pro­pri­ate for whatever project or any other group-oriented endeavor that the brain­storm­ing members are pursuing. The constant flow of ideas is therefore key to this concept, even if most of the ideas are either non­sen­si­cal or simply weak, as they can be later con­trast­ed with good ideas and elim­i­nat­ed from the process. Team members must therefore rest assured that each one of their small con­tri­bu­tions is recorded.
    
2. No criticism, arguing, or negative comments during the sessions: To make sure that the flow of ideas is not disturbed, does not break down in any way, or that it simply does not come to a halt, the above rule must also be put into practice. In other words, con­tri­bu­tions should only contain new ideas. Any other content should be pointed out in the sub­se­quent eval­u­a­tion of ideas.
    
3. Complete log of all ideas: It is only upon recording all ideas that one can guarantee an un­fil­tered brain­storm­ing session, which can then move onto its next phase – namely eval­u­at­ing the collected ideas. What is important here is to determine who is going to be the host of the brain­storm, i.e. the recorder of ideas. This person should hold back from any con­tri­bu­tions during the sessions. If ideas are dis­re­gard­ed and not written down, par­tic­i­pants might often feel de­mo­ti­vat­ed.
    
4. Think outside the box and inspire each other: Though the so-called “storm of ideas” usually con­sti­tutes a col­lec­tion of con­cep­tu­al­ly un­con­nect­ed ideas, nothing should stand in the way of taking up a thought that has already been mentioned, as it can be developed into a com­plete­ly new idea. Brain­storm­ing usually entails its own form of group dynamics, which leads to ideas being pushed to one specific con­cep­tu­al sphere or condensed to a single strand of ideas during one brain­storm session. Par­tic­i­pants should neither shy away from de­vel­op­ing ideas, nor from men­tion­ing ideas which lead to a com­plete­ly new con­cep­tu­al direction. Both the former and the latter intensify brain­storm­ing as a group technique and often result in positive outcomes.

Each brain­storm­ing session will vary from group to group and you, as the host, must plan each session sep­a­rate­ly. If needed, answer the following questions with the help of your co-workers:

• How many par­tic­i­pants will there be in the brain­storm? Although there is no optimal number of par­tic­i­pants set for brain­storm­ing sessions, including too many people poses a risk to the flow of ideas, as people might feel in­tim­i­dat­ed by crowds. On the other hand, a group which is too small bears fruit to very few ideas. Finding the right balance is crucial. It is therefore worth analyzing the right size of the group for your projects in your work setting.
   
• How are the par­tic­i­pants chosen? Has per­son­al­i­ty, sex, work position, na­tion­al­i­ty, native language, or area of expertise been the decisive factor when selecting par­tic­i­pants? Since brain­storm­ing is at its best when each par­tic­i­pant actively takes part in the dis­cus­sion, you should consider finding the right balance here as well. Some may express them­selves more openly and be more dominant than those who shy away from any form of action. Weighing out members according to per­son­al­i­ty and sex therefore limits unwanted in­ter­fer­ing patterns. The same applies to various work positions. If you build a team of five people, four of which are full-time employees and one being an intern, it is highly likely that the latter will take little part in the brain­storm. You should therefore arrange par­tic­i­pants in such a way that they do not inhibit each other.

In a multi­na­tion­al setting, it is important to consider the various language barriers if you plan on doing an in­ter­na­tion­al brain­storm­ing session. Generally speaking, English is the first choice. However, it is also worth noting that allowing each par­tic­i­pant to express their ideas in their mother tongue will get the most out of them. Trans­la­tion of the ideas can then be done during the eval­u­a­tion phase.

Lastly, you should not forget that people brain­storm better when they are already con­sid­ered experts in the field under in­ves­ti­ga­tion. However, experts can also quickly take full control over the brain­storm­ing session and leave the un­ex­pe­ri­enced out of the picture. On the other hand, people who are not con­sid­ered spe­cial­ists can also come up with fresh, in­no­v­a­tive ideas, which is the desired result of any brain­storm.

• Who is the opinion leader? In many groups, it is rather easy to identify dominant opinion leaders of whom an active par­tic­i­pa­tion during each brain­storm­ing session is generally expected. Though people with a mo­ti­vat­ing per­son­al­i­ty are always needed, too many con­tri­bu­tions coming from one person can either act as a de­mo­ti­vat­ing factor for other par­tic­i­pants or can be seen as seizing the chance of the less open people to have any say in the matter. If you have iden­ti­fied such a person, a one-on-one con­ver­sa­tion in which you highlight the problem should take place before the session. Naturally, you also avail of the chance to cleverly get others more involved during the brain­storm. The more you know about the group and its opinion leader, the easier it is to carry out the above steps.

Think about an ap­pro­pri­ate in­tro­duc­tion, in which you present the problem in a short and precise way without going too much into detail. Otherwise, you sub­con­scious­ly risk having too much influence on the upcoming ideas of your par­tic­i­pants. To make sure that each par­tic­i­pant is aware of the various brain­storm­ing methods, take time to explain the general con­di­tions (time limit, ways of par­tic­i­pa­tion etc.) and the rules (quantity over quality, no criticism policy, letting everyone express them­selves etc.). Most im­por­tant­ly, however, the actual question of the brain­storm­ing session should be answered as cre­ative­ly as possible. You should therefore ideally pre-formulate your in­tro­duc­tion. Here are some examples of “brain­storm­ing cheat sheets”:

Task: “A new slogan for our drink”

Rules:

• Put out new ideas or refine already existing ones – no need to raise your hand before you speak out loud
• Crit­i­cisms and the­mat­i­cal­ly ir­rel­e­vant comments are not allowed
• Keep con­tri­bu­tions short, each should prefer­ably consist of slogans ONLY
• ALL slogans will be written down on the white­board by the host
• Time limit: 30 minutes
• Final eval­u­a­tion of ideas and open dis­cus­sion (approx. 1 hour), only one slogan can win

In each session, the constant flow of ideas is the decisive factor. Ideally, brain­storm­ing should be all about col­lect­ing as many ideas as possible and refining the ones that look most promising. For this to happen, con­tri­bu­tions must come out in quick suc­ces­sions, in various forms, and on top of that, from as many par­tic­i­pants as possible.

It is often the case that brain­storm­ing sessions either generate their own, un­con­trolled dynamism or come to a quick halt. Even though the main objective of each brain­storm is to simply collect ideas, various groups also tend to get caught up in a certain idea and, rather than moving on, decide to continue tinkering with it. Sometimes, groups come to a complete stand­still, which can be the result of many factors. It is then up to the host to set the session on the right path once again and to drive the par­tic­i­pants forward with their ideas. Below are some tips on how to control brain­storm­ing sessions:

• Address those who have not managed to make any con­tri­bu­tion. Sometimes, all it takes is to say their name out loud. If anything, it could be that this person has not yet dared to share their idea. If, however, the person has no idea what­so­ev­er, you must not put them under pressure. Remember that people who have not come up with anything should not feel at fault.
   
• Refer to any nicely for­mu­lat­ed ideas and ask around if par­tic­i­pants would modify them in any way.
   
• When an ap­pro­pri­ate occasion arises, give praise (prefer­ably not just by praising the idea itself, but rather the con­tri­bu­tion as a whole). Reward mech­a­nisms often activate a greater sense of cre­ativ­i­ty and loosen the at­mos­phere in the room. It is possible that people might feel more inclined to share their ideas af­ter­wards.
   
• When the flow of ideas comes to a complete stand­still, if is often good to take a small break. You, as the host, should leave the room for a short while to reduce the tension levels among group members. When the session resumes, par­tic­i­pants often feel as if new energy has been injected into them or that, in the meantime, they have perhaps come up with a new idea that they would like to share im­me­di­ate­ly.
   
• Note down the idea so that all par­tic­i­pants can lay their eyes on the progress. The sole fact that ideas are written down and noticed by everyone often has a mo­ti­vat­ing effect. Write legibly. If your hand­writ­ing is not up to scratch, consider handing the writing task over to a team member or a co-host.
   
• Do not un­der­es­ti­mate the im­por­tance of the room in which brain­storm­ing takes place. An optimal brain­storm­ing en­vi­ron­ment is quiet, and the room structure should in no way resemble any hi­er­ar­chi­cal split. Round tables or setting up the chairs in a circle are the ideal option. If is often helpful to move the brain­storm­ing session away from the workplace. Going to a nearby park with your group can activate higher levels of cre­ativ­i­ty and can make your co-workers think outside the box. A simple group stroll can also work wonders. However, you must also be able to note down all the ideas while you’re away from the office (with a notebook or a recording device).

Lastly, by picking up on the energy released during the brain­storm­ing session, an open dis­cus­sion should take place and involve all par­tic­i­pants. While keeping in mind that a sense of ob­jec­tiv­i­ty should now prevail, you must also give the par­tic­i­pants a chance to discuss the generated ideas a bit more to let them clarify the concept behind each. Prefer­ably, it should be the person who gave rise to a good idea during a session that should think one step further and give valuable con­tri­bu­tions at this point of the eval­u­a­tion. A joint eval­u­a­tion of a brain­storm is therefore an essential component of the whole process.

The so-called process of elim­i­na­tion is yet another popular eval­u­a­tion method, whereby ideas are elim­i­nat­ed one by one until there is only one winning idea on the table, which is naturally put into practice at a later stage. The style of the dis­cus­sion is rather ar­gu­men­ta­tive and com­par­a­tive. The ruling out of ideas can be done either by a simple vote or a show of hands. This method brings at best a playful, if not a com­pet­i­tive element into the dis­cus­sion and generates a sound, mo­ti­vat­ing at­mos­phere. It is for this reason that brain­storm­ing is seen as a technique which brings ex­cite­ment, because, tech­ni­cal­ly speaking, each idea can end up winning re­gard­less of the rank and status of the person behind it.

According to Osborn and Clark, brain­storm­ing tra­di­tion­al­ly pre­sup­pos­es a group which gets together and comes up with a creative storm of ideas by means of as fewer rules and oblig­a­tions as possible. Nev­er­the­less, the term “brain­storm­ing” is nowadays in­ter­pret­ed rather loosely and often signifies a type of spon­ta­neous search for ideas re­gard­less of whether it is done in a group or alone with pen and paper. 

Modern working en­vi­ron­ments have also created new brain­storm­ing variants. To exchange ideas and perhaps to develop them even further, offices are making use of software and online platforms at an in­creas­ing rate. Group work tools are also becoming in­creas­ing­ly elab­o­rat­ed on and offer the likes of chats and content sharing for a more col­lab­o­ra­tive and pro­duc­tive exchange during group projects. The ease of use of such tools makes it ever so appealing for workers to share their ideas in chatrooms, which con­se­quent­ly allows for quick feedback (es­pe­cial­ly enabled by the casual style on these platforms). It remains debatable whether such types can be clas­si­fied as brain­storm­ing tools. Below, we present other examples of variants which, according to Osborn and Clark, move away from the fun­da­men­tal concept of brain­storm­ing.

This variant sup­ple­ments the classic brain­storm with an ad­di­tion­al rule, which states that each session should follow an ordered pattern. ABC brain­storm­ing attempts to assign each letter of the alphabet to cor­re­spond­ing ideas beginning with one of the letters. You can either go by the al­pha­bet­i­cal order or apply no order what­so­ev­er to the process. This method is very common when groups find it difficult to think of new ideas. It is, however, es­pe­cial­ly suited for sit­u­a­tions, in which the aim of the group is to think of a name or a slogan.

The danger of ABC brain­storm­ing lies in the fact that par­tic­i­pants become too focused on the letters and are therefore limited in their creative thinking. After all, there are many more words and ideas which begin with the letter “E” than “Y,” but for each, only one idea is needed. ABC brain­storm­ing therefore sub­stan­tial­ly restricts the thought process of your par­tic­i­pants, which con­tra­dicts the very purpose of an un­fil­tered, raw storm of ideas which hides behind the term “brain­storm­ing.” Generally speaking, the more rules that are applied to a brain­storm­ing session, the smaller the chances of creating original ideas.

Using video chat programs such as Skype, is known to mirror the effect of real brain­storm­ing sessions. Since this is a real-time brain­storm­ing method, there is also space for spon­ta­neous cre­ativ­i­ty. Nev­er­the­less, a video chat cannot fully replace a face-to-face in­ter­ac­tion, which can po­ten­tial­ly cause a mental barrier between the two par­tic­i­pants. In this brain­storm­ing variant, it is the host who is also more involved and has to cope with various re­quire­ments and technical obstacles that video con­fer­ences usually entail – con­nec­tion failures, poor trans­mis­sion quality, or the lack of technical affinity, which only turns the co-worker’s attention away from the actual brain­storm­ing session or even makes it com­plete­ly im­pos­si­ble for the session to take place. 

Contrary to a classic brain­storm, brain­writ­ing involves the writing down and the sub­se­quent col­lec­tion of in­di­vid­ual ideas to the detriment of spon­tane­ity and team dynamism. After a given time, the host collects what each person wrote down and the notes are then reviewed and evaluated. Ideas are often anonymized, hence no personal ref­er­ences are made. Brain­writ­ing is con­sid­ered a useful method when some par­tic­i­pants are unable to engage in classic brain­storm­ing due to language barriers, per­son­al­i­ty clashes, or when an on-site meeting is not possible (distance between par­tic­i­pants, no des­ig­nat­ed meeting room etc.).

One of brain­writ­ing’s main strengths is the par­tic­i­pant’s ability to not be in­flu­enced by the rest. A classic brain­storm aims to clearly assign each idea to the person that expressed it. However, depending on the group set-up and various group dynamisms, this form can also have negative effects on the session. Brain­writ­ing is therefore a gateway into the session for those who are shy or unsure of their ideas. In this way, ideas, which would have possibly never come to light in classic brain­storm­ing settings, are expressed more freely by par­tic­i­pants, offering equal op­por­tu­ni­ty to all team members.

Brain­writ­ing has one more important advantage – it en­com­pass­es a thorough doc­u­men­ta­tion of all ideas. From time to time, even the most ex­pe­ri­enced hosts of brain­storm­ing sessions can forget to jot down ideas, which even­tu­al­ly get lost in the debate. Brain­writ­ing makes sure that each idea is written down and takes part in the brain­storm. However, this method also has its dis­ad­van­tage, namely that the ideas are in danger of bearing no relation to each other or that they can repeat more than once during a session (pos­si­bil­i­ty of sub­mit­ting multiple answers). During a brain­storm­ing session, good ideas that are developed further, whereas during brain­writ­ing, ideas evolve by means of numerous steps in a much longer overall procedure.

Brain­walk­ing is yet another trendy variant of brain­storm­ing, which activates the cre­ativ­i­ty of its par­tic­i­pants as they in­di­vid­u­al­ly place posters and little notes in an agreed area (on one of the office walls for instance). The aim of such notes is to allow team members to inscribe their own ideas, which even­tu­al­ly results in a col­lec­tion of thoughts. Brain­walk­ing dis­en­gages from any re­stric­tive frame­works which are usually seen during meetings or in chatrooms, and is rather more concerned with the par­tic­i­pant’s ability to spon­ta­neous­ly jot down and share any thoughts during a normal work day.

The term is nev­er­the­less often as­so­ci­at­ed with casual staff events involving in­te­gra­tional exercises and brain-teasers. Here, it is all about brain training, which activates centers of cre­ativ­i­ty and improves both the memory and per­cep­tu­al ca­pac­i­ties. In this case, the term is more a mental fitness test than a brain­storm­ing method. It is nev­er­the­less possible to integrate small brain­storm­ing sessions with such ac­tiv­i­ties. After all, pro­duc­tive movement exercises can improve creative thinking.

Notebooks are ideally suited for brain­storms which need a sig­nif­i­cant­ly longer time for full com­ple­tion. In this brain­storm­ing method, you would ideally need a blank notebook, which is then passed on from person to person at your workplace. Upon receiving the notebook, workmates can jot down their ideas and comment (either anony­mous­ly or by name) on ideas which have already been inscribed. This variant combines the positive aspects of both brain­storm­ing and brain­writ­ing. Just like in the latter’s case, this notebook is meant to form a kind of portfolio of ideas, which offers groups a chance to discuss and select re­spec­tive ideas. The method depends on the size of the group, is costlier and more time-consuming than the classic brain­storm­ing method, but can nonethe­less be in­te­grat­ed more easily in everyday work life.

For the notebook, it is rec­om­mend­ed that you lay down some rules. It is often the case of setting a time limit for each par­tic­i­pant (one day, for instance), after which the notebook is passed on to the next person. As well as that, it is worth spec­i­fy­ing how much each person can write (one page per person is the most common limit). This not only allows for a better overview of ideas but also prevents a situation in which the more creative workers steal the limelight from the less creative. Co-workers could otherwise ex­pe­ri­ence a sense of de­mo­ti­va­tion if the ideas of pre­de­ces­sors impress more than the ideas of those who obtained the notebook af­ter­wards.

We must also ask ourselves to what extent this method should be as­so­ci­at­ed with real brain­storm­ing. After all, it is not only the aspect of spon­tane­ity, but also a sub­stan­tial part of group dynamism that is being omitted here. Since brain­writ­ing and its pri­or­i­ti­za­tion of anonymity counters spon­tane­ity, we are left wondering whether it out­per­forms the blank notebook method. The latter, it seems, en­com­pass­es the dis­ad­van­tages of both methods, and its comfort of use is the only real advantage. Nev­er­the­less, depending on your company type and your work en­vi­ron­ment, the blank notebook method can prove highly effective.

When in need of short and concise ideas, brain­storm­ing can prove to be a very effective technique. This is why brain­storm­ing methods are so popular among ad­ver­tis­ing agencies, which always count on the cre­ativ­i­ty of their workers. Above all, such brain­storm­ing methods have long been applied to areas in which a constant flow of fresh and in­no­v­a­tive market-oriented ideas is relevant to everyday work (for example, presented during meeting, con­fer­ences, or at team platforms). The method used depends largely on the group set-up, or­ga­ni­za­tion­al costs, and the work en­vi­ron­ment.

In marketing and ad­ver­tise­ment sectors, brain­storm­ing is an essential technique for finding new ideas. Slogans, visual elements, strategic alignment of campaigns, and many other similar projects based on cre­ativ­i­ty have their origin in brain­storm­ing sessions, during which workers par­tic­i­pate in a search for ideas with only one winning idea as the end result. “What is our new slogan?,” “Why do people buy our product?,” and “New ad­ver­tise­ment campaign designs” are just some of the suggested ways to begin a brain­storm­ing session. Aside from the classic brain­storm­ing, brain­writ­ing is often taken into con­sid­er­a­tion when a re­de­vel­op­ment of visual elements such as product logos needs to take place. Since ad­ver­tis­ing aims to attract the attention of clients, it must make products stand out. The most original ideas therefore come from suc­cess­ful brain­storm­ing sessions in which many creative people have taken part.

Cre­ativ­i­ty and keeping up with modern trends are not the only important things when making new product ideas and product ranges. Lateral thinking is also needed. Here, brain­storm­ing attempts to activate the creative centers of its par­tic­i­pants to attain the most original col­lec­tion of ideas, which will strike the potential clients by making re­spec­tive products stand out from their direct com­pe­ti­tion. Since the exchange of ideas is made simple by means of visual elements, many brain­storm­ing variants are suited for the design sector. Elec­tron­ic brain­storm­ing, however, is suited to compiling design proposals, which can all be later presented with the aid of a portfolio. Brain­walk­ing is also a perfect match for design ideas, because par­tic­i­pants and their co­op­er­a­tive attitude make the col­lec­tive image of their ideas possible by means of a simple wall poster. Similar to this is the blank notebook, in which ideas can also be put on paper and made visible to all members.

Event planning en­com­pass­es many aspects – equipment, music, theme, food, or even the seating arrange­ment. Depending on the event type and its cir­cum­stances, applying creative elements is sometimes what is needed to succeed – whether we go through ideas for a birthday party with our friends or ponder on how to make formal events more in­ter­est­ing in our working en­vi­ron­ment.

Generally speaking, brain­storm­ing tech­niques are most suited when creative, fresh, and in­no­v­a­tive ideas are needed. The video game industry feeds on constant in­no­va­tion and de­vel­op­ment of new concepts, with the aid of which new games can be produced. After all, in­no­va­tion is what the majority of gamers value most. In this sector, creative thinkers from all walks of life are always in demand. Whether in­di­vid­ual group members spe­cial­ize in graphics, music, or plot-making, it is the dif­fer­ence between them which con­tributes towards a wild mix of ideas during the brain­storm­ing sessions. It is often the case that people who work in the industry in question are also gamers them­selves and are therefore aware of the changes that need to be made.

Creative solutions are also highly sought after in the tele­vi­sion industry, whereby in­no­v­a­tive concepts for new series or im­prove­ments to existing ones are always in demand. Since tele­vi­sion has been highly en­dan­gered by com­pe­ti­tion from the tri­umphant en­ter­tain­ment forms found on the internet, it cannot afford to let in­no­va­tion and cre­ativ­i­ty sink into the back­ground. Young target groups will otherwise turn their backs on en­ter­tain­ment forms which are not up to speed with current trends. In recent times, it has become in­creas­ing­ly obvious that tele­vi­sion aims to build an in­ter­gen­er­a­tional bridge by adapting its new concepts to YouTube or Twitch. In such branches, the presence of creative thinkers in brain­storm­ing sessions is therefore always in high demand.