Ideas Generation Techniques

Brain-Storming

Brainstorming is about getting as many ideas as possible from a group of people in a short time.

Guidelines For Brainstorming

There are four basic guidelines to follow in brainstorming.

1.     No criticism

Criticism of any ideas expressed is absolutely forbidden.

2.     No evaluation

There should not be any evaluation of ideas during the idea generation stage. Participants are encouraged to say whatever comes into their mind without self-censorship. In fact the slogan is “ The crazier, the better.”

3.     Quantity of ideas

The very essence of brainstorming is to get as many ideas as possible. Quantity is more important than quality.

4.     Cross-fertilize

Participants are encouraged to combine or modify any of the ideas expressed to come out with new ideas. There should not be any individual ownership of any specific ideas. Instead, there should be group ownership.

During brainstorming, participants are expected to use their right brain (creative thinking) rather than logical left brain thinking. A good brainstorming session is when there are more crazy ideas than logical ideas. Generally, crazy ideas by themselves are not useful. They are meant for triggering off innovative ideas, which are ultimately practical.