1. Fun or not so much?

Classic brainstorming of random talking in a group can be ineffective:

  • Personality differences have a large effect, e.g. shyness vs. talkative.

  • "Bad" ideas get rejected way too early, sometimes never even said out loud or written down.

2. Techniques

2.1. Nominal Group

  • State the problem

  • Everyone writes down all ideas on paper individually for N minutes.

  • Round-robin read off the ideas, no discussion yet unless it is a clarifying question.

  • Add more ideas to the list as they come up.

2.2. Brainwriting

Works best in groups of ~6 people.

  • Paper with 3 columns. Write an idea at the top of each column.

  • Pass sheet to the next person, add 3 more ideas below the existing ones. Use other items as a source of other ideas.

  • Continue for 3-6 rounds.

  • Read out the ideas on your page for the group.

2.3. Think, Pair, Share

  • Similar to classroom activity.

  • Individually think for ~2min about solutions.

  • Get with a partner and share your ideas, listen carefully to the other’s, then discuss briefly. It helps to make some notes.

  • Each pair reports to the group on their discussion/ideas.

2.4. Fractionation

  • Divide the problem into smaller aspects.

  • Consider each part separately.

  • (avoid trying to solve it all)

2.5. Reversal

  • Consider the opposite problem.

  • Ask how to make the original problem worse.

2.6. Other

  • Make a mind map of the concept space. Main thing at the center and draw connections to related words/ideas, keep branching.

  • What if you had unlimited resources? (time, money, people, space)

  • How would a large company solve the problem? E.g. how would SpaceX solve this?

  • What if you had ultra limited resource?

  • How would a start-up company attack the issue?

  • What would your 6 year old cousin say?