Brainstorming
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Brainstorming is a process for generating new ideas in a group setting. There are traditional and advanced forms of brainstorming. Traditional brainstorming involves a group generating ideas without judgment. Advanced brainstorming uses specialized creative thinking techniques to increase the number and diversity of ideas. These techniques include random words, pictures, websites, role playing, and challenging assumptions to prompt new perspectives. The benefits of brainstorming include developing new opportunities and solutions, while the risks can be overcome with proper facilitation and techniques.
Brainstorming
- 2. DECENT GROUP
- 4. Muhammad Fayyaz What is Brainstorming? Types of Brainstorming: Rules of Brainstorming What is brainstorming used for? Benefits of brainstorming Risks from brainstorming and how to overcome them A summary of the introduction to brainstorming
- 5. Sohaib Furqan How to do Traditional Brainstorming How to brainstorm in a medium-sized group Rules of Brainstorming A summary of traditional brainstorming Muhammad Bilal Advanced Brainstorming Creativity and Creative Thinking How do Creative Thinking techniques work? what creative thinking techniques are available? How to use the Random Word technique How to use the Random Picture technique How to use the False Rules technique
- 6. Hiba Rauf
- 8. Brainstorming is a process for generating new ideas Brainstorming is "a conference technique by which a group attempts to find a solution for a specific problem by amassing all the ideas spontaneously by its members" - Alex Osborn To brainstorm is to use a set of specific rules and techniques which encourage and spark off new ideas which would never have happened under normal circumstances
- 9. Traditional Advanced Brainstorming Brainstorming
- 10. Traditional Brainstorming The normal view of brainstorming is where a group of people sit in a room and shout out ideas as they occur to them. They are told to lose their inhibitions and that no ideas will be judged so that people are free to shout out any ideas at all without feeling uncomfortable. People should build on the ideas called out by other participants. The purpose of this is to gain as many ideas as possible for later analysis. Out of the many ideas suggested there will be some of great value. Because of the free-thinking environment, the session will help promote radical new ideas which break free from normal ways of thinking.
- 11. Advanced Brainstorming The model we propose is an extension of the traditional brainstorming scenario and makes the whole process easier and more effective. Advanced brainstorming builds on the current methods of brainstorming to produce more original ideas in a more efficient way. Specialized techniques, better processes and better awareness, combined with new technologies, make traditional brainstorming a less frustrating process. Most of the problems associated with traditional brainstorming disappear as a more effective process is used.
- 12. Primary rules of Brainstorming
- 13. Advertising campaigns Engineering components Marketing strategy and Government policies methods Consumer research Research and Factories Development procedures Management methods Research techniques Company structure and Patents policy Physical products Investment decisions Written documents and New industries articles Better insurance policies Services New and better ... whatever Processes you want!
- 14. Benefits of brainstorming What if you developed new ways of saving money? What if you spotted a new opportunity in the market? What if you developed a new product which became the market leader? What if you could double your productivity? What if you could cut down paperwork and bureaucracy? All of these have been done through brainstorming techniques. If you perform them too then you will benefit directly from the rewards given to you by others. You will also benefit by being happier about yourself and the contribution you are making to society.
- 15. Even though traditional brainstorming can bring benefits to the whole group, it can sometimes reduce individual recognition. But you can still be recognized as (1) being good at brainstorming, (2) for being responsible for introducing better brainstorming techniques and (3) you can even use Advanced Brainstorming by yourself and create new solutions which are accredited to you alone.
- 16. Risks from brainstorming and how to overcome them The risk of losing your faith in brainstorming because of a lack of knowledge
- 18. How to do Traditional Brainstorming
- 19. How to brainstorm in a medium-sized group
- 21. Rule 1:
- 22. Rule 2: Encourage wild and exaggerated ideas
- 23. Rule 3: Quantity counts at this stage, not quality
- 24. Rule 4: Build on the ideas put forward by others
- 27. Summary of standard brainstorming session
- 28. Advanced Brainstorming Advanced brainstorming is an improved process which increases the success rate of brainstorming and involves using creative thinking techniques to increase the number and diversity of new ideas. Advanced brainstorming will make your brainstorming sessions run smoother and more efficiently because you will never be stuck for a new idea. Modern tools and techniques for idea generation also allow brainstorming to be done effectively by an individual person. Brainstorming sessions are followed using the standard rules but are improved upon by using specialized techniques and tools.
- 29. Tools and techniques of advanced brainstorming
- 30. What is creativity? Creativity is the bringing into being of something which did not exist before, either as a product, a process or a thought. What is creative thinking? Creative thinking is the process which we use when we come up with a new idea.
- 31. How do Creative Thinking techniques work? Creative thinking techniques work to stimulate original ideas. New ideas happen when two or more ideas are accidentally or deliberately merged when they have never been merged before. Creative thinking techniques provide the method for deliberately combining ideas in ways which you would not normally come across or think about. This combination generates a truly original idea for you. The creative thinking process looks like this:
- 33. The most basic and obviously creative technique where you use a random word (hence the name!) to generate new ideas By getting a random word as a prompt and forcing yourself to use it to solve your problem you are practically guaranteed to attack the problem from a different direction to normal. You take a word from a random word generator, extract its underlying principles and then apply them to your problem to see how they can help. The skill is stopping your mind from (a) thinking this is silly and (b) directly using the actual principles behind the word to your problem without changing them to ones which are easier to apply The first thing you need is the random word itself which is classed as the initial stimulus. Next, you establish a bridging idea, which is an idea based on the stimulus. This is used, as the name implies, as a bridge between the stimulus and an idea which you could actually use on your problem. The simplest way to get a random word is using our dedicated software (Brainstorming Toolbox) to give you a random word at the touch of a button
- 34. This method is very similar to the random word technique and many of its working principles are explained in that section, so please read that first if you haven't already. You should also read the section on methods of using a stimulus for new ideas The first thing you need for this technique is, fairly obviously, a random picture. This is then used as a prompt to come up with new ideas and solutions. You can get such an image from brainstorming software or you can select it at random yourself from a magazine, encyclopedia or picture book. You can also use a picture from a website (see the Random Website technique). You should look at the picture, extract a concept or idea from it and use this idea to stimulate a possible solution to your problem. Try to see anything in the picture which reminds you of your problem and how it might be solved. What activities are going on? What situations are being faced? Why are the people doing what they are doing? What principles are being used?
- 35. With a picture in front of you, extract an idea from it, or imagine a similar theme/person/action happening within your own situation. Next think of how you can use that new situation/object/attitude in your own situation. It does not immediately have to be a positive solution but you may later be able to move from it to a good solution You must be careful of deciding that a specific picture is of no use and getting another instead. If you do this then often you are just trying to choose a random picture which obviously fits into the problem you are trying to solve and therefore you end up with a picture which is not random. Again, the skill is to work out HOW the picture can be made to fit.
- 37. One you have got a false rule, there are many ways of using it, including
- 38. Using the Random Website technique you look at a random website, gather the ideas which are used there and use them to come up with new ideas and solutions for yourself. You are looking for ways in which you can use the products, solutions, ideas and concepts behind the website to reapply in your own field and problem area
- 39. Things to watch out for when using the technique You must be careful of deciding that a specific website is of no use and getting another instead. If you do this then often you are just trying to choose a random website which obviously fits into the probortunity you are trying to investigate, and therefore you end up with a website which is not random. Again, the skill is to work out HOW the website can be made to fit.
- 40. The SCAMPER technique uses a set of directed questions which you answer about your probortunity in order to come up with new ideas. The stimulus comes from forcing yourself to answer questions which you would not normally pose. The questions direct you to thinking about a probortunity in ways which typically come up with new ideas. SCAMPER is an acronym which stands for questions relating to the following
- 41. Combine Adapt
- 42. Think about changing part or all of the current situation, or to distort it in an unusual way. By forcing yourself to come up with new ways of working, you are often prompted into an alternative product/process. Typical questions: What happens if I warp or exaggerate a feature or component? What will happen if I modify the process in some way? Think of how you might be able to put your current solution/ product/process to other purposes, or think of what you could reuse from somewhere else in order to solve your own probortunity. You might think of another way of solving your own probortunity or finding another market for your product. Typical questions: What other market could I use this product in? Who or what else might be able to use it?
- 45. Who else has solved this probortunity? What similar area of expertise might have solved this probortunity? Is there anyone else in the company who knows how to solve this? What else could we use to solve the probortunity? Where else might this probortunity have been solved? What other companies might know how to solve this? What similar problems have been solved, and how? What other industries face the same probortunity and what do they do about it? By answering these questions you can often come across trains of thought which help to solve your probortunity
- 46. How to use the Role Play technique One of the great ways of changing the way you see the world is to see it from someone else's point of view. This technique allows you to change your perspective by getting you to role play a different person and see how they would approach the problem. Different people use different bits of information and knowledge to approach the same problem and it's extremely helpful to view a task from different angles. Have you ever noticed that an artist and a mathematician will approach a subject from different angles and different ways of thinking? Imagine the ideas you will have as you take the role of both occupations and play around with the displacements of thought! First you need to select an occupation to role play. The easiest way to get this is to use a computer to select from a list of occupations (eg. using Brainstorming Toolbox) but you can always use a paper version or make one up on the spot. A randomly selected list is best so that you don't select easy or less challenging ones.
- 47. When you have your occupation to role play then try to approach the probortunity in the way that this person would do it. How would they think? What objects and items would they be using? Where would they be doing it? How would they see the problem? What action would they take? How would they explain the problem? How would they solve the problem? See how many different ways you can approach the problems and its solutions using your new assumed personality.
- 48. How to use the Challenge Facts technique How many facts are really facts and how many are just the most reasonable, educated guess based upon the knowledge known at the time? It is very rare that anything remains an undeniable fact for too long, especially when you consider people's views and differently acquired knowledge. We are in a constant state of change. We think differently as we gain knowledge and skills in thinking. One generation to the next have different aims, ambitions and morals. What might be seen as a good thing by one generation could be seen as a bad thing by the next. Political parties change their views, as do their voters. Due to personal circumstances, individuals can change their whole philosophy of life within months. Technology and other inventions now change the world faster than most people can keep up with. What seemed impossible one week can become plausible the next, reality within months and an accepted way of life in a year or two. This is not really surprising when you consider the combined, diverse thought power of billions of people spread across the globe. How do you know that what you considered to be a fact in the past has now become inappropriate due to changes which have happened since then? Might you now be able to improve your current product because of a change in human values or lifestyles?
- 49. With Escapism you can propose the wildest, most outrageous and preposterous things you can imagine. You use true escapism where there are no morals, rules, etiquette, laws or standards. You escape the physical limitations of the world to see what your ultimate solution would be. You should not limit yourself by anything except your own imagination, and even this you should push. Your mission in this technique is to write down the wildest, most ridiculous, stupid, wacky ideas you can come up with to solve the probortunity. They do not have to be practical, possible or even sensible
- 50. How to use the Analogy technique The greatest thing by far, is to be a master of the metaphor - Aristotle
- 51. What does your situation or your probortunity remind you of? What other areas of life/work experience similar situations? Who does similar things but not in your area of expertise? Often an analogy will include the words "... is like ..." Examples. Running a business is like managing a theatre production Changing a tyre on a car is like putting your shoes on (PS tyre = tire using US spelling) Selling to our customers is like being a second-hand car salesman Another way is to force an analogy and create something which you will make the analogy to.