Brainstorming

Brainstorming is idea generation with judgement deliberately deferred. Alex Osborn, an advertising executive, set out the rules in the 1950s: no criticism during generation, aim for quantity, welcome unusual ideas, and build on other people’s.

What the research says

The awkward finding is that group brainstorming, done as Osborn described, tends to produce fewer and less varied ideas than the same people working alone and pooling results. This has been replicated many times since the 1950s. The causes are well understood: only one person can speak at a time, people self-censor in front of colleagues, and quieter or more junior voices defer to louder or more senior ones.

What works better

Generate alone, combine together. Everyone writes ideas silently first, then all ideas go up at once and the group builds on them. This is the core of the “Crazy 8s” and “Note and Vote” exercises used in a design sprint.

Give it a specific question. “How might we reduce the steps to book a pickup” produces usable material. “Ideas for the app” produces a wall of noise.

Decide how you will choose. Generation without a selection method produces a photograph of sticky notes and no decision.