Brainstorming Workshop

Even the smartest people

Think that their thoughts are like birds,
Like eagles or larks.
I thought so too.
We were wrong.
Our thoughts are like mice.
We set them free, hoping they’ll fly,
But instead they hide down in deep dark holes called
Experience, Common Sense,
Knowledge, Belief, Principles, Convention, Doubt, Fear,
Complexes…
These holes are warm and comfortable,
We spent so much time digging them, doggedly,
We call them Our Mind.
I cannot teach your thoughts to fly.
It is a task for your own talent.
But at least I can lure them out of their habitual comfort,
To a fickle and treacherous surface
Called Creativity,
And, maybe take them on a little walk,
At first, on crutches...
 How do we really Think?
•We tend to think by recognizing patterns.
•We react to these patterns based on past
experience and extensions to that
experience.
•Sometimes, though, we get stuck inside
them. Within a particular pattern there may
be no good solution to a particular sort of
problem.
 HOW THE BRAIN WORKS

Emotional
Rational • Rhythm
• Words • Spatial Awarenes
• Logic • Gestalt
• Numbers (whole picture)
• Sequence LEFT RIGHT • Imagination
• Linearity • Daydreaming
• Analysis • Colour
• Lists • Dimension

For most people, one side will dominate, especially

when under pressure, which will affect thinking
BLOCKS TO THINKING

• Fear of being wrong

+ Looking an idiot
+ Standing out/being different
+ Failure
+ Being found out

• Environment
+ Psychological; encouragement, permission to make
mistakes
+ Comfort and open-mindedness
+ Physical environment
BLOCKS TO THINKING

•Habits/Traditions
+ Breaking them is difficult
+ Needs to be done consciously

•Specialisation
•Fear of Consequences
•Getting stuck in our thinking patterns
 Thinking?
•There are 2 types of thinking programmed and
lateral:
•Each type of approach has its strength.
- Logical, disciplined thinking is enormously effective in
making products and services better. It can, however, only
go so far before all practical improvements have been
carried out.
- Lateral thinking can generate completely new concepts
and ideas, and brilliant improvements to existing systems. In
the wrong place, however, it can be sterile or
unnecessarily disruptive.
 Lateral Thinking?
•Recognizes that our brains are pattern recognition
systems, and that they do not function like
computers..
• The benefit of good pattern recognition is that we
can recognize objects and situations very quickly.
•Unfortunately, we get stuck in our patterns. We tend
to think within them. Solutions we develop are
based on previous solutions to similar problems.
Normally it does not occur to us to use solutions
belonging to other patterns.
• We use lateral thinking techniques to break out of
this patterned way of thinking.
 Lateral Thinking?
Definition…
•Seeking to solve problems by unorthodox or
apparently illogical methods.
•"A set of systematic techniques used for changing
concepts and perceptions and generating new
ones", "Exploring multiple possibilities and
approaches instead of pursuing a single approach."
(Edward de Bono, originator of the phrase)
 Brainstorming Is…?
•Dictionary definitions of 'Brainstorm'  
- A sudden inspiration  
- A bright idea  
- A severe outburst of excitement, often as a result
of a transitory disturbance of cerebral activity  
- A sudden mental aberration
• Brainstorming is a lateral thinking process. It is
designed to help you break out of your thinking
patterns into new ways of looking at things.

•Brainstorming is a widely used creativity tool,

and also the most misunderstood and
misused!
 Creative Thinking
Some definitions…
- Creative Specific thought processes which improve the
ability to be creative.
- Being in an optimal state of mind for generating new
ideas.
- To think deliberately in ways that improve the likelihood of
new thoughts occurring. To maximize the ability of the
brain to think of new ideas.
- The ability to think of original, diverse and elaborate ideas.
- A series of mental actions which produce changes and
developments of thought.
- The process of exploring multiple avenues of actions or
thoughts. (Sometimes called divergent thinking because
thought patterns and areas of belief are expanded.) vs.
Convergent?

 Must start with divergent then end up with convergent

 Creative Thinking
•Creativityis a thinking journey that has a logical
way to reach ads that makes consumers buy
products emotionally.
• Creativity is all about making associations!
•Being creative may just be a matter of setting aside
the time needed to take a step back and allow
yourself to ask yourself if there is a better way of
doing something. Edward de Bono calls this a
'Creative Pause'. He suggests that this should be a
short break of maybe only 30 seconds, but that this
should be a habitual part of thinking. This needs self-
discipline, as it is easy to forget.
 Creative Thinking

"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking

risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having
fun.“ - Mary Lou Cook
 Creative Thinking
•Creativity is not a gift you have to be born with.
Most creative people  learn how to be creative.
They do it logically. They look at one perspective
and think of another. They appreciate metaphors.
They make cross-connections easily. They trigger
their thinking one way and then apply it to the
problem at hand.
•For example, creativity comes with:
- seeing things differently,
- seeing different things,
- generating multiple options,
- breaking the rules,
- thinking and linking,
- a high level of awareness,
- knowing how you think,
- playing 'what ifs,' and
 Creative Thinking Principles
Follow the ‘Path of Most Resistance’ & keep the
ideas closely relevant within the ‘Closed World’

INVENT

ADD REDUCE PATH OF

MORE
PATH RESISTENCE
OF USUAL
REPLACE KEEP AS IS

EXTERNAL CLOSED WORLD

Eg. Cheaper flat tire no nails use what
already have.. u get one nail from each tire
and work with it on the flat
 When to use Brainstorming?
•When you have a defined task/problem
and want to generate many, varied or
unusual ideas/options/creative solutions
•You will need
- a Problem Owner who is responsible for the
content, the ideas of the session
- a Facilitator to look after the process, how the
group goes about generating the ideas
- flipcharts with sufficient paper, markers and
masking tape to record the ideas
 How To Brainstorm?
• Identifying the problem owner i.e the person who wants the
ideas in the group and who will finally decide which ideas to
take forward.
• Getting the problem owner to explain the task to the group
and giving them background to the project.
• Facilitator explains and write up the rules of brainstorming for
everyone to follow
• The problem owner gives a very brief background of the task
and answers any factual questions the group my have. Define
the problem you want solved clearly, and lay out any criteria
to be met.
• Writingit down in one word or sentence on a flip chart to
keep the session focused on the problem (planner)
 How To Brainstorm?
•Conducting the brainstorming & jotting down the
ideas on the flip chart
•Making sure all ideas are valid during brainstorm
and writing down every single one. The facilitator
records the ideas and polices the rules (and checks
with the problem owner every 10-15 minutes that
the session is going in the right direction)
•Stopping after problem owner feels enough ideas
have been generated.
Taking a break for 15 mins. whilst problem owner
goes through ideas.
•Problem owner picking however many ideas he/she
wants to carry forward into evaluation.
 How To Brainstorm?
•Listing favorite ideas (planner)
•Getting the group to state 3 strengths and 3
weaknesses for each selected idea.
• Spending further time, brainstorming ideas to
overcome the weaknesses if possible.
•Coming up with an Action plan with clearly defined
task responsibilities and timing (planner & problem
owner).
 Some Useful Tips..
•Ensure that no one criticizes or evaluates ideas
during the session. Criticism introduces an element
of risk for group members when putting forward an
idea. This stifles creativity and cripples the free
running nature of a good brainstorming session.
•Encourage an enthusiastic, uncritical attitude
among members of the group. Try to get everyone
to contribute and develop ideas, including the
quietest members of the group
 Some Useful Tips..
•Let people have fun brainstorming. Encourage
them to come up with as many ideas as possible,
from solidly practical ones to wildly impractical
ones. Welcome creativity.
•Ensure that no train of thought is followed for too
long
•Encourage people to develop other people's ideas,
or to use other ideas to create new ones
•Appoint one person to note down ideas that come
out of the session. A good way of doing this is to use
a flip chart. This should be studied and evaluated
after the session.
•Where possible, participants in the brainstorming
process should come from as wide a range of
disciplines as possible. This brings a broad range of
experience to the session and helps to make it
more creative.
 Some Useful Tips..
•Very few ideas are pronounced (we don't say all
we have.. if don't say ideas they'll never be
realized).. So you must encourage everyone to
speak and you must listen hard because ideas
come in bunches!

•Encourage and ensure that all group

members contribute ideas
•Where time is short (or there are many ideas
on a particular issue all coming at once),
ask the group to write their idea on a post-it
note and place it on the flip chart
 Rules Of Brainstorming
•Defer judgment/criticism
- of others ideas
- and of your own

•Look to generate many ideas- they should

be as broad and odd as possible
•Look for wild and different ideas –
freewheel, as fast as possible
•Build on others ideas
•All ideas are recorded and numbered
 Rules Of Brainstorming
•Collect as many ideas as possible from all
participants with no criticisms or judgments
made while ideas are being generated.
 
•All ideas are welcome no matter how silly
or far out they seem. Be creative. The more
ideas the better because at this point you
don't know what might work.
 
•Absolutely no discussion takes place
during the brainstorming activity. Talking
about the ideas will take place after
brainstorming is complete.
 Benefits of brainstorming..

•Many idea fragments which will need to be

evaluated at the end of the brainstorming
session and developed further
- usually in a separate session

•Be prepared to lay aside a lot of them

- while all ideas have value, the value of 80% of
the ideas generated in a typical session is that
they stimulated the remaining 20%
 What if ideas dry out??

If your ideas begin to dry up, you can 'seed'

the session with any of the following tools
 Creativity Tools
•A number of techniques fuse the strengths
of the two different strands of creativity
(programmed & lateral)
•They are designed to help you devise creative and
imaginative solutions to problems, and help you to
spot opportunities that you might otherwise miss.
•Many of the techniques to follow have been used
by great thinkers to drive their creativity. Albert
Einstein, for example, used his own informal variant
of Provocation to trigger ideas that lead to the
Theory of Relativity.
 Creativity Tools

• Making creative leaps - Random Input

• Widening the search for solutions - Concept Fan
• Carrying out thought experiments - Provocation

Note: Some may be considered 'overkill' when

dealing with minor problems, but they provide
excellent frameworks for solving difficult and
serious ones.
 Random Input Tool
•Helps you make creative leaps
• It is very useful when you need fresh ideas or new
perspectives during problem solving.
•Random input is a technique for linking another
thinking pattern into the one we are using. Along
with this new pattern comes all the experience
you have connected to it.
• Random input is an excellent way of getting new
perspectives on a problem. It often leads to
startling creative leaps.
• It provides an easy way of breaking out of
restrictive thinking patterns. It helps you to link in
whole ranges of new solutions that you would not
otherwise associate with the problem.
 Random Input Tool
• The best words to use are concrete nouns, which
may come from areas in which you have some
expertise. Nouns should not, however, come from
the same field as the problem you are
considering, as the whole idea of Random Input is
to link in new thinking patterns, not to stay inside
old ones.
• If you choose a good word, you will add a range
of new ideas and concepts to your brainstorming.
While some will be useless, hopefully you will gain
some good new insights into your problem. If you
persist, then at least one of these is likely to be a
startling creative leap.
 Random Input Tool
•To use Random Input, select a random
noun from either a dictionary or a pre-
prepared word list. It often helps if the noun
is something that can be seen or touched
(e.g. 'helicopter', 'dog') rather than a
concept (e.g. 'fairness'). Use this noun as
the starting point for brainstorming your
problem.
•You may find that you get good insights if
you select a word from a separate field in
which you have some expertise.
 Concept Fan Tool
• The Concept Fan is a way of finding different approaches to
a problem when you have rejected all obvious solutions. It
develops the principle of 'taking one step back' to get a
broader perspective.
• The idea of the Concept Fan was devised by Edward de
Bono in his book 'Serious Creativity'
• To start a concept fan, write the problem in the middle of a
large piece of paper. Write possible solutions to this problem
on lines radiating from this circle.
 
Concept Fan Tool
 Concept Fan Tool
• It may be that the ideas you have are impractical
or do not really solve the problem. If this is the
case, take a 'step back' for a broader view of the
problem.
•Do this by drawing a circle to the left of the first
circle, and write the broader definition into this
new circle. Link it with an arrow to show that it
comes from the first circle:
•Use this as a starting point to radiate out other
ideas:
•If this does not give you enough new ideas, you
can take yet another step back (and another,
and another…):
Concept Fan Tool
Concept Fan Tool
 Concept Fan Tool

•If no idea is good enough, redefine the problem

more broadly. Write this broader definition in a
circle to the left of the first one. Draw an arrow
from the initial problem definition to the new one
to show the linkage between the problems. Then
radiate possible solutions from this broader
definition.
• Keep on expanding and redefining the problem
until you have a useful solution.
 Provocation Tool

• Provocation is an important lateral thinking

technique. Just like Random Input, it works by
moving your thinking out of the established
patterns that you use to solve problems.
•Provocation is one of the tools we use to make
links between these patterns.
 Provocation Tool

• We use it by making deliberately stupid

statements (Provocations), in which something we
take for granted about the situation is not true.
Statements need to be stupid to shock our minds
out of existing ways of thinking. Once we have
made a provocative statement, we then suspend
judgment and use that statement to generate
ideas. Provocations give us original starting points
for creative thinking.

 
 Provocation Tool
As an example, we could make a statement that
'Houses should not have roofs'. Normally this would
not be a good idea! However this leads one to
think of houses with opening roofs, or houses with
glass roofs. These would allow you to lie in bed
and look up at the stars.
 
 Provocation Tool
Once you have made the Provocation, you can use it in a
number of different ways, by examining:
• The consequences of the statement
• What the benefits would be
• What special circumstances would make it a sensible
solution
• The principles needed to support it and make it work
• How it would work moment-to-moment
• What would happen if a sequence of events was changed
• Etc.
 Provocation Tool
• You can use this list as a checklist.
• Edward de Bono has developed and popularize use of
Provocation by using the word 'Po'. 'Po' stands for
'Provocative operation'. As well as laying out how to use
Provocation effectively, he suggests that when we make a
Provocative statement in public the we label it as such with
'Po' (e.g. 'Po: the earth is flat'). This does rely on all members
of your audience knowing about Provocation!

• As with other lateral thinking techniques, Provocation does

not always produce good or relevant ideas. Often, though,
it does. Ideas generated using Provocation are likely to be
fresh and original.
 Creativity Tools
•Principles:
- Function Follows Form  turning thinking upside
down.. think what I need.. then you'll clearly see
what and how you should do it, Step 2: Once
you settle on form.. then think what's the best
function for it.. what can I do with what I have??
 Creativity Tools
•Know and explore the 10 Creative Thinking Patterns
- Even creativity has steps.. patterns.. mostly they
are done unconsciously by creatives but it's very
useful technique for brainstorming and to come
up with creative solution and to help write more
creative briefs by challenging the usual and
normal…

- Use them to judge creative see if the pattern fits

with your brand and what you’re trying to say
You can brainstorm
alone too! 
 Individual Brainstorming

• When you brainstorm on your own you will tend

to produce a wider range of ideas than with
group brainstorming - you do not have to worry
about other people's egos or opinions, and can
therefore be more freely creative. You may not,
however, develop ideas as effectively as you do
not have the experience of a group to help you.
• Individual brainstorming is best for generating
many ideas, but tends to be less effective at
developing them. Group brainstorming tends to
develop fewer ideas, but takes each idea
further. Group brainstorming needs formal rules
for it to work smoothly
• Use Mind Maps to arrange and develop ideas.
 MIND MAPS (Tony Buzan)
• Expression of radiant thinking, so a natural function of the
human mind
• Mind Map has 4 essential characteristics
+ Subject of attention is crystallised in a central
image
+ The main themes of the subject radiate from the
central image as branched
+ Branches comprise a key image or key word.
Topics of lesser importance are represented as
branches attached to higher-level branches
+ The branches form a connected nodal structure
 MIND MAPS (Tony Buzan)
• A method of visually representing ideas and of
aiding the brainstorming "free association"
process. A visual method of mapping
information to stimulate the generation and
analysis of it. "A method of accessing
intelligence, allowing rapid expansion and
exploration of an idea in note form." (Tony
Buzan)
When to use Mindmapping

•Note-taking
•Recording complex situations
•Exploring a subject
•Brainstorming by yourself
•Planning a presentation
 How to Use Mindmapping?

•Start with the major idea in the centre of

the page and work outwards in all
directions
- make connections and associations
- the more visual the better
- keep reworking until you are satisfied
- add more visuals and colour

•There are two major types of mindmaps

- Roots and branches
- Bubbles
 What Mindmapping does?

•Material organized into into a subjective

form that is easily assimilated by your brain
and easily processed and remembered

•A way of representing the complexity of

360º thinking on to one sheet of paper
Draw An Oval Shape
Put Ten Legs On It
Put the Topic ‘Happiness’ In
The Centre

HAPPINESS
 Write On The Legs The First
Associations That Come To Mind

A T
C TE
O L A
H O C
C

SWIM
HAPPINESS MIN
G

ETC
Take One Branch And Add More
Associations Each On One Line

Purring
Fur
You are
Fussy eater Mind
Mapping
Stopping out using
roots and
T branches
CA
Bubble Map Sequence

Problem
Solving

Defining MIND
problem Writing
MAPPING

Free-
Associating
 KEY
Hitchhiking Finding right
off ideas questions Seeing
Problem
Solving solutions
Seeing
Writing Brain-
Patterns Self
storming Interviewing
Why it Relating to Team
Fun Problem
Works bigger
Solving Recording
problem Pre-
meetings
Outlining

Comparing MIND
Defining Taking
viewpoints MAPPING Writing
problem notes
Brain-
Friendly Overcoming
Free- writer’s block Writing
Associating a talk
Non- Seeing
Judging more than
Random on paper
thoughts
 Roots And Branches Map
Sequence

Defining problems Problem solving

Mindmapping
4/26/99 - v1

Free Associating Writing

 Moving Out
Fun
Seeing patterns
Hitch Hiking ideas

Brain Storming Finding

Problem solving right questions
Seeing solutions
Team
for
Self

Defining problems
Pre -outlining
recording meetings
Writing Taking notes
writing a talk
Mindmapping
overcoming
4/26/99 - v1 writers block

Free Associating
Software Which Can Help

•Bubble mindmaps
- Fastest with Inspiration
- Can be done with PowerPoint or Visio

•Roots and branches mindmaps

- MindManager
 How to think in the best way…
• Identify your own thinking style..
• Find out the atmosphere that stimulates your
thinking most (choose the best time, place..
etc..)
• Jot ideas in point form then connect them
• To creatively think/brainstorm use landscape
paper versus our logical mode: Normal A4
layout (portrait)
• At the end make sure your thoughts follow
 Good Ideas?
• Are far enough to be interesting but not far
away to be irrelevant or scary !
• There's a very thin line (so no one will register it if
it’s too close yet no one will understand it if we
hit too far away), so the safest way is to keep in
the closed world principle to keep the ideas
closely relevant.
Now you’re ready to make the
most out of our brainstorms!
