Brainstorming What?

The best way how to have a good idea is to

have many ideas
Alex F. Osborne, 1939
method of thinking up solutions, concepts, ideas in
problem solving
using the brain to storm new ideas in groups
It is easier to tone down a wild idea than to think up a
new one.
 Brainstorming Why?

the creative process is not always easy

(problems of fear, criticism, no existing
solutions yet)
one person has a limited capacity
people tend to judge new ideas immediately
(a change is difficult for a human being)
 Brainstorming When?
To break through traditional thinking
To generate new ideas/ concepts/ products which dont
exist
When solution to a problem cannot be logically deduced
To generate large list of possibilities
Examples:
- How can we promote our products?
- What can our company do in 5 years hence?
- What can we do to solve the problem XY?
- How can we improve co-operation of A and B?
- What do our customers really want?
- What opportunities do we have this year?
 Brainstorming How?
in a group of people Key rules :
free associations to the topic 1. relaxed atmosphere - completely
free
given
2. no criticism or judgements
relaxed and friendly 3. quantity matters
atmosphere 4. all ideas legitimate
all ideas put on the sheet of paper
deferred judgements 5.
6. evaluation only after the session
release the human mind,
lateral thinking
As many ideas as possible no
matter how crazy they are!
 Brainstorming How
specify the problem
select the right people
decide when and where
Invite people who have time

put evaluation of for next day 1. Prepare

add new ideas to the list
specify objectives
group similar ideas together
specify roles leader,
select the best or most interesting
recorder, panel
suggestions together
explain the rules
Create teams which will work on
begin and record ideas exactly
them further
Suspend judgments
Inform people about results
Encourage all the ideas
eliminate the duplicates,
2. Conduct clarify, thank participants
3. Evaluate
the session
 Brainstorming Constraints

does not rank the ideas

cannot help you select the important
ones
does not suggest the best solutions
must be amended by other
methods
 Starbursting What

Starbursting is a form of brainstorming

that focuses on generating questions
rather than answers. It can be used
iteratively, with further layers of
questioning about the answers to the
initial set of questions.
Starbursting How
 Starbursting When

To explore a new problem, idea or

product
To consider all aspects of a problem
To raise as many questions as
possible before making a decision
 Fishbone analysis

Kaoru Ishikawa, a Japanese Quality pioneer,

introduced a visual Fishbone diagram that helps a
whole team focus on something and get rapidly to
consensus

The fishbone diagram:

Resembles the skeleton of a fish
Is a cause-and-effect diagram used to identify the potential
(or actual) cause(s) for a performance problem
Focuses on causes rather than symptoms of a problem
Emphasizes group communication and brainstorming
Stimulates discussion
 Fish-bone Diagram

The value of the Fishbone Diagram is that it provides a method for

categorizing the many ideas and thoughts into meaningful heads.