When it comes to “thinking differently” and “being creative” brainstorming/ideas generation is one of the leading concepts to use to do this. Brainstorming is a creative thinking process used to create a wide range of ideas, solutions, or approaches to a problem. It encourages free thinking, collaboration, and innovation by allowing people to explore different perspectives without judgment. It is a great way to tap into your “divergent thinking” and explore hidden patterns/connections in your thought process.

But here’s the thing, it is often not done the right way and people convert to their habitual ways of thinking. To really be creative and create new novel ideas, you have to stick to the true authenticity of the approach. Here’s a few things I often tell people to try to avoid when doing brainstorming/ideas generation:

1. The boss is not in charge – This can stifle creative thinking as we revert to hierarchical direction and authority leading

2. Don’t go in order – Bounce around to keep energy levels up; a sense of order and going clockwise constricts us

3. Don’t just invite ”experts”- Diversity & experience matters; experts often go into “judgement mode” or “think they know best.” This can also lead to a sense of specialisation bias whether others hold back because they think they lack credibility in the session

4. Don’t do it sat around a table – Mental modes leads us to think and conform to social norms. A table is a barrier, the space between us is a barrier. A table signifies traditional approaches of structure and meetings.

5. Don’t be serious – Be silly/playful to generate confidence in everyone to feel comfortable in sharing their “wild ideas.” Have you ever had an idea and held back because you thought other’s would judge or dismiss your view?

6. Don’t write everything down – Just ideas on post it notes is needed. There’s no minute taking, parking ideas or creating actions.

7. Don’t overthink ideas – Don’t judge or problem solve ideas. Divergent thinking is about the art of possible and during the session, all you need to focus on is quantity not quality. It can be difficult to refrain from sharing your opinion or having a need to explain and justify your thinking – neither is encouraged during a brainstorming session as it can restrict free thinking.

What I really love about brainstorming is the positive framing of all ideas and cheering each other on. It’s such a refreshing take from the usual judgement and critical analysis we apply to ideas that are put forward. Instead of saying”That won’t work, we’ve tried that before, we need to think about, the manager wants…” we say “Let’s add to that idea, what if we also, you can also include, that’s brilliant keep going”

After the session, you can move to a space of reflection, clarity on ideas and deciding what to take forward; sometimes, the wildest ideas can spark a completely new novel idea and route to explore- something you won’t have naturally got to.

Brainstorming was coined by Alex Osborn (1940) and is also one of the leading concepts used by design innovation agencies such as IDEO. When applied properly it a powerful creative tool and with practice, it can also help you tap more into your creative thinking.

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