Brainstorming is a very powerful method of generating lots of ideas very quickly about almost any problem or issue that needs an innovative or creative solution. However, brainstorming is also a very fragile process. It’s meant to be a non-judgmental exchange and list builder that sparks everyone’s creative fires, but sometimes that’s very hard to achieve in an organized public gathering.
There are many distractions in most meeting situations. What another person says, most of the time channels the thought of others instead of opening it. There are almost always dominant and passive personalities in any meeting situation. People who are normally afraid to speak in a meeting often shut down completely during a brainstorming session. Only one person at a time can effectively speak in a group meeting, and unfortunately that prevents other people from speaking. The bigger the pool, the bigger the blocking problem. Of course, there is always someone in the group who will do and say whatever it takes to please the boss. Once that person speaks, it will be hard for others to do anything but agree. We tend to think that groups are more effective than individuals, but the power of peer pressure and conformity often works against the brainstorming process. We may get a warm group feeling about the social sharing that takes place during a public brainstorming meeting, but the reality is that it often stifles creativity.
To help overcome these problems, a better brainstorming method called idea writing was created. As the name implies, you write down your ideas instead of expressing them. Extensive research and testing have shown that brainstorming generates 40 percent more creative ideas compared to traditional brainstorming. That’s a big increase.
The way it works is before the meeting starts, you make blank forms that have the problem definition written at the top and a table below to list ideas. You need at least one sheet of this form for each person who attends the meeting. There are many different ways to create a form that makes sense for the problem you are dealing with, but one common procedure is called 6-3-5 mental typing.
The 6-3-5 represents 6 people, 3 ideas per person in 5 minutes. The table on the form is 3 columns wide with plenty of space to write down ideas. Number the columns idea 1, idea 2, and idea 3. Make the table 6 rows down the page for the 6 different people. When the meeting starts, divide people into groups of 6. Each person takes a piece of paper and takes 5 minutes to write 3 ideas on the first row of the form to help solve the problem statement. Do not put your name on the sheet. Then you trade your sheet with someone else. Give your sheet to the person to your right, or place all six sheets in a pile in the middle of the table and pick one at random from the pile. Then take the next 5 minutes to add 3 more ideas to the next row on the new sheet. You can use the ideas already on the sheet to stimulate new ideas or create new ideas of your own, whatever works best for you. After doing this for 30 minutes you will have a total of 108 ideas from each group of 6 people.