Brainstorming was the brainchild of BBDO executive Alex Osborn during the early 1940s. Now, a standard practice in both creative and noncreative industries, there’s many brainstorming methods that can generate a high quantity of ideas. To effectively brainstorm, idea killing needs to be left at the door. Waiting to judge ideas post-session creates an environment of free thinking. Ideas that are a little wild or seem impossible often have hidden gems. Then the group can combine ideas and methods that work best for participants and the project.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

1. Brain writing

Brain writing helps avoid losing ideas or a singular idea dominating the ideation stage. It works best with a smaller group. On a sheet of paper, ask each person to come up with three different ideas. Then pass the paper to the right. This works great to generate a high volume of ideas. If you have six people, you just came up with 108 ideas.

2. Rapid ideation

Limitations can unleash creativity. After explaining a project’s limitations, set a time limit for team members to write or sketch ideas unbridled. Five to 20 minutes later, sort ideas. This is great for individuals who thrive under pressure.

3. Mind mapping

Mind mapping plays on the brain’s natural associative properties. Since associations vary from person to person, a wealth of connections can be found between items or concepts. It also more visually oriented. Write down a central word or phrase, than branch out to sub-ideas. Continue branching until you’ve exhausted associations.

4. Starbursting

Generally, brainstorming tends to begin with finding answers. Starbursting begins by asking who, what, where, when and why of a project. This can help a team focus on project necessities before getting lost in idea rabbit holes, insuring a client focused solution.

5. Stepladder

​It’s very easy to move in a creative direction based on the idea of one assertive team member. Stepladder focuses on developing ideas by building on individual ideation. A team moderator asks everyone to come up with an idea. Everyone except two people are left in the room. Those two people discuss their ideas. Then a third person is added. They say their idea first and the original two respond with their ideas. The group works to incorporate the ideas into solutions. Then add another team member into the group dynamic and repeat the process.

6. Medici effect

Created by Frans Johansson, this technique focuses on gathering parallels between different industries or concepts. Comparing commonalities between the successful strategies can help identify changes to make.

7. Reverse Ideation

Here, you’re working your way back from the intended effect of a creative solution. Identify the issue. Then ask how you would create the problem or the opposite problem. Brainstorm the solutions to those questions.

string(3701) "
Brainstorming was the brainchild of BBDO executive Alex Osborn during the early 1940s. Now, a standard practice in both creative and noncreative industries, there's many brainstorming methods that can generate a high quantity of ideas. To effectively brainstorm, idea killing needs to be left at the door. Waiting to judge ideas post-session creates an environment of free thinking. Ideas that are a little wild or seem impossible often have hidden gems. Then the group can combine ideas and methods that work best for participants and the project.
 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 
1. Brain writing
Brain writing helps avoid losing ideas or a singular idea dominating the ideation stage. It works best with a smaller group. On a sheet of paper, ask each person to come up with three different ideas. Then pass the paper to the right. This works great to generate a high volume of ideas. If you have six people, you just came up with 108 ideas.
2.	Rapid ideation
 Limitations can unleash creativity. After explaining a project's limitations, set a time limit for team members to write or sketch ideas unbridled. Five to 20 minutes later, sort ideas. This is great for individuals who thrive under pressure.  
3.	Mind mapping
Mind mapping plays on the brain's natural associative properties. Since associations vary from person to person, a wealth of connections can be found between items or concepts. It also more visually oriented. Write down a central word or phrase, than branch out to sub-ideas. Continue branching until you've exhausted associations.  
4.	Starbursting
Generally, brainstorming tends to begin with finding answers. Starbursting begins by asking who, what, where, when and why of a project. This can help a team focus on project necessities before getting lost in idea rabbit holes, insuring a client focused solution.  
5.	Stepladder
​It's very easy to move in a creative direction based on the idea of one assertive team member. Stepladder focuses on developing ideas by building on individual ideation. A team moderator asks everyone to come up with an idea. Everyone except two people are left in the room. Those two people discuss their ideas. Then a third person is added. They say their idea first and the original two respond with their ideas. The group works to incorporate the ideas into solutions. Then add another team member into the group dynamic and repeat the process.  
6.	Medici effect
Created by Frans Johansson, this technique focuses on gathering parallels between different industries or concepts. Comparing commonalities between the successful strategies can help identify changes to make.  
7.	Reverse Ideation
 Here, you're working your way back from the intended effect of a creative solution. Identify the issue. Then ask how you would create the problem or the opposite problem. Brainstorm the solutions to those questions. 
"

Timothée Chalamet is everywhere — but does his viral appeal come with an impressive net worth? Timothée Chalamet is the ultimate white boy of the month. Ever since his Oscar-nominated role as Elio in Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name (which won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2018), he’s kinda been

Despite the fact that late-stage capitalism is an amoral hellhole driven by a borderline religious belief in the sanctity of brands, we would never, ever suggest that anyone should shoplift from big-box stores, or even imply that doing so is morally okay or a victimless crime. But hypothetically, if we were to give any tidbit

Home is where I want to be… Talking Heads After moving to Florida, I began to take Homeowners insurance into heavy consideration for the very first time. Back in the day, whenever conversations leaned towards responsible and adult-like topics such as home insurance, I’d automatically tune out. All I wanted to talk about was the

Look. I don’t know about you guys, but the phishing scams I’ve been receiving lately are utterly out of control. I can’t seem to go a whole day without getting a sketchy text from an unknown number that’s surreptitiously trying to scam me out of my hard-earned cash.  Just a couple months ago, I got

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty when it comes to paying off your debt early. Debt can accumulate in many ways, be it credit card debt, student loans, gym memberships, car loans, mortgages, or medical bills.  When you consider all the debt that’s piled up over time, it can become invasive and extremely overwhelming.

If your business offers corporate credit cards or expense accounts to employees, there’s a good chance there is unethical spending going on. 33% of corporate credit card holders admit to blatantly defrauding the companies they work for, and twice that amount confess to making “risky purchases.” But a thread on AskReddit reveals some of the

You’re powering through your morning. You’re in the zone. Getting so much done. But then you get Slacked with an innocent question: “Gotta moment to discuss the Jefferson thing?” “💯!” you answer instantly and get pulled off-task for 15- 20 minutes. And just before you’ve solved the Jefferson issue, your manager’s supervisor’s EA emails you

Though the wave of tech layoffs and the threat of a recession has overshadowed yesteryear’s news of the great recession, everywhere you look, employees are asking for more — and getting it. Though this time of uncertainty could have given employers back the power, it’s still in the hands of the workforce. From Gen-Z’s boundary

The workers who forgo the yoke of traditional employment to strike it out on their own form a vibrant sector of the American economy. From ambitious entrepreneurs to cunning freelancers and everyone in between, self-employed workers say “no” to a punch-the-clock world and enjoy a great deal of freedom in their work. However, that freedom

Looking for a job? In addition to encountering those annoying never-ending job interviews you may find yourself face-to-face with an artificial intelligence bot. Companies worldwide increasingly use artificial intelligence tools and analytics in employment decision-making – from parsing through resumes and screening candidates to automated assessments and digital interviews. But recent studies claim that AI