Seven Secrets to Good Brainstorming

4. Build and jump

Most brainstorming sessions follow a power curve: They start out slowly, build to a crescendo, and then start to plateau. The best facilitators nurture the conversation in its early stages, step out of the way as the ideas start to flow, and then jump in again when energy starts to peter out.

Go for two things in a brainstorm: fluency and flexibility. Fluency is a very rapid flow of ideas, so there’s never more than a moment of silence. Flexibility is approaching the same idea from different viewpoints.”

5. Make the space remember

Good facilitators should also write ideas down on an accessible surface. One could hold their brainstorms in rooms wallpapered with whiteboards or butcher paper. Alternatively, one could also use easel-sized Post-it notes. 

When the facilitator tries to pull together all the ideas after the session, she can stack up nice, tidy rectangular things instead of spreading butcher paper all the way down the hall.

6. Stretch your mental muscles

Brainstorming, like marathon running, should begin with warm-up exercises. 

7. Get physical

Brainstorming sessions can be occasions for show-and-tell. Participants bring examples of competitors’ products, objects that relate to the problem, or elegant solutions from other fields as springboards for ideas. Also, keep materials on hand — blocks, foam core, tubing — to build crude models of a concept.