Why individual brainstorming might bring better results

Instead of thinking of a cut-and-dry end goal to certain situations, creative people sit back and examine the problem in different ways before beginning to work.

If you find yourself stagnating by focusing on generic problems, try to re-conceptualize the problem by focusing on a more meaningful angle.

For example: Instead of thinking “What would be something cool to paint?” rather ask, “What sort of painting evokes the feeling of loneliness that we all encounter after a break-up?”

Creating “psychological” distance may be useful for breaking through a creative block.

Try to imagine your creative task as being disconnected and distant from your current position/location - this may make the problem more accessible and can encourage higher level thinking.

This myth encourages the belief that creativity is a passive process. It suggests you have to wait and hope that you’ll make a breakthrough.

That Eureka moment is actually the last step in a long, involved process and not the only step. For this to happen, your unconscious mind needs material to work with. You have to put in the hard work of studying and mastering your field and exposing yourself to different perspectives.

In reality, creativity is a team sport.

The lone genius myth is a stereotype and it’s unhelpful because it suggests the route to innovation is to cut oneself off from colleagues and collaboration. You need a modest amount of intelligence to be creative, but extremely high IQ is neither sufficient nor necessary for being an innovator.

• Analytical. Before thinking creatively about something, you first have to be able to understand it.
• Open-Minded. Setting aside any assumptions or biases you may have, and look at things in a completely new way.
• Problem Solving. Using your creativity to solve important issues.
• Organization. Being able to structure a plan of action with clear goals and deadlines is vital.
• Communication. Strong written and oral communication skills to communicate your solutions effectively.

• Artistic Creativity. You don't have to be an artist for your work to have an artistic element. For example: Composing a new fundraising script for volunteers or devising a lesson plan that will engage students.
• Creative Problem-Solving. For example: Coming up with new procedures to improve quality or suggesting a way to improve customer service.
• Creativity in STEM. For example: Constructing a research model to test a hypothesis or devising a computer program to automate a billing process.

1. Know the user: To solve a big question, you first have to focus on the user you’re solving it for–then everything else will follow. So we go out in the field and talk to people.
2. Think 10x: It’s about trying to improve something by 10 times rather than by 10%.
3. Prototype: Take action. You want to strike when the iron is hot–you don’t want to walk away or agree to follow talk with more talk.

1. Build on each others’ ideas. 
2. Generate lots of ideas. Quantity is more important than quality, so really let loose. 
3. Write headlines. Being able to describe an idea in less than 6 words helps you clarify it. 
4. Illustrate. Pictures are usually louder than words and harder to misinterpret.
5. Think big. Invite bold ideas.
6. Defer judgment.

New people don't know your old stories, so you'll have to revisit your existing thoughts.

The new perspectives will help to think differently.

Books are great for creating new thoughts and stimulating good ideas.

Even if you cannot make the time for a book, spend time browsing a bookstore for plenty of thought stimulation.

"Someone asked me where I get all my good ideas, explaining that it takes him a month or two to come up with one and I seem to have more than that. I asked him how many bad ideas he has every month. He paused and said, 'None.'"

Create a safe place, free from criticism, because we tend to clam up if we feel like we're going to be criticized.

Rather than criticizing what you don't like, focus on getting ideas out in the open so you can build on them.

• Generate as many ideas as possible. For the purposes of this exercise, quantity is more important than quality.
• Don’t judge any ideas until the session is over. People will hold back if they think they may be judged negatively.
• Encourage people to think outside of the box. Although wild ideas may not be feasible, they steer the conversation in new directions.
• Combine ideas. Encouraging people to build off one another makes it easier for them to contribute and boosts team morale.

Give people time to think by themselves prior to the brainstorm, so everyone has a chance to take his or her thought process in a unique direction.

A potential consequence of brainstorming is convergent thinking: the tendency for individuals’ ideas to become increasingly similar over the course of a brainstorming session.

Make sure you’re prepared at any time.

• Find out when you’re relaxed, happy and distracted (because that's when creative thoughts are more likely to appear) and make a mental note of when that’s likely to happen.
• Find a way to record the ideas that are sure to come.

Creative ideas often come to you when you’re not deliberately trying to solve a problem, when your mind is relaxed.

That's why your creative process must include a system to capture ideas when you have them, so you can work on them later. The simplest mechanism is simply to have a list where you keep ideas.

Regularly review your ideas lists. Incubation helps because just as a spontaneous connection can generate an idea, an incubated idea can spontaneously mature into a plan of action if you take care of it.