How to think up a storm

by Onno van Ewyk

Quality Management is about continuous improvement and to do this you need techniques for generating new ideas. One of the most popular is 'brainstorming' which was invented by Alex Osborn, a Madison Avenue advertising executive, in the 1930s. Like many such long standing techniques, brainstorming has found a new and vigorous context in the pursuit of quality.

While most people are familiar with the term 'brainstorming' few know precisely what it means. It is commonly misconceived as a lively discussion between two or more people aimed at coming up with a few bright ideas. It is seen as an informal, unstructured and no-holds-barred exchange between participants.

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Brainstorming is a formal, structured process in which certain 'holds' normally used in ordinary discussion and debate are very definitely 'barred'.

To conduct a brainstorming session, you need to follow five steps: 1, find the right location and equipment: 2, relax participants down and set the rules: 3, focus in on the issue to be brainstormed: 4, conduct the brainstorm according to the rules: 5, critically review the results.

The rules for step 3, the actual task of brainstorming, are as follows; all participants freely offer proposed solutions to the problem; no-one may directly or indirectly be critical of another's idea; each person must encourage others to be as outlandish in their ideas as possible; each person must build on or "feed" on the others' input to come up with as many ideas as possible, however outrageous. Speed, quantity, and spontaneity are the watchwords of the process.

The strict five step structure and the above rules are necessary to break down the unconscious constraints or prejudices we normally place on our thinking and to allow us to be truly creative. Most of the time there is nothing wrong with our prejudices, in fact we need them to function efficiently. Imagine, for example, having to rethink how we travel to work each morning. It is much more efficient to just to do it the usual way without question. Occasionally however the usual way stops working well and needs to be challenged with fresh thinking and new possibilities.

Here are the steps in more detail:

• Find a place where you and the other participants won't be disturbed for a of minimum one or two hours and make sure you have a good supply of marking pens, large sheets of paper, and wall space to stick the paper up. Visual feedback is critical.
• Take a little time to warm up the participants. If they are new to brainstorming give them examples of 'off the wall' ideas that have worked and go through the rules of the brainstorm.
• Focus in on the problem by asking participants to restate it in three or four ways. Write the restatements up for all to see. A good hint is to start each statement with "How to .....". Restating the problem is analogous to turning an object around in your hand to get a view from all sides. Choose one of the restated versions of the problem to brainstorm on.
• Start the session by seeding a few ideas of your own and as the ideas start to flow write them all down on the large sheets of paper, number each in order, and stick the paper up on the wall for all to see. Remind participants to stick to the rules. Try to keep each idea expressed in as few words as possible (without losing the meaning of course). Numbering is important for later reference and to gauge progress. Quantity is paramount. A typical brainstorming session will yield 50 to 100 ideas. 8.9.When the flow of ideas has dried up, take a brief break then come back and critically review all the ideas generated. Most will be easily dismissed as impractical but the remaining ideas may provide some surprisingly different paths to follow to solve the problem.

Like all creative activity, brainstorming carries no guarantee of success. You may end by dismissing 100% of the ideas generated. On the other hand, you just may discover a most unexpected solution to your problem.

1995

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This is one of a series of articles written by Phil Cohen and Onno van Ewyk, HCi . Most of the articles were also published in the Australian Financial Review. This article may be reproduced only with the permission of HCi Consulting (email HCi ). Copyright HCi, 1993-1998.