Brainstorming Techniques

Whatever your role is — in life or in business — you’ll always be chasing the next idea. It could be a problem to be solved, a process to be tweaked, a new product offering to be created, or something else. In the business world, you don’t even have to be one of the “creatives” to either come up with great ideas or be asked to think of one.

But where do ideas come from? Short of saying everywhere, let’s just say…everywhere. It’s impossible to put limits on where great ideas come from and why would you want to? A great idea can come to you in the shower, on the golf course, listening to a song, doing laundry, walking your dog, and on and on.

The tricky part comes when you have to drum up an idea out of nothing or, even worse, under a tight time frame. Happens all the time at work, right? Stress, as you know, can be the great inhibiter to idea generation (though sometimes it can be an ally, as well). And just putting on your thinking cap doesn’t always work (despite what your second grade teacher told you). That’s why it helps to have some techniques to fall back on in order to get your internal idea generator kick-started again. Here are a few:

Just relax

Everyone gets stumped now and then and shifting into panic mode does little to help grease the creaky wheels in your brain. So calm down, breathe, meditate, whatever. Nothing good comes from circuitry working harder than it should. If you know a good relaxation technique (get a massage, bust out that Enya CD, do some Yoga), have at it.

Step away

Get a change of scenery. We’re not saying ditch the spouse and kids here. Just walk away from the computer, turn off your phone, and take a stroll. Get some hot tea. Go to the bookstore or library. People watch. Stretch. Find some quiet distractions so your thoughts can flow un-interrupted.

Brainstorm

There’s a reason why the classics are the classics. Most every business person has some experience engaging in brainstorming sessions. The reason is because they work. The first step is to ask for help. Your co-workers won’t mind, especially if it gets them away from their desks for a while. Veteran brainstormers know there are some unspoken rules about conducting an effective brainstorming session: stay open-minded, don’t evaluate each idea as they’re introduced, and invite anyone who wants to participate. And while you may not get the perfect idea during the session, the ideas you collect may trigger something down the road.

When in doubt, SCAMMPERR

Try the SCAMMPERR Technique. Pioneered by Alex Osborn, a teacher of creativity, this technique can help anyone unleash great ideas.

Substitute something.
Combine it with something else.
Adapt something to it.
Magnify or add to it.
Modify it.
Put it to some other use.
Eliminate something.
Rearrange it.
Reverse it.

The most important thing to realize about any of these techniques is that you want to crank out as many ideas as possible. Understand that quantity does matter, in this case. You’ll eventually get to the quality, but first you (and others) need to generate as many hair-brained, zany, mal-formed, “dumb” ideas as possible. Because soon enough you’ll realize some of those ideas aren’t so dumb or zany after all. All it takes is one idea to be spot on.