What are some effective techniques to generate diverse and creative ideas in a group?

At the beginning you should also remind everyone that there are no "rules" in brainstorming. Be creative. Be fearless. You never know where the best idea will come from. One odd idea may spur another and another and then BAM! You find the right one.

During my time at Microsoft, we partnered with IDEO to understand the best practices we could establish in our research and product marketing teams when it came to ideation. In addition to setting clear goals and rules, our team dedicated the first 15 to 30 minutes at the start of the meeting to introduce all participants and connect by doing an icebreaker. Doing icebreakers as a team allowed us to warm up, be silly, and foster an environment of safety, allowing the most creative ideas to be shared.

The key is to make a comfortable environment where people feel they can share without backlash or negative feedback. Brainstorming can be so valuable to a creative process!

Pose the problems to be Ideated on as a short statement. Starting these statements out with “how might we ……” is one way but anything that concisely articulates the problem you would like people to explore will work. If you find that making a short statement is impossible, break your problem down into a set of smaller problems. I find people gravitate to solutions which solve the “big” problem, so posing a big problem as a set of smaller ones can help your group reframe and come up with creative solutions. Once the problem is clearly defined, have people brainstorm alone. Research has shown that more ideas are generated when individual brainstorm alone than when those same individuals brainstorming together. Reconvene the group to share.

We often have a clamp on our brains that keep us thinking in one direction, so it's important to break the clamp and allow your mind to be free. You can help the group get ready and loosen that clamp by introducing play. When you were a kid, playing, being creative, changing on a dime...it was easy. But as we get older, we hide that side. 1. You can do this virtually or in-person, have 3 timers; 30,20,10 and for each timed session ask them to draw a cat, turtle, and porcupine. GO! (the porcupines are masterpieces) 2. Ask them to put 2 different things together and to come up with what that business does. Someone says "peanut" someone else says "rainbow", what does the Peanut Rainbow do? Timer on for 2 mins.

One of my favorite ideation tools is Artefact's Tarot Cards of Tech. This deck of cards represents 78 different technological concepts or trends. Each card features an illustration, a brief description, and some thought-provoking questions to consider, meant to help people reflect on the impact of technology on society and prompt discussions about ethics, responsibility, and the future of innovation. Overall, the deck is a creative and engaging tool for exploring the intersection of technology and humanity. You can explore here: https://www.artefactgroup.com/case-studies/the-tarot-cards-of-tech/

For some, adding anonymity can help them free their ideas because they worry less about being judged. So, it's always good to include a way to do that. --> In-person, have everyone write their ideas on a sticky, then collect them, the facilitator writes the ideas on a board in specific order. --> Online, you can use something like Google's Jamboard that doesn't track who posts a sticky note, so it's less scary.

Group dynamics should be a consideration. Some people are “aha” creatives (those flashes of unbounded ideas) while others are “builders”(refining and building upon ideas). Being an “aha” in a group of “builders” can feel like criticism or having your idea getting lost as the final may bear little resemblance to the original. Being a “builder” in a group of “aha”s can be intimidating or dilute their focus as new ideas come fast and furious. Consider the dynamics of the team, or consider separating the activities and forming specialized teams for each phase (pure ideation vs refinement) based on how members innovate/create.

Research has shown that more ideas are generated when individual generate them alone as opposed to those same individuals brainstorming together. Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S006526011043004X Group: creates problem definition statements Individuals: brainstorm Group: share, categorize and cull ideas

My team prefers the Miro board for the brainstorming activities. I create a canvas and I mention a couple of points to start with. I share a link with my team members prior to the meeting so that they can have enough time to generate ideas. During the meeting, we discuss all ideas and add a few as the meeting progresses. It is good to see that team members are very creative. Also, team members are gaining confidence because their voices are being heard.

I like the technique of earmarking part of a brainstorming session to specifically work to build on others initial ideas. Brainstorming is about divergent thinking, but there is power in going deeper as well.