What is Brainstorming, How to Brainstorm & 15 Effective Techniques
Jonathan Cronstedt
Investor + Advisor - Building a portfolio of companies I help grow, scale, and exit (or at least be exit ready). Follow me for posts about how I did it, and occasional wit and profanity.
The word “brainstorming” might automatically make you cringe. If you’re recalling painful hours spent scribbling ideas for a history lesson back in school, you can let out a sigh of relief.
In Knowledge Commerce, brainstorming isn’t busy work. It’s fundamental to unleashing your creativity and finding new ways to reach your audience.
Without a brainstorming strategy, how will you generate and vet new ideas? How will your team communicate ideas and bounce strategies off one another?
It doesn’t have to be hard — and it definitely won’t be boring. If you understand brainstorming, you can make it an invaluable part of developing marketing strategies as well as new digital products.
We’re going to show you how. By the end of this article, you’ll have the tools and knowledge you need to brainstorm effectively, whether alone or with your team.
What Is Brainstorming?
Brainstorming refers to the practice of generating ideas and putting them down in concrete form, such as on a piece of paper or in a computer program. You can use brainstorming to force your brain to come up with new solutions to problems or ideas about a product.
Traditionally, brainstorming is a group activity. The energy of the group helps each person feed off everyone else. In addition to generating ideas, brainstorming can help you weave connected ideas together to form a cohesive whole.
However, there is no one correct way to brainstorm. Some people like to storm on their own, a pad of paper and a pen in hand, a cup of coffee close by. They like to get their ideas on paper before they consider discussing them with others.
Meanwhile, other Knowledge Commerce professionals need engagement with other people to truly get into the brainstorming frame of mind. You might have heard of a “brainstorming session.” That’s exactly what we’re talking about here.
Why and When Should You Brainstorm Ideas?
If you have a problem you need to solve or if you’re about to embark upon a new project, brainstorming is the best way to get ahead quickly. You’ll generate ideas fast and move toward a solution or a product more efficiently.
However, brainstorming doesn’t always happen at the beginning of a project.
Have you ever watched the television show “House”? The characters engage in a technique called differential diagnosis. They look at the set of symptoms a patient has and throw out theories about potential illnesses or diseases.
It’s a way to shoot down problems that couldn’t be the culprit and to consider diseases that might explain the patient’s symptoms.
Brainstorming can work in a similar way. If you feel “stuck” with a current project, engage in some brainstorming to figure out what’s wrong. Come up with and either discard or consider potential solutions.
What Are the Best Conditions for Brainstorming?
Whether you’re brainstorming with a group or by yourself, you need an environment that’s conducive to creativity and affords you privacy. You might have a brainstorming session in your office, for example, or in a quiet meeting space, such as a coffee shop.
Ideally, everyone will be able to contribute evenly to the discussion. You might have to set up rules for letting people speak.
It’s also a good idea to nominate someone to write down the ideas. That way, you have one running list instead of several separate lists. Of course, this doesn’t apply if you’re brainstorming on your own.
You also want to set up for the long haul. Don’t start a brainstorming session when two team members have an appointment in half an hour. Give yourself plenty of time to go through the process.