16 Ideas On How To Brainstorm (Get The Irony?)

1. Tapping Your Natural Weirdness

How to Brainstorm: ~2nd Right Answer - Don't stop with the 1st obvious solution
~Search for QWERTYUIOP's, or things that make no sense, but have never changed
~5 Why's? Always ask at least 5 Whys to get to the root cause of a problem
~Whatiffing. Ask yourself weird What ifs, like what if men could get pregnant, to come up with new ideas
~Press release of the future. Write a press release as if your goal/success had already been achieved.
~Blow it up! How would your company change if you started

Thanks To: John Putzier of FirStep, Inc.

2. Copy Perfection

How to Brainstorm: You know a near-perfect answer to any problem because you have seen one. How many employees fail to cash their paychecks? How many soldiers have to be told twice to stand at ease? Apply these principles from those lessons to your situation:

1. There's major personal advantage for acting promptly.
2. People understand the negative consequences of not acting.
3. They have had experience with the same situation or a drill.
4. The communications are clear.
5. There's no ambiguity.

Copy perfection that already exists in another process and bring it to the process you are tackling with your brainstorm.

Thanks To: Donald Mitchell of The 400 Year Project

3. Get Outside Yourself

How to Brainstorm: Ask someone with a completely different background for advice. If it's a business challenge, ask someone in a different industry. If it's a personal challenge, ask someone who is very different from you. This way you'll get exposed to ideas that you would never have thought of on your own.

Thanks To: Stacey Grieve of Why Are You Weighting?

4. Tips From Adversaries?

How to Brainstorm: Tough as it is, this really agitates ones mental stagnation, asking for information from someone we might not give a ride to in the rain!
It could trigger ideas that otherwise might not have hit our radar.

Their method of arriving at a solution or concept that we totally disagree with may still have a highly usable gem or two.

You may not care for children at all, for example, but a parenting magazine gives you an idea for expanding your painting business.

Thanks To: Janet Huey of Pet Stuff Resale

5. Scrub Floor/solve Problem!

How to Brainstorm: When I have a design problem that just won't resolve, I take a break from thinking and perform some mindless manual labor. While I'm washing dishes by hand the problem is percolating in my subconscious and I frequently have a eureka! moment before the last dish is put away.
The thought-provoking labor should be repetitive, mindless, and involve the hands.

Thanks To: Judy Soccio of SoccioRodriguez Design

6. Brain Dump Is Required

How to Brainstorm: The brain can hold only so many new ideas. Dump your brain ideas down into a journal, piece of paper or even in your computer. Do not edit, just write or type.

Thanks To: Leanne Hoagland-Smith of ADVANCED SYSTEMS

7. Ideas Go 'out Of This World'

How to Brainstorm: I encourage my people to get creative, think wildly, shoot for the moon. When we allow the craziest, most 'far-out' ideas to make the board (the white board), we allow limitless in all our thinking. This can result in the wackiest ideas actually being what we aspire to because we allowed ourselves freedom to really explore possibilities beyond reason. Then, the award goes to the most 'far-out' idea. People love to be recognized for their contributions and they get to be the hero for the day!

Thanks To: Robb Braun of The Leadership Source

8. Use Hypnosis To Brainstorm

How to Brainstorm: Hypnosis allows you to tap into your subconscious mind to develop creativity and enhance motivation. No matter what new idea or challenging situation arises, hypnosis will help you find a solution.

Hypnosis is simple to learn and even easier to master with sessions readily available on the internet.

Thanks To: Steve G. Jones of Better Living With Hypnosis

9. No Idea Is A Bad Idea!

How to Brainstorm: Everyone has an opinion or idea. Initiate informal discussion sessions with emphasis on “No idea is a bad idea”. From what may appear to be the silliest of notions, will come a seed of inspiration for an idea, program, or product that will flourish. Post signs with relevant nouns & adjectives around the meeting room. These will stimulate the process. Meeting rooms should be brightly lit, a comfortable temp, pads and pens should abound. And make sure you encourage doodling.

Thanks To: Dale Little of Business Strategist

10. Notepad + Pen + Internet

How to Brainstorm: For naming things or building out an idea, I write a list of terms associated with my topic. I keep www.godaddy.com and www.thesaurus.com open and continuously search for domain names based on the key words I've listed. When I run out of key words I use the thesaurus to inspire more. The information returned is ALL relevant, so it aids in the brainstorming process. The search can be frustrating, but it forces thought into new areas and exposes new information that may otherwise have been missed.

Thanks To: Lesa Caskey of Brick Elm LLC

11. Capture Ideas Fast

How to Brainstorm: For my team, brainstorming is about speed and energy. Our rule is that we capture as many ideas as we can as fast as we can. We get excited, get happy, write everything down and evaluate later. Most people stop to judge and interrupt the pattern of flow to evaluate each item as it comes up, but that breaks up the energy. Focus on having fun and keep the flow going for as long as you can with no feedback. Then after yo have exhausted your creativity, then you can start weighing the pros and cons.

Thanks To: Jill Koenig of GoalGuru.com

12. Floating In A Sea Of Bubbles

How to Brainstorm: When I have a particular creative brainstorming need, I head for my bathtub and the bubble bath bottle on the bathtub ledge.

I fill the bathtub with hot water and lots of bubbles -- then lean back and let my mind float, not necessarily thinking of the question for which I need a solution.

Away from my computer and other distractions, I find that a creative solution often appears in my head ready to go.

Thanks To: Phyllis Zimbler Miller of Miller Mosaic, LLC

13. Begin Outside The Box

How to Brainstorm: Make a slight adjustment upfront to whatever you are trying to accomplish with your brainstorming session. If you want to come up with fresh marketing ideas for your organic face cream, brainstorm about marketing ideas for a different type of product, maybe beach cruiser bicycles or graphic tees. This way you are working from outside of the box right from the start. The ideas that are keepers can be refined to fit your needs, and may lead to even more unique approaches.

Thanks To: Beth Andrus of The Essential Business Handbook

14. Gettin' In The Flow...

How to Brainstorm: My best technique when I was stuck was to hire a business coach. Yes even coaches hire a coach, we understand that we can not do it all (even when we think we can). A coach can help you over a hurdle, get you refocused and discover new approaches to the challenge. The key is to connect to someone that has & I still doing what they teach. This way you know it is real, many teach a technique that they themselves do not even use...why? Nothing wrong with using some thing that is already proven

Thanks To: Robin Hardy of MMPA-Marketing, Media & Production

15. Must Have Onion Rings

How to Brainstorm: My husband (and business partner) and I go on a weekly date night. This time away from our six (amazing!) kids is not only great for our relationship, but for our business. We enjoy each other while we talk and dream.

One of the best business discussions we had occurred on a date night, over a plate of serious onion rings with fry sauce. We just brainstormed and threw ideas back and forth, while I took notes. We still use that book and add to it when genius strikes.

Thanks To: Alison Moore Smith of SeerStone Homes

16. Cashews And Smart People

How to Brainstorm: Cashews, a bright room with a great view and a bunch of smart people make the perfect brainstorming session.rnIf you ever feel like you are stuck, walk by the window, take a look outside and let your mind roam to and beyond the horizon. Thinking how people in different cultures would approach your problem might help you think outside the box.

Thanks To: Slav Ivanov of Socially Apps