Placard saying What Would Dumbledore Do? Pic by Chris on flickr.
When you need to help people get their creative juices flowing, free up their imagination and come up with ideas in quantity rather than being silenced by the need for quality... a brainstorm is the go-to technique. But sometimes the ideas stop, especially in a virtual meeting. Here are ten ways to get things moving again.
1. Silent listing
Rather than opening the brainstorm with the first idea to be shouted out, begin with a couple of minutes silence while people make their own lists.
2. Lucky Dip
A set of random objects (stationery, household items, toys...) which you can offer as prompts. Put up one at a time. For online meetings, you can hold them up to the camera or have a slide set of pictures.
3. Pair up
Put people into pairs or mini breakout rooms to come up with as many ideas as possible in one minute. Share the lists with the whole group and then have another round in new pairs.
4. Opposites
Ask for ideas which are the opposite of, or as different as possible to, what’s been suggested already.
5. Miracle question
Ask a future-oriented, solutions focused question: "If you woke up tomorrow morning, and a miracle has happened - the problem had been entirely solved - how would you know?"
6. I love it because...
Starting at the top of the list you have already, ask people in turn for something (anything!) they love about the next item. Use the aspects people love to generate new ideas.
7. I hate it because...
Like 'I love it because', but picking something they hate about it. Use the aspects people hate to generate new ideas which don't have those aspects.
8. Alphabet
Ask people to generate ideas which begin with different letters of the alphabet. They could be taken in turn, or picked at random e.g. the last letter on page 10 of the nearest book.
9. My worst idea
Invite people to add in the ideas they've fleetingly considered but were too rubbish to mention.
10. What would Dumbledore do?
Have a list of characters - real, historic, fictional, archetypes, animals, plants or even inanimate objects - to use as prompts. Dumbledore, Wangari Maathai, Paddington Bear, a spider, the North Wind...
11. Sorting for quality
When you have enough quantity, remember to move on to the next part of the process - sifting the longlist for the quality nuggets of gold in amongst the gravel, and finding the great ideas sparked by the terrible ones. When all the ideas have been offered and written up, agree what the next step is (e.g. applying criteria, or prioritising some ideas for further investigation).
Making the Path by Walking
This post was first published in my newsletter, August 2021. Scroll right down to subscribe.