In 1941, American marketer Alex Osborne came up with a brainstorming method for quickly finding ideas. Later, it began to be applied not only in advertising, but also in education and areas where creative activity is needed. Typically, brainstorming involves three stages. Let's get to know them.
Formulation of the problem
To begin with, you need to assemble a team and divide it into two groups: generators and critics (or a commission). The selection of participants largely depends on the specifics of the problem. The latter, in turn, should be posed clearly and represent one question, and not a set of related ones. If there are several problems on the agenda of the meeting, then it is more rational to solve them according to their complexity or importance.
Generation of ideas
This is the creative stage, at which the solution of the issue / problem takes place. It is very important to create a free atmosphere, use the method of the stream of consciousness. It is better to choose one person who will write down all the proposed options without restrictions, even the most absurd ones. In this case, ideas are allowed to collectively combine, "twist", improve.
Evaluation and selection
An equally important stage summarizing all the previous steps. Now the data needs to be passed on to the critics. They analyze all ideas, filter out unnecessary ones and evaluate interesting and effective ones. The result of this stage largely depends on the coherence of the work of the group members, a single direction of their thinking.
- In brainstorming, it is more correct to involve employees of different positions and ranks. In this case, the generation of ideas is best done in ascending order. This will avoid the psychological effect - "agreement with the authorities."
- Often, at the end of a brainstorming session, two options for solving a problem turn out to be in the balance. The last word at this stage rests with the leader / chief of the company. Since there is usually no point in voting because of the interest of the parties.
