Brainstorming
for fun and profit
Alexei Kapterev

Q: What is brainstorming
anyway?
A: I have no idea… Let’s
brainstorm this!

Agenda
➊ What is a brainstorm?
➋ Why brainstorm?
➌ How to brainstorm?

What is a brainstorm?
Brainstorms at INDEX by Jacob Bøtter

How do you get new ideas?

«
The way to get good ideas is
to get lots of ideas and
throw the bad ones away.
— Linus Pauling,
Nobel Prize winner
Frozen Brainstorm by Steve Jurvetson

brainstorm [breɪnstɔːm]
A spontaneous group discussion to
produce ideas and ways of solving
problems.
Oxford American Dictionaries

Invented by Alex Osborn
around 1938

What did he mean?
or
Storm Storm

Why brainstorm?
Brainstorms at INDEX by Jacob Bøtter

It helps to innovate
➊ Gather the data
➋ Brainstorm
➌ Criticise
➍ Implement

It’s a great way
to get new ideas

It makes work more fun

«
Brainstorming is ... what
the clients really buy.
— Ethan Rasiel,
The McKinsey Way

How to brainstorm?
Brainstorms at INDEX by Jacob Bøtter

➊ The brief
➋ The people
➌ The set
➍ The process
➎ The follow-up

Step 1:
The brief

« The cardinal rule of
brainstorming is that you
cannot do it successfully
in a vacuum.
— Ethan Rasiel,
The McKinsey Way

Before starting:
➊ Prepare the fact sheet
➋ Formulate the question

«
Brief is everything.
— Steve Schildwachter,
FCB Global

Step 2:
The people

Not “experts only”

Invite different people

Remember:
you need new ideas

Present them
the information
(and better not just in a written form)

The IDEO experiment
Task: design a new toy

3 brainstorming groups:
Written brief No brief Went to a toy
shop
Which did the best?

3 brainstorming groups:
Written brief No brief Went to a toy
shop
Of course.

Step 3:
The set

Something to write

Something to eat

Something unusual*
* You know, for the atmosphere!

Step 4:
The process

«
The problem is never to get
new ideas in, the problem
is to get the old ideas out.
— Dee Hock,
Visa International

«
The point of brainstorming
is the generation of new
ideas. So start with tabula
rasa — a clean slate.
— Ethan Rasiel,
The McKinsey Way

Start with a clean slate

Let’s stretch by Raj Taneja
Start with a warmup

There are lots of them

Next, announce:
?  
Problem Time Rules
Target amount
of ideas

The rules are:
➊ Go for the quantity, not quality
➋ Absolutely no criticism
➌ Weird ideas are welcome
➍ Transform others’ ideas

Yes, but...
Yes, and...

Avoid moderation!
Moderator by Konstantin Voschanov

Remember:
you need new ideas


But be strict
with the rules.

Write whatever they say,
exactly as they say!

Got a stupid idea?
Say it out loud.
Just to get rid of it.

Stuck? Use creativity aids.

Go with the flow!


The amount
Time’s up?
reached?

Now filter what you’ve got.

Good?
Bad?
The criteria should be
clear from the brief.

And if you are lucky...
Yes, this is gold.

What’s ahead? Decide
on your next steps.

Step 5:
The follow-up

Tell the team about the results.
This is a great opportunity to say...

And... this is it.
Brainstorms at INDEX by Jacob Bøtter

Recommended books:
The McKinsey Way The Art of Innovation
by Ethan M. Rasiel by Tom Kelley

Questions?
Alexei Kapterev
ak@realtimestrategy.ru
www.realtimestrategy.ru