Ideation Techniques
Brainstorming is just one technique in a rich toolkit. Each of the methods below is a different way to diverge - to generate more and better ideas. The skilled facilitator keeps several on hand and switches when energy or output flags. Click each card to see when to use it.
Combine techniques
A great session isn't one technique - it's a sequence. For example: open with a "How Might We", warm up with "Worst Possible Idea", diverge with brainwriting, then push further with random input, and finally converge. Variety keeps the group's thinking fresh and prevents fixation.
Whatever technique you choose, the constraint principle from Unit 2 still applies: a sharp, well-bounded prompt produces far better ideas than a vague one. "How might we help commuters enjoy the wait?" beats "think of new ideas" every time.
Discuss
Which of these techniques does your team never use? What might it unlock to add just one - say, brainwriting to include quieter people, or SCAMPER to improve an existing offering?
Try this at work this week
Pick a real challenge and run SCAMPER on it: force one idea for each of Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other use, Eliminate, and Reverse. You will end with seven angles you would not have reached by "just thinking".
Sources
- Osborn, A., Applied Imagination, 1953 (Brainstorming, SCAMPER roots).
- Michalko, M., Thinkertoys, 2006 (SCAMPER, ideation tools).
- Gray, D., Brown, S. & Macanufo, J., Gamestorming, 2010.