The idea of brainstorming refers to a storm of ideas.
Brainstorming is a concept of the English language that is not part of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), although its use is quite common in our language. The notion can be translated as brainstorming : it is a group technique that promotes the development of new proposals about a certain issue.
Brainstorming focuses on the interaction of group members in a relaxed environment. The American Alex Faickney Osborn is considered the creator of this tool.
Features of brainstorming
According to the precepts of brainstorming, when individuals interact with each other, creativity is enhanced and ideas arise that, working individually, would not appear. These thoughts that are constructed as a group are fed by the contributions of different people.
To develop brainstorming, a problem or need is first postulated and then ideas about it begin to be shared. No idea should be discarded a priori, but all have to be evaluated and analyzed. Brainstorming is generally organized in rounds, in which each participant must contribute an idea or make a suggestion.
Brainstorming is a group work technique.
Your rules
When carrying out brainstorming or brainstorming, you should know that there are four fundamental rules that must be respected:
- All criticism must be eliminated. That is, when ideas begin to emerge, you should not opt for rejecting them at the first moment since the evaluation of each and every one of them will be carried out later.
- There must be the so-called freedom of emission. What we mean by this is that you have to think freely: all ideas have a place even if they may seem very strange or crazy.
- Brainstorming participants will not only help present ideas but also propose improvements to each other's ideas.
- The quantity in brainstorming is important. The more ideas that emerge, the better because there will be more alternatives and possibilities to achieve the objective being pursued.
Brainstorming steps
Of course, it is also essential to know the steps that must be taken to develop a brainstorming session:
- The first thing will be to choose a person who will serve as secretary of the session. And it is that he will be in charge of proceeding to record on a blackboard or where the set of ideas that arise are indicated.
- In the same way, it is essential to determine the participant who will act as moderator. This figure is key because many conversations can arise at the same time or situations can arise where everyone wants to speak at the same time.
- The session must be limited so that it does not end up being fruitless.
From the group to the individual
It is important to mention that the effectiveness of brainstorming has been questioned by various researches. There are those who maintain, in fact, that more ideas are produced individually than within the framework of a group.
In any case, the options are not exclusive: a brainstorming process can be developed and, in turn, promote the individual search for alternatives to various problems or challenges.