Brainstorming, what it is and how to find new ideas.

Brainstorming is a creative technique which consists of a group debate to find ideas and/or proposals. This decision-making method was developed in the context of advertising agencies, is widely used for problem solving and is mainly based on the association of ideas and comparison.

What is Brainstorming?

Brainstorming is a common practice when new ideas and/or new solutions to problems are sought and consists of a group meeting during which the participants discuss each other, proceeding by association of concepts .

The definition of this creative technique is due to the American advertiser Alex Faickney Osborn , « the founder of an important movement for creativity, and a recognized "guru" of creative thought in the first years after the Second World War », as defined by Claudio Bezzi and Ilaria Baldini in the book " Brainstorming: practice and theory ". For Osborn – the two authors specify – « brainstorming is simply one of the possible ways to produce ideas ; the accent is on ideation, on the creative process, on the importance of imagination as a generating force also for technical and business problems, as well as for art and science ».

What is brainstorming for?

The term brainstorming has entered into common use to indicate one of the different ways to find creative ideas, but also possible alternatives to solve a given problem, starting, following the translation usually adopted for the word, from a " storm of brains ".

With regard to a possible translation of the word, however, we should also consider that it is Osborn himself who suggests one: « 'brainstorm' means» – as again reported by Bezzi and Baldini – using the head [brain] to assault [to storm] a creative problem ".

The technique, initially applied only to the advertising world, has now spread to very different fields. The fields of application , in fact, include the advertising one (to develop, for example, the concept of advertising campaigns or a slogan ), the artistic one (to create a work of art), the scholastic one (for the development of a group), that of crisis management (to resolve a crisis or a problem), that of the judiciary (to prepare a trial), etc.

In marketing, however, brainstorming is used for various reasons, including, just to name a few: naming activities, creation of a logo and brand image creation, search for a payoff, project and process management.

How do you brainstorm or how does it work?

Before starting a brainstorming session, an objective is always defined, which is usually defined, together with other indications relating to the project to be developed, in the brief, and concept maps are often prepared to offer starting points for reflection.

Those who have to deal directly with the work always participate in the activity, but it may also be useful to involve other colleagues or people completely outside the working environment, who could provide unexpected ideas.

In any case, it is certainly more effective when done in a group , even if often, especially in small realities, this method can also be tested among a few people or even between just two people and according to some by a single person. When the group is too numerous, however, it would be advisable to divide it into subgroups.

To brainstorm, however, it is always necessary to follow some basic rules , which have remained substantially unchanged over time and which can be summarized as follows:

• exclude criticism (and self-criticism), because it is not productive when collecting ideas;
• maintain an informal style , which could be facilitated by dedicating the first few minutes of the meeting to a very brief presentation of the participants;
• focus on quantity : if the proposals are numerous, there are more chances of finding the right idea or solution;
• combine the proposals already advanced into new ideas, ie focusing on the association of ideas.

Also, a brainstorming session should n't be too short , to avoid stopping only on the first ideas collected; at the same time, however, it should n't be excessively long : if it is particularly difficult to find convincing ideas or solutions, it would be preferable to prepare several meetings, lasting a maximum of one hour, so as not to weaken or dampen the necessary creative and productive energy.

The place where brainstorming is done is also important, as it should favor informality and give group participants the opportunity to get up and take a few steps .

It would also be useful to set up a blackboard in the room chosen for brainstorming on which each participant could pin down the various ideas or colored cards that could be attached to the walls.

The "storm of ideas" to find a name, or what namestorming is and how to do it

Namestorming , as the term itself suggests, which can be translated as "storm of names", takes its cue from brainstorming to adapt the creative technique to the conception of a name (for a brand, a site, a social page, etc.).

For a namestorming session, the same rules and principles of brainstorming are followed, which Linda Liguori, author of the book “ Nome & Naming. Choosing the right name for everything ” he summarizes in CSQM, or critique abolished ; quantity first ; welcome extravagance ; infinite multiplication .

As for a brainstorming session, the first part of the namestorming session could be dedicated to quickly explaining what this creative practice consists of and doing some simple exercises , perhaps playing with rhymes and associations of ideas starting from already given words, above all when group of participants there are people not accustomed to this creative practice or extraneous to the working group.

Furthermore, in a namestorming session, the presence of a " naming facilitator ", i.e. a mediator/leader of the naming expert group - and who, as Linda Liguori points out, should be familiar with the project's briefs and mind maps - could be appropriate, as well as being sensitive to group dynamics – and can therefore guide and mediate the meeting.

What happens after the brainstorming?

Once the phase of gathering proposals and creative ideas is over, i.e. when the session or the different brainstorming sessions are over, it is however necessary to organize everything in a structured way , correlating similar concepts together and creating concept maps (sometimes you can modify or integrate those previously prepared). A copy of these can be sent to all participants and then discussed in a new meeting with the aim of a critical comparison that leads to the idea or the final solution.