How to Brainstorm New Ideas

Come up with ideas in a group.

Coming up with new ideas for a school, work or hobby project daunts even the most ambitious creative thinkers. When planning how to brainstorm new ideas, consider what settings and situations find you at your most productive. If you are an extrovert who gleans energy from groups of people, work in a group setting where you can sharpen your ideas with others. If you are more introverted, gathering energy from your own cognitive processes, work independently instead. Shift from working alone to with a group when you have a few ideas that you would like to develop further.

Things You'll Need

• Paper notebook
• Bicycle or running/walking shoes
• Chalkboard or dry-erase easel (optional)
• Camera (optional)

Instructions

Writing

1. 

   Fill a notebook with sprouting ideas.

   Grab a paper notebook and a pen or pencil. Write out, in your handwriting, the first idea that comes to you about your project.

2. Branch from the starting point idea. Chart out a progressive next step. For instance, if you are coming up with small business ideas and you scribbled "design store," think of ways to push that idea further, like what products such a store might sell. The act of writing helps confirm good ideas and identifies ideas that do not have plausible futures. Do not hold back---let whatever comes to you rush onto the page.

3. Sort your ideas. When you have a page full of ideas, start to choose ones that might work. Write smaller notes under the ideas that look promising, to add bulk and support. For instance, using the "design store" example, you might write that the design store would sell design supplies to students at a nearby university. When you have written five or more ideas, close the notebook. Do not tinker with that page of writing for a day or two.

4. Carry the notebook with you as you go through your day. Jot down ideas that come to you as you're walking, when you pull into a parking space, at work, while shopping, etc. Note ideas you think of and tid-bits of conversations or writing you overhear or spot. Extraneous thoughts and quotes help mold your own.

5. Transfer your notes to a computer, after several days of writing. Open up to the first day's page of ideas and transcribe those notes into a word processing program or private blog. Edit and add onto the notes as you write them in the word program. Avoid sharing these preliminary ideas with others. They are yours alone and you need to mature them before tossing them to others to inspect or judge.

Drawing

1. 

   Sketch your ideas as they come to you on a blank page.

   Take a large sheet of blank paper and start a "mind map." According to the Asian Development Bank (ABD.org), an organization building a poverty-free Asia and Pacific region, creating a mind map is one way to organize and brainstorm new ideas. Mind maps allow you to represent concepts, themes, or goals by drawing actual connections between topics. Think of drawing as a way to think aloud in a visual form. Write a conceptual word or two about the project or concept you want to develop anywhere on the blank page.

2. Take the words to the next level. For example, if you are coming up with an advertising campaign, write down two words that describe the product you are selling. For example: "durable" and "environmentally friendly."

3. Add on to these concepts, but not with long sentences or words. Connect them first visually. Draw lines connecting these two concepts to a central theme, in the center of the page. In the example, maybe you would write "conscientious."

4. Sketch on the page to elaborate visually on your ideas. This could mean line drawings, connecting lines, or small sketches. If you are an artist or graphic designer, this process may come more naturally. For less visually-inclined people it may challenge your abilities and senses, which is healthy.

5. Start to draw your whole idea instead of thinking about it in words. Words sometimes slow the mind down, smothering you in language and concepts instead of opening you up to possibilities. If you are brainstorming ideas for a future travel plan or job move, draw what you see in your imagination. Surprise yourself with what you draw.

Exercising

1. 

   Go for a jog to loosen your mind as well as your body.

   Slip on your running or walking shoes and go out for a stroll. If you are not able to walk or run, ride a bike or do a bit of work in the garden or yard. Get outside and let your mind wander as you work or walk.

2. Start to think loosely of the idea you want to develop. Refrain from thinking of ways an idea may not work. Continue with a few threads of thinking until you start to reach a concept you like.

3. Try not to force ideas. In fact, focus on moving your body, and the ideas may pop up on their own. According to a WebMD feature on Mindful Chi Running, in Chinese culture, chi (pronounced "chee") is a subtle energy force flowing through the body. By practicing mental focus and relaxation through running, you can train your body to stay centered and relaxed, and to move efficiently. When you do this you will enter another state of mind or of the body that allows for thoughts to come up to the surface of your consciousness.

4. Come back from your run and write down the ideas you thought up. If the ideas are more conceptual, write the concepts down instead.

5. Develop the exercise thoughts. Much like waking up from a dream and scribbling the contents of the dream, pouring these post-exercise ideas into a notebook or computer may not seem at first to do any good. However, continue running, walking, biking or gardening and transcribing the ideas to a notebook as a brainstorming reference.

Teamwork

1. Brainstorm with the rest of your team, if your task is a group project. Meet with your friends or colleagues in a relaxed and quiet environment. Plan to meet at a local coffee shop at an off-hour, perhaps around 4 or 5 in the afternoon, to develop ideas together.

2. Discuss goals. Before the meeting, tell everyone in the group to write one goal in a notebook or on a piece of paper and to bring it to the brainstorming session. Sometimes people get shy and do not want to share ideas and goals in a group. As you begin the meeting, introduce your goal or ask another person to share her goal with the group.

3. Talk with the whole group about the fundamentals of your idea or project, and develop the goals people shared. Add details to the goal. If someone's goal is to create a dissertation that helps introduce healthier lifestyles to inner-city schools, brainstorm ways to make that idea into a reality.

4. Interact with all group members to generate ideas. According to MindTools.com, a career skills resource website, working with a team to brainstorm draws diverse experiences from all members that can become useful to enlarging and strengthening ideas.

5. Problem-solve. When you start generating ideas, you will run into some logistical, tactical or ethical problems or issues. Work the kinks out of these issues by problem-solving as group. Bring up a concern---for instance, funding for a more costly idea---and think of ways to solve the problem, like fund-raising or seeking a grant for the project. According to the Mind Tools website, solving problems in a brainstorming group increases the richness of explored ideas.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid bars as a meet-up spot for brainstorming sessions. While coffee is a stimulant, alcohol slows synapses: ideas that seem promising at a bar may not make any progress.

References

• ADB: Drawing Mind Maps
• WebMD: Mindful Chi Running
• Mind Tools: Brainstorming

Resources

• Usability Body of Knowledge: Brainstorming Methods