We explain what a brainstorming is or brainstorming, its characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. In addition, we tell you what it is for.
What is brainstorming?
Brainstorming, popularly known as brainstorming (from the English “mental storm” or “brainstorm”), is a group work technique that consists of freely proposing ideas and associations based on a concept determined, with the purpose of obtaining innovative ideas and original perspectives.
Very popular in marketing and advertising environments, brainstorming It was popularized and formalized as a method in the mid-20th century. by the American publicist and creative theorist Alex F. Osborn (1888-1966). Osborn turned to her to save his advertising agency during a period of crisis, as he recounts in his book Applied imagination of 1953.
In principle, brainstorming consisted of bringing together advertising creatives, proposing a topic to think about and then collecting the ideas that arose freely, taking into account a single golden rule: do not argue.
The effectiveness of brainstorming is the subject of debate among psychologists and students of the mind. There are studies that affirm a greater creative capacity of individuals alone than in groups, since there is a natural inhibition in the presence and opinions of others, a certain desire to captivate and please. However, the brainstorming It continues to be used in different areas as a tool to foster creative chaos.
Characteristics of a brainstorm
A session of brainstorming or brainstorming is characterized by:
- Gather a group of people around a single topic of reflection under the premise of contributing all the ideas they have on the subject. These groups may vary in number of participants, but it should be a manageable number, allowing an atmosphere of trust and freedom.
- Promote the production of ideas free of judgment, that is, pure and unfiltered creativity and then choose the most promising ideas and move on to the debate.
- Take advantage of the diversity of the group of participants and the possibility of creating on what someone else has first imagined.
- Require a moderator and a code of respect to avoid disorder in the interaction between participants. The aspiration is to have a creative chaos, where the ego and social situations occupy a minimal place.
- Have a certain duration of time (usually between 60 and 90 minutes).
What is a brainstorm for?
Brainstorming is a useful tool to break traditional molds of thought and encourage a free approach to a topic certain. This means that it allows participants to use their creativity without fear of the opinions of third parties, thus being able to feel much freer and be more daring in their proposals.
In this way, brainstorming aims to obtain greater creative performance, that is, to accumulate a large number of original ideas in a short period of time and then choose the best one or ones among them.
Advantages and disadvantages of brainstorming
A brainstorming session has useful and positive aspects, and also weaknesses. Both things can be summarized as follows:
| Advantages of brainstorming | Disadvantages of brainstorming |
|---|---|
| You get a lot of ideas in a short period of time. | It can become a chaotic and frustrating experience if you don't have clear rules. |
| Much more daring and free ideas are obtained than in a more formal context. | The experience can be monopolized by a few participants, while the rest barely watch. |
| We work together and horizontality is encouraged in the team. | It requires a margin of trust between the participants that is not always easy to create. |
| Original and “outside the box” thinking is encouraged. | There is a risk of going around in circles and getting nowhere. |
How to brainstorm?
To carry out a brainstorming session, follow these steps:
- Choose the participants . The ideal group for a session brainstorming It is made up of different people, with different tasks and different values, but with enough institutional spirit or enough discipline to not get involved in personal diatribes. One of them must be the moderator; ideally someone who has some authority on the matter. Once chosen, always in a limited group, they must meet in a separate space, without contact with other people or interruptions.
- Set the rules of the game . It is important that participants are committed to the session, willing to collaborate and understand the basic rules of brainstorming, which are:
- Suspension of trial . During the brainstorming, contributions will not be criticized or evaluated, but all possible ideas will be added and noted. The debate will be left for later.
- The ideas are nobody's . This is not a creativity or popularity competition, but rather an intensive free-thinking session. Therefore, there are no winners or losers, nor is it necessary to compete to have more and better ideas, and it is totally possible to take the ideas of another to complement them, modify them or make them grow.
- All participants must contribute . No one should remain silent. All ideas are equally valid and must be noted, without any distinction or discrimination. The ideas presented can be of different types, funny, severe, daring, without restriction.
- Keep a log of the session . When brainstorming begins, the ideal is to have a whiteboard or support of some kind to write down the ideas that arise so that they are visible to everyone. The session should last a set time and occur in an air of trust, collaboration and, if possible, communion.
- Choose the best registered ideas . Once the brainstorming time has elapsed, the evaluation and discussion of the ideas noted down must take place, taking into account the pros and cons of each one, until the best ones are found. These final ideas should be seen as the fruit of the activity and therefore derived from the collective contribution.
References
- “Brainstorming” on Wikipedia.
- “Brainstorming” at the Open University of Catalonia (Spain).
- “Brainstorming” at the Cervantes Virtual Center (Spain).
- “Brainstorming, examples for companies” at the American University of Europe (UNADE).
