Brainstorming Methods

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Author:
Brian Walsh

When I was first exposed to this method, I was somewhat skeptical. The occasion was a brainstorming evening to generate new ideas for my book's title. As our group gathered, A hypnotherapist colleague of mine, suggested this innovative brainstorming approach.

With the topic identified beforehand, the process began with a member of the group being asked to open a dictionary to any page. He then randomly selected a common noun, which was written on a flip chart. Each person was asked for a single word that he or she associated with that noun. The group was then asked to suggest associations between each of these words and the topic, accelerated learning. The words flowed in amazing quantity. We repeated this process a few times.

Why did this technique work so well?
It's really quite simple. In a typical brainstorming session, when members of a group are asked to come up with ideas or solutions to a problem, their minds access their memory banks and download what is already known about the issue. Introducing the random word method forces the mind to find a link between dissimilar things. Because of the gap between the random word and the topic, ideas may be quite unusual, or even off-the-wall. As the group members build on each other's ideas, they generate more creative solutions.

This method is fast and simple, and usually leads to ideas that are more creative than those generated from the classic brainstorming format.

International speaker, Dr. Brian E. Walsh, is the bestselling author of Unleashing Your Brilliance. For much of his 30-year corporate career he was involved in human resources, specifically training.

While living in the arctic, Brian studied anthropology and Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), which prepared him for working with other cultures. He was then transferred to China where he served as his company’s GM.

After his return to Canada, he elected early retirement to further his earlier interest in NLP and hypnotherapy. He returned to formal study, and within four years had achieved his Ph.D. His dissertation, which focused on accelerated learning techniques, inspired his passion and his book, “Unleashing Your Brilliance”. Information is available at http://www.UnleashingBook.com

Dr. Walsh regularly conducts workshops on accelerated learning. He is a master practitioner of NLP, an acupuncture detoxification specialist, an EFT practitioner, and a clinical hypnotherapist.

Subscribe to his monthly eZine, "Enriched Learning" at http://www.UnleashingBook.com

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Brainpower... Creative Strategies for Brainstorming for Business Success We experience creativity every time a fresh idea pops into our minds. We recognize creative imagination in everything from a pastel painting to a business plan. By trying these ten tips, you will discover some amazing creative abilities that may surprise you. 1. Substitute someone else's perspective for yours. How would a teacher, lawyer, actor, artist, explorer, journalist, psychologist, engineer, homemaker, child, or accountant approach your idea or subject? Don't know? Ask them! 2. Look at your idea through the eyes of a critic. For each idea, make a list of all criticisms that may arise. Try to develop as many solutions as possible for overcoming obstacles or repairing weaknesses in your idea. 3. Connect your idea to other worlds or fields. Look at the worlds of Politics, Art, Science & Medicine, Hollywood, The Ice Age, Astronomy, Astrology, Ballet, Animation, The Army, Asia, Teaching, Music, Europe, and the like. Can you make an analogy, and what ideas can you draw upon from these fields and worlds? 4. Magnify your idea. What can you do to enlarge, expedite, extend, strengthen, exaggerate, dramatize, or improve your idea? 5. Simplify your idea. Can you condense, trim down, compact, minimize, or narrow your idea? 6. Change your idea. Modify the name, color, sound, shape, form, function, smell, taste, and properties of your idea. 7. Make your idea meet the needs and wants of the masses. Does your idea meet the basic needs and wants of more comfort, money, food, shelter, time, space, convenience, attractiveness, health, and beauty? If not, alter your idea to meet one if not all of these needs and wants. 8. Add more value. What will add more value? Add extra features, durability, safety, thickness, accuracy, guarantees, uses, and freebies. 9. Examine...