Brainstorming

Brainstorming refers to an exercise meant to generate creative ideas. Originally developed by New York advertising designer Alex Faickney Osborn in the late 1940s, brainstorming was primarily a group exercise. Osborn created brainstorming sessions with groups of thinkers who used their imaginations to produce new ideas in a criticism-free environment. Although later scientists and studies discredited some of Osborn's beliefs, team ideation (idea creation) is still important in many schools and industries today. Brainstorming has spread widely and taken on many forms. Today, brainstorming is very common among students, who—often individually—use various related exercises to produce and refine creative ideas.

Development

Osborn was recognized as a leader in the advertising field and a prolific creative mind during the 1940s. In 1948, he published Your Creative Power, a book detailing his methods of encouraging creativity. Osborn outlined many of the techniques he used, but the one that most appealed to readers was what he termed a brainstorm. Osborn coined the word to conjure up the sense of people mentally storming, or attacking, a problem.

In the advertising agency he helped to manage, Osborn frequently gathered groups of staff members and asked them to collectively consider problems and suggest possible solutions in a loose, free-association style. In this manner, a small group of people could create large numbers of varied and creative ideas in a very short time. Osborn pushed for quantity, rather than quality, of ideas. This technique allowed the ad firm to generate successful campaigns for many different clients.

In his brainstorming sessions, Osborn promoted a few simple, but essential, rules. He encouraged thinkers to use their imaginations as much as possible. He asked them to express themselves in an unselfconscious manner and not worry whether others would like their ideas. Osborn believed that even unusable or nonsensical ideas helped to exercise the imagination. Finally, Osborn prohibited criticism during sessions. He felt this was important because it allowed people the freedom to express themselves spontaneously and without fear of ridicule.

Evaluation and Criticisms

Osborn's brainstorming techniques quickly spread throughout the world. By the 1950s, though, some scientists had begun to question brainstorming and test its effects in controlled experiments. Many of these experiments concluded that Osborn's ideas were not as effective as he had claimed. In some cases, group idea-generation exercises without criticism actually led to lowered individual participants' creativity and an ultimate lack of accurate, high-quality, or usable ideas.

Subsequent research with group ideation supported some of Osborn's original claims but refuted others. Osborn's emphasis on teamwork has proven well-founded; today, many industries and other organizations use teams of thinkers to generate ideas or solve problems. However, Osborn's ban on criticism proved to be a serious liability. Researchers believe that criticism is essential for high-quality work. Constructive criticism can encourage team members to work harder, explore new concepts, and constantly reevaluate themselves, thus resulting in better output.

Varieties and Uses

The writings of Osborn became best sellers, and his ideas proved very popular with many Americans. Students, educators, businesspeople, and many others embraced the idea of a creative, interactive, imaginative, and judgment-free manner of discovering new ideas. Osborn and others also began altering and customizing the technique into new forms to fit different groups, goals, and other circumstances. With the rise of computer technology, many of these techniques were adapted for electronic use.

In some forms of group brainstorming, group members write anonymous ideas and then a moderator presents these ideas for group assessment and voting. They discuss and add to the successful ideas and return rejected ideas to the group for redesign or simply discard them. Another form involves the passing of one written idea along a line of thinkers, each of whom contributes a new related idea. In theory, this accumulation of ideas will develop and strengthen the original idea.

Although Osborn originally intended brainstorming to be a group activity, over time, many practitioners began using a variation of his techniques for individual creative-thinking exercises. Individual brainstorming techniques became popular in all levels of education. The technique may also be used as a teaching method. Today, many teachers instruct students on various brainstorming methods for generating, refining, and improving their ideas.

One of the most popular forms of individual brainstorming is the idea map, or a visual representation of an idea and related ideas. A thinker begins with a base idea, such as "animals," and writes this word in the middle of a large sheet of paper. From there, the person thinks of different kinds of animals, such as "cats," "raccoons," and "birds" and writes these around the base idea. From there, the individual further refines the secondary ideas by listing types of particular animals such as "robin" or "eagle" under "birds." The person then divides the main idea into new categories, such as "jungle animals" and "urban animals" and populates these categories with related ideas, such as "gorillas" and "pigeons."

In this way, the thinker creates a "map" of ideas, leading from a general base idea to a wide range of varied and specific offshoot ideas. Students also may use other simpler techniques—such as freewriting (writing whatever ideas come to mind) or making various kinds of lists—to achieve similar results. Exercises using questions, such as who, what, when, where, why, and how may also prove effective.

Teachers often encourage students to use these brainstorming techniques to help them choose interesting and effective topics for reports, debates, or presentations. Brainstorming may also help to refine overly broad topics, aid in teaching creative writing, or counteract writer's block. Although many of Osborn's original ideas have been rejected or altered, his basic concept of imaginative idea generation remains popular.

Bibliography

"Brainstorming." Writing Center. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Web. 14 Jan. 2015. writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/brainstorming/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.

Lehrer, Jonah. "Groupthink: The Brainstorming Myth." New Yorker. Condé Nast. 30 Jan. 2012. Web. 14 Jan. 2015. www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/01/30/groupthink. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.

Marye, Sara. "Brainstorming: A Guide for Teachers on Fun and Effective Brainstorming Activities." Stellar Teacher, 2024, www.stellarteacher.com/blog/brainstorming/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.

Mongeau, Paul A. and Mary Claire Morr. "Reconsidering Brainstorming." Group Facilitation: A Research & Applications Journal. International Association of Facilitators. 1999. Web. 14 Jan. 2015. PDF. www.iaf-world.org/Libraries/IAF‗Journals/Reconsidering‗Brainstorming.sflb.ashx. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.

Wendland, Dave. "Brainstorming More Effectively." Forbes, 13 Jan. 2023, www.forbes.com/councils/forbesagencycouncil/2023/01/13/brainstorming-more-effectively/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.