Rules for Brainstorming

The idea behind brainstorming is to produce as many ideas as possible in a short amount of time. One barrier to the production of ideas is over analysis. Many good ideas will be discarded if the participant is afraid of suggesting something that the other group members might consider stupid. The objective of a good brainstorming session is to relieve the participants of any fear of humiliation. Participants should knowingly raise stupid ideas, with the idea that they might stimulate new ideas from other participants. Consequently, the brainstorming rules are:

1. Assign one person to record all ideas that are produced.
2. Announce an idea as soon as it enters your brain.
3. Do not discuss any ideas that are produced.
4. Produce as many ideas as possible, regardless of quality.
5. Do not criticize ideas that are presented by any of the group members.
6. Do not evaluate the ideas during the brainstorming session.
7. Let ideas that have been suggested stimulate your own new ideas.
8. Embrace stupid ideas and actively encourage their production.