4 Principles For Brainstorming Ideas

“What is now proved was once only imagined.” William Blake

We all have the ability to generate new creative useful ideas; we just need to learn how to have a “creative” mindset. Below are four principles to help you organize your thinking when brainstorming new ideas or solutions.

4 Principles for Creative Brainstorming

When you sit down for a creative brainstorming session be clear on what you wish to accomplish. Are you trying to solve a problem? Are you trying to make something better? Are you trying to create a new invention? What’s your objective for generating ideas?

1. Defer judgment while generating ideas: Learn to have an open mind, when you sit down to brainstorm enjoy, and be open to your experience of idea generation. Become immersed in the experience, and put your beliefs aside. Your beliefs make you closed, because when you believe something you don’t accept new perspectives and ideas. Be open to the experience you are having. Anything can become a creative experience if you bring enough awareness to it.

2. Generate as many ideas as possible: Out of quantity you will get quality, use tools like mind maps to generate as many ideas as possible.

3. Record ideas as they occur: Learn to go inside your inner space and pay attention to all the thoughts that rise up within you, jot anything down. Your goal here is to let any thoughts flow out of you unfiltered and onto your notepad. Remember no idea is silly because it can serve as a reference point to other ideas, no matter how unrelated it may appear.

4. Elaborate or improve upon the ideas: Once you have all your ideas down on paper, it’s time to think about how we can improve them. Below is a mnemonic device to have as a handy checklist when evaluating your idea and how it relates to your objective.

Brainstorming Idea Generation Techniques

SCAMPER: Use this as an easy reminder to brainstorm ideas quickly and easily.
• Substitute: Is there anything you can substitute that will make your idea better?
• Combine: What things can you combine to make the original idea better and more relevant?
• Adapt: Is there anything you can adapt from another idea to improve it?
• Magnify/Modify: Will your idea be better if you expand it or modify it anyway?
• Put To Other Uses: Is there a better use for your idea than originally intended?
• Eliminate: What can you eliminate that is not serving any purpose and make your idea better?
• Rearrange/ Reverse: Could your idea improve if you rearrange any of the ideas concepts and details?

Thank you for reading today’s short post, I hope it helps you when you are brainstorming your next great big idea that will make the world a better place. 🙂

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