Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water ...

Brainstorming
A process for enhancing the creation and flow of new ideas.
Supports: innovation, consensus building, problem solving, teambuilding, relationship
building
LEVEL OF EFFORT
SIZE OF UTILITY
LOW
SCALABLE
SCOPE OF WORK C 2
C2 = CONTEXT/CONTENT DEPENDENT
Brainstorming is a participative process that nurtures creative thinking and innovation by
enhancing the flow of ideas and building consensus and commitment. There are four basic rules
for a truly effective brainstorm session:
1. Quantity versus quality. The more ideas, the greater the likelihood of finding a useful
one.
2. Freewheeling. Open the gate and allow the ideas to flow freely. Build on the ideas of
others, even if they seem wild or outrageous
3. Defer judgment. The surest way to shut down creative thinking is to judge each idea as
it occurs. You are not deciding on ideas at this point, simply thinking imaginatively.
4. Hitchhike. If there is a lull in the flow, try making more out of what has already been
said, changing it a little, adding to it; for example, if a stakeholder meeting was
suggested, add ideas for how to structure the meeting, and Voila, a new idea!
There are many approaches to brainstorming. The one below can be tweaked and
massaged to fit into different situations:
1. Frame a session with a general topic or an idea-seeking question such as, "What are all
the ways…" Then, write the topic question in front of the group where everyone can see
it.
2. Clearly state that the purpose is to generate a storm of ideas and review the
brainstorming rules (above) and any additional ground rules the group wishes to add.
3. Establish a time limit, say 20-30 minutes.
4. Try a round robin approach to encourage participation, allowing members to pass or
"green light" participants to speak out in any order that naturally occurs. The round robin
approach means that you go around the room with each participant volunteering one
idea at a time, repeating as long as there are ideas. When an individual has an idea
spurred by another idea and needs to express the idea before it is forgotten, the
individual who next has the floor or the facilitator can ―green light‖ that individual to go
ahead and add their idea. When a number of ―passes‖ are occurring the floor can be
opened up for random contributions.
5. Encourage participants to build on others' ideas.
6. Post all ideas.
C-21
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