CLASSICAL BRAINSTORMING

These notes describe Osborn’s Classical brainstorming as it emerged FUNCTION

Exploring
in the late 1930s. It now tends to be thought of as the ‘idea finding’ Defining
phase of larger processes, such as the Buffalo Creative problem solving Gathering
Generating
(CPS) method (q.v.) Classical brainstorming is based on two Grouping
principles: Screening
Prioritising
• Deferred judgement Creative thinking and judgmental thinking Planning
Full process
are both important, but must be kept separate. Osborn argued RESOURCES
that in creative thinking, all judgement must be postponed. 1(–2) people
Large group
• Quantity breeds quality First, a flow of ideas stimulates more Brief
Extended
ideas. Second, an idea must be articulated to recognise its Facilitation skills
merits and the best ideas are rare, so the more you articulate, Special setting
Computing
the greater the statistical chances of finding good ones. PROBLEM

Personal
These two principles led to four practical rules: Multiple issues
Stakeholders

• No criticism This is to ensure deferred judgement, and is the New product
most important of the four rules. It precludes not only explicit Futures/plans
ANALYTIC MODE
criticism, but also any spoken or unspoken gestures or actions Categorising
that can create a critical atmosphere, or that any participant Causality
Checklist/table
feels as critical. Combinatorial
Mapping
• Freewheel Expression of ideas must be uninhibited. Whatever Numerical
comes to mind is welcomed: free associations, random Questioning
Reframing
thoughts, images that are funny, taboo, way-out, interesting, Scanning
boring, apparently relevant, apparently irrelevant, etc., etc. Scenarios/views
Surveys, etc.
• Go for quantity The more ideas recorded, the more chances Uses experts
Voting
there are of success. INTUITIVE MODE
• Hitch-hike As well as contributing your own ideas, it is Analogy
Distortion
important to build on others ideas. This encourages idea Excursion
Hitch-hiking
improvement and elaboration and enhances group interaction. Imagery
Kinaesthetic

In its classical form, the procedure might be as follows: Listening
Pictures
1. Well before the meeting, a suitable problem-statement is Relaxation
Role-play/empathy
developed, and a suitable group of five to ten participants are Subconscious
selected and invited. Values
Verbal
2. Two or three days before the meeting, they receive a note Wishing
giving the background to the problem, a problem statement, SOCIAL MODE
Ad hoc/covert
how the session will run and the four brainstorming rules. Anything goes!
Debate/dialogue
3. The room is set up appropriately. The recorder prepares a Game
good supply of pre-numbered blank sheets of flip-chart paper Interactive events
Moving about
(or equivalent). Networking
Nominal

4. The session starts with a review of the brainstorming format, Starter’s kit
the four rules, and a warm-up session (unrelated to the
problem).

Source: J. Martin, R. Bell, E. Farmer and J. Henry, (2010) Technique Library, Milton Keynes, UK: Open University,
B822 Technique Library ISBN 9781 8987 3541 5 Copyright © 2009 The Open University
 5. The recorder prepares a new set of recording sheets. The problem-statement is
displayed prominently with a brief question time for clarification. The four rules are
repeated.
6. Participants call out ideas as they occur to them, and the recorder writes them
down. The facilitator checks that the four rules are followed. It is important the


recorder is seen to record every idea (including quiet asides, jokes, etc.), in the
contributor’s words, or an agreed re-phrase. It helps if the contributors signal each
idea clearly and adjust their pace so that there is time to record each idea. It is
usually best that the recorder does not contribute, though in a very small group
s/he might do so.

7. Terminate the process when the idea flow begins to run dry – it should certainly
not exceed 30–40 minutes.
8. As a separate activity, collate, sort and evaluate the ideas generated in any suitable


way, providing the original participants with copies of the results.
Though Osborn’s principles and rules have been a core part of many subsequent


creativity techniques, it doesn’t work well unless the participants and facilitator are
skilled and compatible, since adverse group processes can severely reduce its
effectiveness. Subsequent developments have tackled this limitation in various ways, e.g.
see Nominal group technique (NGT) and the various brainwriting methods.

Osborn, A.F. (1963) Applied Imagination, 3rd. ed., New York, Scribner

Rawlinson, J.G. (1986) Creative Thinking and Brainstorming, Aldershot,
Wildwood House

Based on: VanGundy, A.B. (1988) Techniques of Structured Problem Solving,
2nd ed., Van Nostrand Reinhold. Technique 4.35, pp. 135–43

Source: J. Martin, R. Bell, E. Farmer and J. Henry, (2010) Technique Library, Milton Keynes, UK: Open University,
B822 Technique Library ISBN 9781 8987 3541 5 Classical brainstorming