Please write your favourite joke on a piece of paper and put it in the box provided Achtung! We’ll read some of these ou

1. What’s Your Favourite Joke? • Please write your favourite joke on a piece of paper and put it in the box provided • Achtung!We’ll read some of these out so try not to be too offensive

2. Notebooks • For the continuous assessment aspect of this course I would like you all to get a notebook in which to record the exercises we do in class, and other bits and pieces • It has to last 12 weeks so try to get something sturdier thana refill pad • I will ask you to hand these up at the end of the semester for marking

3. Brainstorming Topics • We will be doing some brainstorming in this session so have a think about these topics as we go through the lecture • Working for a large search engine company we have collected huge amounts of data on peoples’ search terms – what can we do with this data? • Easily distributed digital music is now a fact of life. As workers in a large music publishing company how can we turn this to our advantage?

4. Brainstorming Topics (cont…) • As facilitators of an M.Sc. level course in problem solving what methods of continuous assessment can we use to evaluate students? • E-mail spam is now a huge problem. As developers in a security applications development company what can we do to solve this?

5. Problem Solving, Communication & Innovation:Brainstorming

6. What Do We Know Already? • What do you know about brainstorming already?

7. Contents • In today’s lecture we will take a look at the following • Koinonia – ancient brainstorming • Origins of brainstorming • Brainstorming rules • Warming up for brainstorming • Practicalities of brainstorming • Post brainstorming • Problems with brainstorming

8. Koinonia • In ancient Greece Socrates and his contemporaries spent years freely meeting and conversing • These dialogues helped shape Western civilisation! • In these dialogues participants exchanged ideas freely without bitter argument • This was done through the spirit of Koinonia which means spirit of fellowship

9. Principles of Koinonia • Koinonia binds participants together through the following principles: • Establish dialogue • The Greek origin of the word dialogue means talking through • On the other hand the Latin origin of the word discussion means dash to pieces • Be collegial • Everybody is equal • Everybody’s ideas are equal

10. Principles of Koinonia (cont…) • Clarify your thinking • Suspend all assumptions – about ideas and about people • Be honest • Never hold back information • The notion of collective intelligence

11. Relative Koinonia • The physics giants Einstein, Heisenberg, Pauli and Bohr did the same thing • For years they exchanged and dialogued about ideas which later became the foundations of modern physics • Most physicists of the time argued over petty nuances of opinion and promoted their own ideas at the expense of others

12. The Geese And The V • Why do geese fly in a V? • As each goose flaps its wings it creates an uplift for the bird immediately behind it • The V formation adds at least 70% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone • Working together is a good idea!

13. Brainstorming • Brainstorming (formalised in the early 1940s) carries on the spirit of Koinonia • Brainstorming is a group technique for generating ideas in order to solve a problem • It is not a full problem solving system, but can be a part of many such systems

14. Alex Osborne – Father of Brainstorming • Alex F. Osborne was, amongst other things, an advertising executive in Buffalo, New York in the 1930s/1940s for the BBDO company • Also a lecturer and writer on imagination and creative thinking • “"It is easier to tone down a wild idea than to think up a new one."- Alex Osborne

15. Origins of Brainstorming • While working for the advertising company BBDO, Osborne felt that conventional business meetings inhibited the creation of new ideas • He proposed some rules designed to help stimulate idea creation in meetings: • No criticism of ideas • Go for large quantities of ideas • Build on each other’s ideas • Encourage wild and exaggerated ideas

16. Origins of Brainstorming (cont…) • To think up was originally the term Osborne used to describe the process but in time it came to be known as brainstorming – using the brain to storm a problem • “A conference technique by which a group attempts to find a solution for a specific problem by amassing all the ideas spontaneously by its members”- Alex Osborn

17. Origins of Brainstorming (cont…) • The rules of brainstorming give people freedom from the inhibitions, nervousness and other negative feelings which usually accompany meetings • Surprisingly, it has been found that quantity of ideas usually produces quality of ideas Quality Quantity

18. What Is Brainstorming Used For? • Brainstorming has been used to develop the following: • Advertising campaigns • Marketing strategy and methods • Research and development procedures • Physical products • Written documents and articles • Government policies • Investment decisions • New industries

19. Brainstorming Rules • We will use a slightly altered set of Osborne’s original brainstorming rules: • No judgement of ideas • Go for large quantities of ideas • Build on each other’s ideas • Encourage wild and exaggerated ideas • Every person and every idea is equal

20. Brainstorming Rules (cont…) • Don’t say anything about ideas – neither complement nor criticise • There is no such thing as a bad idea! • Even seemingly stupid ideas can spark off really good ones • No Judgement Of Ideas

21. Brainstorming Rules (cont…) • The more ideas at this stage the better • Keep ideas short – forget about details, just capture the essence • Go For Large Quantities Of Ideas

22. Brainstorming Rules (cont…) • Turn “yes, but…” into “yes, and…” • Try to add extra thoughts to each idea (be careful not to comment though) • Maybe combine several suggested ideas to generate a new one • Build On Each Other’s Ideas

23. Brainstorming Rules (cont…) • No idea is too ridiculous • Wild ideas often spark really practical ones • Exaggerate ideas to the extreme • Encourage Wild And Exaggerated Ideas

24. Brainstorming Rules (cont…) • Everybody’s perspective is unique and so is useful • Nobody owns their ideas once they are out on the table • Every Person And Every Idea Is Equal

25. Which Problems To Brainstorm About? • Brainstorming is not ideal for all problems • Remember the purpose of brainstorming is to generate ideas – nothing else • Use it for problems for which you need a lot of ideas • New product development • New market discovery • Others?

26. Running A Brainstorming Session • Brainstorming sessions have three phases: • Warm-up • Brainstorming • Post-brainstorming work

27. Warming Up For Brainstorming • Before tackling the main problem in question a warm-up should be used to relax people and get creative juices flowing • Some suggestions are: • One + One = One • Walking in someone else’s shoes • Are you a hammer or a nail? • Impossible hybrids • Brainstorm about unrelated tasks

28. One + One = One • Sometimes two disjoint concepts when put together form a readily understandable third concept • “Conference call”, “home page”, “party girl”, “religious right” • Have everybody think up a word with the same first letter as their last name • Participants each paste their word to the their forehead and mingle freely in the room trying to create something new out of their word combined with other participants’ words

29. Walking In Someone Else’s Shoes • Ask all participants to take off their shoes and put them on the table in front of them • Allow everybody to look at each other shoes • Have people swap shoes – try them on • Have a competition to build the tallest shoe structure possible • The artificial uncomfortableness of this situation can help to break down nervousness and bond a team

30. Are You A Hammer Or A Nail? • Go around the room asking each person to describe themselves as either an X or a Y • For example: • Are you a hammer or a nail? • Are you a cloud or a rock? • At work are you a tree or the wind? • At meetings are you a handshake or a sandwich? • At home are you a rug or a toaster? • The more bizarre the pairings the better

31. Impossible Hybrids • Pick random words from a collection and combine them to form impossible hybrids using • “An X that is also a Y ” • For example: • A piece of furniture that is also a fruit • A lampshade that is a book • A food that is also a rock • Try to describe each hybrid – maybe even draw pictures of them

32. Crossbreeding • Provide four boxes containing slips of paper with random names of plants, objects, animals and job descriptions • Ask participants to draw slips and then make hybrids out of them • For example: • Bird + Supervisor • Paperwork + Key • Try to describe what each hybrid would look like or do • Customer + Door • Pony + Photocopier

33. Brainstorming About Unrelated Tasks • Simply brainstorm about tasks unrelated to the main focus of the session • Nice general examples include: • How can we improve shoes? • How can we combat the problems of graffiti? • What if everybody had two thumbs – how would that change the world? • What if we had no cars?

34. Practicalities Of Brainstorming • The following is a list of the practical points to keep in mind when running a brain-storming session: • A a central person (the facilitator) will coordinate the proceedings, introduce the purpose of the brainstorming session and outline the rules • Try to ensure everyone is familiar with the problem to be discussed before the session • Gather a group of between four and ten people together in one room

35. Practicalities Of Brainstorming (cont…) • Arrange participants around a circular table • Have plenty of easily accessible pens, paper… • Ensure everybody is familiar with the rules - put them on posters on the walls of the room • Try to have one person record all ideas, but participants should also record ideas to ensure nothing is lost • Perform some warm-up exercises to relax participants and get the energy flowing • Open the session proper by asking for as many ideas and suggestions as possible

36. Practicalities Of Brainstorming (cont…) • When the session hits natural lulls try to spark it again by suggesting people throw out outlandish ideas or build on an existing idea • Don’t be afraid to take breaks • Eventually the session will fizzle out of its own accord – try not to force sessions to last longer than it should • When the session comes to a close thank everybody for taking part • Gather up the notes of all participants – these belong to the session

37. Post-Brainstorming Work Excellent Interesting Useless Definitely will work and can be easily implemented Will possibly work require further analysis/ investigation Will not work • The purpose of brainstorming is to generate ideas to solve a particular problem • What should you do with all of these ideas? • An easy scheme is to arrange ideas into three lists • The next step is to implement the excellent ideas and investigate the interesting ones

38. When Brainstorming Goes Bad • Brainstorming can go wrong • Some common problems are: • People fail to follow the rules • Have the facilitators enforce the rules • People do not come up with a good flow of ideas • Facilitators should prompt participants with questions, springboard ideas etc • Try using simple creative techniques within brainstorming • Ensure to warm up fully

39. When Brainstorming Goes Bad (cont…) • Nothing appears to happen after brainstorming • Bad managers use brainstorming to pretend • Make sure to follow up brainstorming • Brainstorming is unfocused • Try to brainstorm about specific problems • Facilitators should try to keep the session on track • The most difficult part of brainstorming is creating the correct atmosphere • Don’t be afraid to try creative things like playing music, brainstorming outside etc

40. Summary • The purpose of brainstorming is to generate new ideas around a problem • The brainstorming rules are: • No judgement of ideas • Go for large quantities of ideas • Build on each other’s ideas • Encourage wild and exaggerated ideas • Every person and every idea is equal • Brainstorming should follow three phases warm-up | brainstorm | post-brainstorm

41. Let’s Give It A Try • We will try a brain storming session about one of the following topics • Working for a large search engine company we have collected huge amounts of data on peoples’ search terms – what can we do with this data? • Easily distributed digital music is now a fact of life. As workers in a large music publishing company how can we turn this to our advantage?

42. Let’s Give It A Try (cont…) • As facilitators of an M.Sc. level course in problem solving what methods of continuous assessment can we use to evaluate students? • E-mail spam is now a huge problem. As developers in a security applications development company what can we do to solve this?

43. Process • Warm-ups • Jokes • Are you a hammer or a nail? • Brainstorm • Post-brainstorm work • Organise ideas

44. So? • What did you think of it?

45. No Judgement Of Ideas • Go For Large Quantities Of Ideas • Build On Each Other’s Ideas • Encourage Wild And Exaggerated Ideas • Every Person And Every Idea Is Equal

46. Clarify Your Thinking