Silent Brainstorming
05 February 2010
Silent Brainstorming is a great technique to get teams to start thinking creatively and break out of the box to solve
problems and generate a plethora of new ideas. I first learned this system while on a project at SRI, and have since
used it with great success at several companies. The system not only get's people thinking and documenting their thoughts
and ideas, it's independent of time. When you're dealing with a large group of people, developing a matching Venn
diagram of everyone's available time is about as successful as predicting the outcome of the Super Bowl.
Unlike audible brainstorming, everyone can think and act at the same time. So, the sessions can be done quickly, say 15
minutes or less.
Set Up
You'll need a room with several large whiteboards, or a wide roll of white paper. Larger paper is better.
You'll need writing instruments. Duh! If you're using whiteboards, make sure that you only use dry erase markers.
There are permanent marks on Conference Room 3C 'cuz I forgot that a Marks-A-Lot is not the same as a dry erase pen.
If you're using paper, felt tip pens are the best, but make sure that they can't bleed through the paper and stain
the wall. Otherwise you'll loose your best friend, the maintenance guy who promised to fix your flickering overhead
light. I prefer to use a long roll of paper and tape it around the room. By "long" I mean 8, 10, 12 or more feet.
Once the silent brainstorming session is over, you can take it down and convert it to Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or
what ever suits your need.
Rules
As with an audible brainstorming session in a traditional setting, ground rules need to be set.
Rule #1: There are no bad ideas or comments.
Rule #2: All comments need to be constructive and focused on the problem or topic.
Rule #3: Anyone can make a comment on anyone else's comment. Of course, this is the basic
premise of brainstorming!
Procedure
Start by assembling the team, going over the ground rules, and then writing the problem or idea to be brainstormed on
the top of the board or paper.
Give everyone 5 minutes to write down their thoughts anywhere on the paper. People need to spread out, hence the need
for a long roll of paper.
After the first 5 minutes, have the brains put their pens down and walk around the room looking at everyone's scribbling.
BTW, it is perfectly ok to sketch or doodle if that's what it takes to get the idea or thought communicated. In highly
technical sessions, it's amazing what the engineers and designers come up with! Graphs, circuits, diagrams,
illustrations. The silent brainstorming sessions at SRI included a very talented graphic artist from IDEO who energized
the room with his sketches (thoughts).
Finally, give the group their pens back and let them start to write comments on other people's ideas, create additional
ideas, make comments on comments, etc. This last phase can last as short as 5 minutes, or it can be kept up on the wall
for a day or a week. Leaving it up allows for mismatched schedules and late thoughts. The mind is a great tool. Give
it a topic and ideas will continue to come well after the session has officially ended. It's ok to come back and write
some more.
The moderator, and I'm assuming that this will be you, may need to get the ball rolling to lead the way and show the
rest of the group how it's done. After a few silent brainstorming sessions, the team members get the hang of it and
will be eager to get their thoughts out and on paper.
It's amazing what can be done in a 15 minute session. 50, 75, even a 100 ideas are possible!