I cribbed this from multiple mentors, mostly Lynn Whittemore, a graphic design exec. who was equal parts creative and effective. The format came from a page on the George Mason Center for Leadership and Community Engagement website that is now gone, but the content needs to be preserved and used.
Rules for brainstorming
- No criticism, evaluation, judgment, or defense of ideas during the brainstorming session.
- No limit on “wild” ideas, no matter how outrageous or impractical they seem. Every idea is to be expressed.
- Quantity is more desirable than quality.
- “Piggybacking” (building on ideas—is encouraged).
- Everyone must be encouraged to participate.
Steps to finalizing ideas
- Record all ideas.
- Choose “top 5 ideas”—combine similar ideas when appropriate.
- Individually rank ideas.
- Decide, as a group, which idea will be enacted first.
- Begin the brainstorming process again as necessary.
The True Gen 