Tuesday, April 27, 2010

The 10 Commandments of Brainstorming

Josh Linkner put out some rules on brainstorming:

1. Thou shall not judge: Keep the ideas flowing. You can evaluate or rank them later.

2. Thou shall not comment: There are no silly, stupid, nor outrageous ideas during brainstorming.

3. Thou shall not edit: Keep the ideas coming even if they are sloppy. You can clear them up later.

4. Thou shall not execute: Do not jump to implementation.

5. Thou shall not worry: Every idea matters. Don't be fearful to throw them out there.

6. Thou shall not look backwards: Don't hold back because previous ideas where not adopted.

7. Thou shall not loose focus: Stay on track and move unrelated topics for later discussion.

8. Thou shall not sap energy: Stay engaged and energized.

9. Thou shall not compare: Even if ideas appear similar to others, write them down and keep moving.

10. Thou shall not make funny at others' expense: Do not laugh at ideas that come out.

    The full article is available on Forbes.com at http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/20/brainstorming-ideation-ideas-leadership-managing-innovation.html