Classic Brainstorming Rules
Defer judgment, encourage wild ideas, build on others' ideas, and go for quantity.
Explanation
The original brainstorming method by Alex Osborn establishes four fundamental rules: defer judgment to avoid shutting down ideas prematurely, encourage wild ideas to break conventional thinking, build on others' ideas to create combinations and improvements, and focus on quantity over quality to generate the most material to work with later.
Real-World Example
A team brainstorming app features follows the rules: 'What if users could time-travel in the app?' (wild idea) → 'Version history navigation!' (building on it) → 'Undo/redo with visual timeline' (practical evolution). Generate 100+ ideas in 60 minutes before evaluating any.
How to Apply
Set clear rules before starting. Designate someone to enforce 'no criticism during ideation.' Use a timer—aim for 100 ideas in 60 minutes. Write every idea down, even seemingly bad ones. Save evaluation for a separate session. The 'worst' ideas often contain seeds of breakthrough solutions.