Brainstorming Defined

Brainstorming can actually be credited to Alex Osborn, the "O" in advertising giant BBDO. Osborn wanted to systemize the creative process to leverage his creative staff's creative talents. After his ideas had been in use for a number of years, in 1963 Osborn wrote a book, Applied Imagination, in which he described the basic principles of his work in the realm of brainstorming.

Later, teaming up with academic colleague and collaborator Sid Parnes, they created the "Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving" method, known widely today as CPS. It is on their ground breaking work that most credible and research-tested methodologies in the area of creativity are based. What follows is a discussion of the simple, but elegant and effective, guidelines for creating novel solutions through CPS. Brainstorming is a very powerful CPS tool that, if used properly, can contribute enormously to better exhibit and event design.

In the exhibit and event arena, we are in the business of creating three-dimensional, visual and sensual experiences. It is clear that as we challenge ourselves to think out of the "exhibit box" we need to use tools most evocative of visual solutions. We want rich visual imagery, spatial intelligence, experiential insight and sensual sensitivity to enlighten our design process. This helps designers "nail it" -- to create in three-dimensional form something achieving the vision and strategic marketing and brand objectives of one's organization.

Another important outcome we desire is to have all the key players in our company and on our vendor/consultant partner teams concur creatively and share a vision of the end product. Among other reasons, we want consensus and buy-in so everyone endorses and thereby energizes the process as it moves into development. We also want to tear away the veil of obfuscation our words often cause. When someone says "hi tech" we want to know if that's George Jetson or Frank Geary or Mies van der Rohe. (The designers sure as heck want to know.) So, let's look at some promising visual tools within the discipline of brainstorming that help us do this, because there are some more effective ways to get clear imagery into the design development hopper.

Brainstorming Basics

Brainstorming is actually one of many processes that fall under the subheading of "Creative Problem Solving." CPS is a process which utilizes two basic dynamics in a systematic pursuit of better, more novel and ground breaking ideas. While there are many tools (and in this article we will focus on the visual catalysts) these dynamics and principles are universally recognized as those which produce the best results:

Principle #1 -- Divergence:

The brainstorming facilitator begins the session, urging as many new ideas as possible. The key principles at this stage are:

• There are no bad ideas. Judgment is suspended.

• More is better. Work for quantity. Go nuts. Abondanza!

• Strive for novelty. The more outlandish, the better. Welcome the weird. Beckon the "bad." Go until the well runs dry; then go some more.

• Build and expand on others' ideas. Combine. Synthesize. Use ideas as springboards and inspirations to take the nascent idea further. Twist. Turn upside down and inside out.

Principle #2 --Convergence:

After a lot of ideas have been generated, it is time to select the most promising ones. Resource group participants are directed to select a limited number of the most promising ideas. Typically, each individual has between three and twelve votes which they make with colored dots. (The dots are usually coded by source: client core group, department, customers, company outsiders, etc.) After the best are identified, they may be put into themed groups or clusters. When the clusters are restated as concepts, then a process of finding the plusses, potentials and overcoming concerns begins, commonly referred to as PPCO.

The principles at this stage again are:

• Select the "best" ideas -- highlight them (often with colored dots).

• Cluster the best ideas into broader classifications.

• Restate each cluster as broader concept.

•Praise first. Apply any given criteria that are necessary objectives. Use evaluation matrices, which measure each concept against key criteria or look for "plusses, potentials, concerns/how to overcome them" (PPCO).

You may have recognized that "PPCO" is another divergent tool, one which generates ideas around the fledgling concepts, building upon them and strengthening them. Note that while there is a "critical" component in this stage, everything is stated in a positive manner as a challenge statement; for example, "In what ways might we make this exhibit lighter in weight?" or, "How might we attract customers to an outdoor event in New Orleans in August?" "How might we blow our clients' socks off and our competition's brains out?" Whenever you are engaged in divergence, you are working to increase the quantity, novelty and variety of ideas.

A notable technique used to do this is something called "Forced Connections." It's a process of taking two disparate things or stimuli from different contexts and bringing them together to synthesize, cross-pollinate and leverage ideation. The tools I recommend for the design process characteristic of our industry are just these kinds of tools -- with very strong visual components.

Visual Excursion -- This tool is a "trip." With this, you literally facilitate the project team in taking an excursion. Some facilitators play soft music and then expose the team to an image or series of visual images. Sometimes participants are encouraged to close their eyes and "envision." They will be asked to record words or rough sketches that come to mind and that they can connect with the design elements.

This can produce very rich material for the design team to sink its teeth into. Photos from magazines, photos in binders and artwork or art books are among the stimuli that may be used. Also, it is not uncommon for some facilitators to take their teams to art galleries, parks or zoos, you name it, to give them visual imagery with which to make "forced connections" with the design process. DVDs and design magazines are also good stimuli for this exercise. When the participants return from the "excursions," they bring new inspiration to the design scheme. Think of all the ideas and energy you bring back to your work after a refreshing vacation. This tool seeks to contribute some of that kind of energy.


Collage Making -- A "Picture Pizza Pie," this is another technique that can be quite useful. The facilitator may bring a variety of magazines to the session, the more variety the better. The group may first be asked to create their own individual collage which represents in as many facets as they choose their vision for the exhibit or event or company/customer/ brand/marketing positioning. Once this is done, the facilitator then may ask the group to place the collages on a table and construct collage bridges between the individual ones. Each participant may rotate 360 around the table. This creates a collective collage upon which the facilitator may "debrief" the group, gleaning rich interpretations of what the images say about their company, their people, their

customers and their communication objectives. This has the additional benefit of providing this more lively verbiage to complement the imagery.

"Meat Wrapping" -- This process is used widely by product designers. It consists of rolling out butcher paper and having people draw, scribble and doodle their thoughts as they diverge on the design challenge. Like the collage tool, this can be debriefed after participants rotate around the table to connect to/add onto other drawings. Like collage, it is very playful, interactive and evocative. Which tool is used is really a matter of taste. Some may prefer the more vivid and random use of images torn from magazines to the sometimes crude drawings that result. While no one needs to be a crack quick draw artist, you would be surprised at how well most people can draw. "Straight lines" are discouraged anyway ... and the technique works.

Card Sort -- This is a good tool with some built-in "convergence" in that it forces the group to make choices among images by rank-ordering them. Again, images of people, buildings, nature and artwork -- whatever is useful, may be used. Respondents are asked to individually rank the images in response to prompts such as, "Most like my customer. Least like my customer." "Most like our product. Least like our product." This results in forced ordering of imagery that can then be looked at in aggregate and used as a tool for further ideation. The end result is ideally some congruence on a set of images that best fit the communication objectives, company culture, image, customers, and so on. It may even lead to the further search for images that refine and heighten the evolving vision. It is ideal when it is time for clarity and tough choices.

What most facilitates creativity has been the subject of many tomes over the last hundred years. One very elegantly simple and accessible model comes from the trusted CPS methodology -- "The 4 P's": People, Product, Process and ‘Press'/Environment. These are factors to bear in mind when you are setting up a brainstorming group either in-house or with your exhibit/event partner:

People -- It seems apparent that some people are more creative than others. Most people associate creativity with the kind of "specific creativity" illustrated in the arts: painting, drawing, music, writing, film making, poetry, yodeling, etc. What is less obvious (and this is born out by research) is that we are all creative. This being said, people still have been shown to have different creative approaches to things.

When building your project team, you may want to take into consideration creative style. This has less to do with aptitude than with how one is creative, but it can have a huge impact on group dynamics and the quality of the design.

You most likely want to create your teams not only on a cross-functional basis, but on these creative styles as well. There are measures for this such as the MBTI (Meyers-Briggs), the KAI (the Kirton Adaptor/Innovator Scale), FourSight and the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking that can be administered. Also, often teams invite outsiders with fresh perspectives into the sessions, including customers and "trained brains" -- people who are high ideators and do this for a living. (Maybe your exhibit/event company can provide or recommend these people.) Getting the right people is key to success, but only one aspect.

Hiring a professional facilitator who is experienced in brainstorming and the CPS process is vital. This allows you and your team to focus on the mission at hand while being guided by someone who knows best how to use the tools, environment and human resources to optimize results (product). This person is typically an outsider, but could also be a staffer from another area in the company who has had sufficient experience with these methods to employ them correctly. This person moves things along to your goal and stays out of the content -- it is your project after all!

Product -- This is the "keep your eye on the prize" piece. This is where you remind yourself, "What are we here to do?" This helps you look for the proper people, processes, tools and environment to get the job done. To deliver an actionable exhibit/event program design plan to those who will design it. It will also guide you in a "convergent" way in the form of real constraints, e.g., budget, logistics, weight, time frame, marketing objectives and the

"Press" -- Think of the room or the environment "pressing in." Here you should ask yourself, "What location or space is most conducive to getting the best ideas?" The environment is key. It should be relaxed; preferably colorful, playful and fun. You do not want to set up next to a noisy shop or in a conference room where there can be interruption. There are companies that exist solely to provide ideal ideation environments. Imagine a kindergarten for adults. If this is not an option, bring the playground to your office. Most professional facilitators know the importance of fun and bring toys, bubbles, music, artwork and scented pens to create the perfect "press." (Sometimes professional illustrators come to sessions in order to give pictorial representation to select concepts.)

" Brains Trained" Power The "Idea Train"

To summarize, brainstorming in its tried and true form -- validated by years of research -- relies on some timeworn principles and structures. It is playful, fun, out-of-the-box, even chaotic at times, but there is method to the madness. Ideas unhinged from purpose don't get you where you want to go. After you generate more ideas than you think possible, you also must apply much needed convergent criteria to get to an actionable set of directives to pass to your design team.

When you add in visual stimuli tools which are more likely to be evocative of powerful imagery, the results can even be richer. There is no doubt in my mind that teams that embrace these tools and better educate themselves to all of the possibilities and potential that good brainstorming techniques have to offer, the more dramatic the results. At least as importantly, these processes produce better teamwork -- which creates the bond of shared ownership -- which leads to clarity of vision and execution; in short, far better design and far more dynamic and innovative working relationships. eb