“That is a great logo!” “This brochure is awesome!” “What an astonishing website!” What all these compliments really mean is WOW, THAT IS A REALLY GREAT SOLUTION!!

We all want to manifest our great ideas and have our work stand out above our competitors’ work. Unfortunately, said great solution doesn’t always fall out of an apple tree and knock a new perspective into our head (Isaac Newton was more fortunate than the rest of us). Rather, road to your great idea is paved by the steps of the CREATIVE PROCESS.

There are many steps to the creative process, but let’s focus on BRAINSTORMING. It can be a fun step or frustrating one. There are some basic guidelines you should follow to make this step as beneficial as possible. As uncreative as RULES sound, there are 4 basic ones that will help you get the most out of your brainstorming session:

1 – Don’t allow criticism. This can stifle ideas and trail off subject. No idea is “wrong” at this point.

2 – Include outrageous and off-the-wall ideas. An unconventional answer can be a great way to solve a problem and spark creativity in other participants.

3 – Come up with a large number of ideas; the more possible solutions, the better.

4 – Let ideas build on each other. We can always come up with an idea that is a little better than the first one.

There are many articles on the subject available online. Here are a few links that have some really great tips and suggestions to put your brainstorming session into high-gear to lead to solutions that stand out in a crowd.

Recommended Reading:
Business Week: Eight Tips for Better Brain Storming
Brainstormingthatworks.com: Brainstorming Tips
Mind Tools: Brainstorming