Brainwriting the New Brainstorming

In his post Bob Sutton suggests that brainwriting has proven more effective than brainstorming at producing ideas. So of course, I was intrigued what this new technique was all about. After a quick bit of reading here is the summary of the steps for this technique.

1. Members of the group write down ideas on pieces of paper in silence


2. The pieces of paper are passed between each other and then the individuals add to the idea their own thoughts. Different color pens help in this distinction between ideas.


3. Once each piece of paper has been shared with each member then the pieces of paper are placed in the center of the table for all to see.
4. These steps are repeated up to 25 times. depending on time available.


5. Then the group divides up an individuals go away and try to recall as many of the ideas as possible.


6. Finally each individual works alone to generate more ideas

This technique has been shown to be more productive in idea generation and can help reduce group think that can occur from some brainstorming sessions.