A Seven Step Plan for Effective Brainstorming

A Seven Step Plan for Effective Brainstorming

Everyone brainstorms a little differently, but over on the MIT Sloan Management Review they’ve put together a seven step plan that should help make the brainstorming process more fruitful.

Different groups are always going to brainstorm a little different and every project is different, but the authors at MIT Sloan Management Review have a pretty simple gameplan everyone can follow:

  1. Define the problem and solutions space: Basically, create boundaries and rules for your solutions so you don’t waste time thinking of solutions that aren’t feasible.
  2. Break the problem down: Make the problem easier to tackle by breaking it into smaller parts using diagrams or mind maps.
  3. Make the problem personal: Think about how the problem effects you personally.
  4. Seek the perspectives of outsiders: Try and find as many people as possible who might have input and see what they have to say.
  5. Diverge before you converge: Breed a little conflict into the discussion when you can. One way to do this is to have everyone write down their ideas before the meeting starts so everyone doesn’t rally around the first idea just to get out of the meeting quickly.
  6. Create "idea resumes": An "idea resume" is a one-page document that breaks down the basics of a solution.
  7. Create a plan to learn: Start designing a way to test your ideas and write out what you hope to learn from those tests.

The above seven steps certainly aren’t the only way to brainstorm, but they do provide a pretty solid foundation for work off of.

The Discipline of Creativity | MIT Sloan Management Review via INC

Photo by opensource.


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A Seven Step Plan for Effective Brainstorming

Pay Kids for Chores with Screen Time Tokens Instead of an Allowance

Pay Kids for Chores with Screen Time Tokens Instead of an Allowance

Having trouble getting your kids to do their chores without the usual dillydallying or complaining? Turn it into a game they’ll actually be motivated to play with these DIY game tokens.

The concept is simple: Do a chore and "earn" 15, 30, or 60 minutes of game or TV time, depending on the chore. Little Mom on the Prairie says in her Instructable:

I started using an alternate version of the reward system with my daughter, to balance out our struggles of getting her to help out with chores and limiting her computer/game time. I made these little "game tokens" that she can earn by doing her chores without complaining, and when we ask her to do them (not later, not in 5 minutes, now!)

In our home we believe you do things around the house because you are a member of the family and you benefit from it, not because you get paid to – no one else gets paid to do housework. But its been shown that a reward system of some sort works better than negative reinforcement…This balances her desire to waste her life in front of the TV with the necessary chores she needs to complete. 🙂

If you want to try this yourself, you just need to paint some wood craft discs. Another idea is to put the chore on the back of the token, rather than a list of chores as this mom uses.

Game Tokens (Instead of Allowance) Reward System | Instructables via Boing Boing


via Lifehacker
Pay Kids for Chores with Screen Time Tokens Instead of an Allowance

Pay Kids for Chores with Screen Time Tokens Instead of an Allowance

Pay Kids for Chores with Screen Time Tokens Instead of an Allowance

Having trouble getting your kids to do their chores without the usual dillydallying or complaining? Turn it into a game they’ll actually be motivated to play with these DIY game tokens.

The concept is simple: Do a chore and "earn" 15, 30, or 60 minutes of game or TV time, depending on the chore. Little Mom on the Prairie says in her Instructable:

I started using an alternate version of the reward system with my daughter, to balance out our struggles of getting her to help out with chores and limiting her computer/game time. I made these little "game tokens" that she can earn by doing her chores without complaining, and when we ask her to do them (not later, not in 5 minutes, now!)

In our home we believe you do things around the house because you are a member of the family and you benefit from it, not because you get paid to – no one else gets paid to do housework. But its been shown that a reward system of some sort works better than negative reinforcement…This balances her desire to waste her life in front of the TV with the necessary chores she needs to complete. 🙂

If you want to try this yourself, you just need to paint some wood craft discs. Another idea is to put the chore on the back of the token, rather than a list of chores as this mom uses.

Game Tokens (Instead of Allowance) Reward System | Instructables via Boing Boing


via Lifehacker
Pay Kids for Chores with Screen Time Tokens Instead of an Allowance

Pay Kids for Chores with Screen Time Tokens Instead of an Allowance

Pay Kids for Chores with Screen Time Tokens Instead of an Allowance

Having trouble getting your kids to do their chores without the usual dillydallying or complaining? Turn it into a game they’ll actually be motivated to play with these DIY game tokens.

The concept is simple: Do a chore and "earn" 15, 30, or 60 minutes of game or TV time, depending on the chore. Little Mom on the Prairie says in her Instructable:

I started using an alternate version of the reward system with my daughter, to balance out our struggles of getting her to help out with chores and limiting her computer/game time. I made these little "game tokens" that she can earn by doing her chores without complaining, and when we ask her to do them (not later, not in 5 minutes, now!)

In our home we believe you do things around the house because you are a member of the family and you benefit from it, not because you get paid to – no one else gets paid to do housework. But its been shown that a reward system of some sort works better than negative reinforcement…This balances her desire to waste her life in front of the TV with the necessary chores she needs to complete. 🙂

If you want to try this yourself, you just need to paint some wood craft discs. Another idea is to put the chore on the back of the token, rather than a list of chores as this mom uses.

Game Tokens (Instead of Allowance) Reward System | Instructables via Boing Boing


via Lifehacker
Pay Kids for Chores with Screen Time Tokens Instead of an Allowance