We used brainstorming in my engineering teams all the time. One big and usually understated key is we forced people to get up out of their seats and move. We set up stations around the room with the key questions either on white boards or big sheets of paper with huge stacks of post-its nearby.
It's very, very easy for someone to sit at the conference room table and only make a half-assed effort to come up with and/or evaluate ideas. But standing up, next to a colleague, with the focus question on the wall in front of you, gets an order of magnitude more attention, energy, and good results.
In my business career we used brainstorming, so here are some lessons learned to supplement the basic process: [a] like most group activities, control domineering by individuals; everyone must participate, [b] your class will get better at brainstorming as they do it more, [c] collect all ideas at the outset of a session without filtering; that is to say, don’t get trapped in evaluating each idea as it’s suggested or you’ll never finish and people will hesitate to volunteer ideas if they are immediately judged – as a later step, after all ideas are collected, then evaluate feasibility, effectiveness, etc. of each, [d] the solution phase must consider how “action-able” solution ideas are; thinking of forces for and against, costs, complexity, etc. It will be interesting to hear about how it goes.
I guess this is good training for people who may expect to have jobs which they will spend in convening or attending meetings. Those meetings have really nothing to offer people who do the actual work of an organization, beyond hopefully making them feel they are at least not being punished for doing the work, and at best receiving encouragement, a pat on the head and some pleasant banter, in exchange for the time-wasting. But as long as we need full employment, particularly for y’all’s daughters, long live “brainstorming”! Long live words written on boards! Or better, on a screen, with a whiteboard app and animal avatars! Gotta throw a bone to the data centers that power your portfolios.
I’m feeling some skepticism in your tone regarding the importance of brainstorming. I was like you, until I discovered “brainstorming, powered by AI.” You see, brainstorming, and really any mundane, frustrating or trivial task can be transformed into something magical as long as the phrase, “powered by AI” is appended to the end.
I discovered the power of AI while reading various advertising billboards dotting the landscape of Silicon Valley and San Francisco that spoke about the raw transformative power of AI that only requires a small upfront investment. Apparently, there are thousands of vendors waiting to sell you something special that’s of course…powered by AI.
About the only limitation of the power of AI so far is something called “accounting profits.” The models haven’t quite figured out how to engineer those yet.
I've done a lot of workshop design and facilitation, and used those tools in a college classroom. It does help to get students focused and engaged. I second T Benedict's advice about how to structure brainstorming. See also the K-J technique for pulling out concepts as a group without groupthink.
I'd want the students to do a review of the most popular personality tests, including taking free on-line versions of the tests. Grok's conclusion to my Q:
>Popularity Factors: MBTI and Enneagram dominate public interest due to their engaging, type-based results and widespread online accessibility. Big Five leads in scientific credibility. DISC and StrengthsFinder are staples in professional settings.<
And now I hope Arnold suggests a standard alt-quote system to indicate that the answer is ai. My first thought is the right > left< arrows.
A key issue is the use of knowing a person's personality. I like Myers-Briggs more than OCEAN because it gives me a framework that seems likely to have better communication. Choosing types of words that the student is more interested in and engaged with.
Ai personalized tutors are all likely to have some personality analysis included, the best ones might well have all of the popular ones above listed.
IQ, the single most predictive number we have about a person's future success, isn't considered quite a personality, nor is height (tho taller folk are more successful).
Virtuous behavior is perhaps understudied as part of personality, too.
We used brainstorming in my engineering teams all the time. One big and usually understated key is we forced people to get up out of their seats and move. We set up stations around the room with the key questions either on white boards or big sheets of paper with huge stacks of post-its nearby.
It's very, very easy for someone to sit at the conference room table and only make a half-assed effort to come up with and/or evaluate ideas. But standing up, next to a colleague, with the focus question on the wall in front of you, gets an order of magnitude more attention, energy, and good results.
In my business career we used brainstorming, so here are some lessons learned to supplement the basic process: [a] like most group activities, control domineering by individuals; everyone must participate, [b] your class will get better at brainstorming as they do it more, [c] collect all ideas at the outset of a session without filtering; that is to say, don’t get trapped in evaluating each idea as it’s suggested or you’ll never finish and people will hesitate to volunteer ideas if they are immediately judged – as a later step, after all ideas are collected, then evaluate feasibility, effectiveness, etc. of each, [d] the solution phase must consider how “action-able” solution ideas are; thinking of forces for and against, costs, complexity, etc. It will be interesting to hear about how it goes.
The quality of the brainstorming will depend on background knowledge. What background reading and knowledge will contribute to the brainstorming?
Does anyone have an MBA from the last decade or two? I thought something like this was a big part of that degree.
I guess this is good training for people who may expect to have jobs which they will spend in convening or attending meetings. Those meetings have really nothing to offer people who do the actual work of an organization, beyond hopefully making them feel they are at least not being punished for doing the work, and at best receiving encouragement, a pat on the head and some pleasant banter, in exchange for the time-wasting. But as long as we need full employment, particularly for y’all’s daughters, long live “brainstorming”! Long live words written on boards! Or better, on a screen, with a whiteboard app and animal avatars! Gotta throw a bone to the data centers that power your portfolios.
I’m feeling some skepticism in your tone regarding the importance of brainstorming. I was like you, until I discovered “brainstorming, powered by AI.” You see, brainstorming, and really any mundane, frustrating or trivial task can be transformed into something magical as long as the phrase, “powered by AI” is appended to the end.
I discovered the power of AI while reading various advertising billboards dotting the landscape of Silicon Valley and San Francisco that spoke about the raw transformative power of AI that only requires a small upfront investment. Apparently, there are thousands of vendors waiting to sell you something special that’s of course…powered by AI.
About the only limitation of the power of AI so far is something called “accounting profits.” The models haven’t quite figured out how to engineer those yet.
https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/bay-area-tech-scene-dorky-now-terrifying-21042943.php
Maybe brainstorming powered by AI is where a call center in India rejects or accepts your turtle's shouted answers for the whiteboard.
This sounds like the right approach. As with all of these things, success depends on starting with the right question
I've done a lot of workshop design and facilitation, and used those tools in a college classroom. It does help to get students focused and engaged. I second T Benedict's advice about how to structure brainstorming. See also the K-J technique for pulling out concepts as a group without groupthink.
Concept mapping can be powerful and can be a mess. The structure I found most useful is from Hugh Dubberly (granted, he's using it for my area of product design). Here's one story: https://www.dubberly.com/articles/using-concept-maps-in-product-development.html
The basics are:
- Collect a short list of the most important concepts (nouns, esp people and objects)
- Draw edges between each concept, and label that relationship (verbs, prepositions)
- Look for sections that need more definitions and more details
- Build on it over time
I might have a better process description, and I'll post if I find it
I'd want the students to do a review of the most popular personality tests, including taking free on-line versions of the tests. Grok's conclusion to my Q:
>Popularity Factors: MBTI and Enneagram dominate public interest due to their engaging, type-based results and widespread online accessibility. Big Five leads in scientific credibility. DISC and StrengthsFinder are staples in professional settings.<
And now I hope Arnold suggests a standard alt-quote system to indicate that the answer is ai. My first thought is the right > left< arrows.
A key issue is the use of knowing a person's personality. I like Myers-Briggs more than OCEAN because it gives me a framework that seems likely to have better communication. Choosing types of words that the student is more interested in and engaged with.
Ai personalized tutors are all likely to have some personality analysis included, the best ones might well have all of the popular ones above listed.
IQ, the single most predictive number we have about a person's future success, isn't considered quite a personality, nor is height (tho taller folk are more successful).
Virtuous behavior is perhaps understudied as part of personality, too.
I suggest you read Eight Words That Changed the World: A Modern History of the Election Slogan Hardcover – October 28, 2025 (I know it's not out yet)
by Chris Bruni-Lowe (Author). I had dinner with the author in April, and his insight is brilliant on what drives elections and voters.