Eight Rules To Brilliant Brainstorming

BusinessWeek brings us "Eight Rules To Brilliant Brainstorming"

1. Use brainstorming to combine and extend ideas, not just harvest them.
2. Don't bother if people live in fear.
3. Do individual brainstorming before and after group sessions.
4. Brainstorming sessions are worthless unless ideas lead to action.
5. Brainstorming requires skill and experience both to do - and especially - to facilitate.
6. A good brainstorming session is competitive - in the right way.
7. Brainstorming sessions can be used for more than just generating ideas.
8. Follow the rules, or don't call it brainstorming.

BOTTOMLINE: Brainstorming is just one of many idea-generating techniques that make a company creative. However, itt is of little to no value if it's not combined with observing consumers, talking to experts, or building prototype products and experiences that provide an outlet for the ideas generated. In other words, it is taking ACTION - and EXECUTING on the ideas that is meaningful. But only in the context of taking action and executing on ideas from brainstorming that support the overall organization's strategy.