[ford]

Related (because I do believe in brainstorming) - I've found brainstorming works best when

A) Individuals brainstorm on their own before a group session. Group sessions should be for sharing the best ideas, identifying common themes, and for providing more inspiration for others in the group.

B) Individuals should set an extremely high requirement for the number of ideas they come up with. Coming up with 10 ideas for you or your team is easy - I bet most people here could do it in the next 5 minutes. Coming up with 100 ideas is hard. You end up not only getting more conventional ideas but writing down some things that are just plain absurd. Oftentimes the absurd or stretched ideas can lead you to something you wouldn't have thought of otherwise.