Brainstorming is an English word that means ‘brainstorming’. This expression, as such, is formed from the union of the words brain, which means ‘brain’, and storm, which translates ‘storm’ or ‘storm’.
As such, it is a group work method that stimulates creativity to generate proposals, develop ideas or solve problems. It is applied in companies and organizations, especially those in the advertising and marketing sector .
The main objective of brainstorming is to generate an environment conducive to creative thinking, from which innovative and original ideas can be generated with which it is hoped to solve the problem or issue raised.
To do this, brainstorming brings together a group of people in a relaxed environment and without pressure to discuss and think about a previously raised issue or project. In this sense, it is an interactive, unstructured process that allows to obtain the best of the creative capacity of the participants.
In order to ensure that the activity flows in the best way, prejudices, negative criticisms and evaluative judgments about the contributions of the participants should be set aside. Thus, every idea, in principle, is valid; the quantity matters more than the quality in this first phase. What is sought is that everyone expose their ideas without inhibitions.
Then all the ideas are gathered and analyzed to rescue the best. These will be developed to subsequently submit to the group’s consideration which of them best suits the issue in question.
During the activity, one person (the director) coordinates the session, while another (the secretary) is responsible for writing down and recording all the ideas that arise. Work dynamics should preferably be carried out on a round table.
The brainstorming as a tool for group work, was devised by the American publicist Alex Osborn and published in 1942.
Today, however, the effectiveness of this technique is questioned and there is a theory that better ideas are generated by thinking individually.
