Tools and Techniques Paper

Essay by jwebbUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, May 2006

download word file, 4 pages 0.0

Ideas are the lifeline of an organization. Without them it will not develop and improve its products, services and processes, but you can be sure that its competitors will. Such organizations will not survive for long. Strangely, a good idea is no better then a bad idea unless it is implemented. This is the root of the matter. Things don't just happen, people make things happen. That's why people are an organization's most important resource. But like any resource, it is only useful if you can tap into it and put it to good use. How much effort do any one person really put into coming up with ideas and following them through to a successful implementation?

Unfortunately this just doesn't happen as often as we would like. While it may seem contradictory, people need a structure or process to follow in order to help them be more creative. Such an approach is Brainstorming.

The idea of "brainstorming" is not new. It was popularized in 1953 by Alex Osborn upon the publication of his book, Applied Imagination, and through the subsequent work of the Creative Education Foundation. "Brainstorming" has been used successfully by many industrial and research organizations involving business, engineering, scientific, and management problems (Lewis 2004). Brainstorming is a proven group approach to generating ideas relating to a specific subject matter by allowing the participants to voice their ideas, no matter how strange, weird, or impossible.

When attempting to brainstorm you must follow a complete set of rules, in order to have a successful outcome. The Rules of Brainstorming are simple:

* Focus on the subject matter/challenge set

* Involve everyone present

* Encourage participants to say what they think

* Do not criticize, comment on, or be dismissive of, participants and their ideas.

* Feed off of...