If you want to hold brainstorms that unearth better, more creative ideas, it all starts with the number of people in the room.
That’s my first tip for you: Follow the “pizza rule” for brainstorming. If you’re unfamiliar with the “pizza rule,” it’s the idea that if you have more people in a room than you could feed with a pizza, there are too many people in that room to hold a productive meeting.
The same rule goes for a brainstorming session: If you’ve got a dozen people sitting around a table, expect a really long list of truly mediocre ideas.
So, what else can you do other than bribe a group of two to six people with pizza to unearth good ideas? So glad you asked.
Via The Learning Factor
As a High D/I on the DiSC model I've always loved a good brainstorming session. Nice little article to get you thinking and perhaps change things up a little in the boardroom. Also check out Edward De Bono's 6 Thinking Hats book - fast and effective way to problem solve involving brainstorming that you might also like to read. Have a great week ahead.
Squashing bad ideas could lead people to fear speaking up, missing out on good ideas as a result. But if you’re giving every idea equal due regardless of merit, then you get off-track real fast and end up down a bad idea rabbit hole.