New " Brainstorming " Principles

This article presents six new principles emerging from four decades of academic and industry research on the generation of high-qualily creative ideas by "hrainstoming ". The principles are: (a) brainstorming instructions are essential and should emphasize, paradoxically, number and not quality of ideas; (b) a specific, diflcult target should be set for the number of ideas; (c) individuals, not groups, should generate the initial ideas; (d) groups should then be used to amalgamate and refine the ideas; (e) individuals should provide the final ratings to select the best ideas, which will increase commitment to the ideas selected; and, ( f ) the time required for successful brainstorming should be kept remarkably short. By following these principles, brainstorming will more dependably produce highquality creative results.