Generate ideas
Brainwriting 6-3-5
Also called 6-3-5 method, Brainwriting
Six people write three ideas each, then pass them on to be built on, five rounds over, for up to 108 ideas in half an hour.
- Time30 to 40 minutes
- People4 to 8 people (6 is the classic)
- Steps4
What it's for
Spoken brainstorms favour whoever talks first and loudest. Writing in silence gives everyone the same airtime, and building on someone else's sheet pushes ideas further than one person would take them alone.
On a board, each person owns a sheet for the first round, then everyone moves one sheet along and adds to what's there.
How to run it
Claim a sheet5 min
Each person writes their name in a sheet's title and adds three ideas.
Move on and build5 min
Move to the next sheet. Add three ideas that build on what's there.
Repeat the rounds20 min
Keep moving every five minutes until each sheet has had five rounds.
Vote on the best5 min5 votes each
Read all the sheets and vote.
Tips
- Building on an idea counts. Combining two is better still.
- Use a timer per round, or people stay on their favourite sheet.
Where it comes from
Developed by the German marketing professor Bernd Rohrbach, who published it in 1968.
Pairs well with
Crazy 8s
Sketch eight different ideas in eight minutes, one a minute, to get past the first obvious idea fast.
1-2-4-All
Think alone, then in pairs, then in fours, then as a whole group, so every voice shapes the answer before the room converges.
SCAMPER
Seven prompts (substitute, combine, adapt, modify, put to another use, eliminate, reverse) for generating ideas from something that exists.